the Message Continues ... i1/4
By
Nasir Shamsi
Haider
Shamsi was like a brother to me. His death took us all by surprise.
I was devastated and despite my knowing that death is imminent and we are
all to go to the final abode, I still have not been able to reconcile with this
colossal tragedy, which deprived our community of a jewel--the most rare, unique
and precious jewel. I wish to convey to our sister Adiba, the loving and devoted
wife and partner of our dear friend and brother that she is not alone in her
suffering. We all mourn with her the sad and untimely demise of Haider and pray
to Allah that He may, in His Infinite Mercy, bestow His Choicest Blessings on
the departed soul.
The
agony, the anguish and the sense of loss has made it difficult to reflect on my
association with Haider Shamsi and to' recap the sweet memories of my
intellectual and spiritual bond with that magnificent being who is no more.
My daughter, Saima asked me to pen down my feelings.
She probably thinks it may help me, by way of catharsis.
I
had known Haider Bhai for the last 36 years.
I first met him in Lahore in 1963. He
was studying medicine at King Edward Medical College.
We were introduced by a common friend, Dr. Saijad Sheikh. We shared our
family tree; both descendents of the great mystic saint, Shams Tabriz, the
spiritual master of jaial ul Din Rumi. The
goal of education seemed to be very dear to his heart.
He told me how pleased he was to learn from Sajiad that I had been
selected in the Civil Service Competitive Exam.
At the first meeting, we became instant friends.
However,
we soon parted ways. I was posted
out of Lahore and he left Pakistan for Africa, later for England to attain
further excellence in his most cherished goal of education.
Born in Narowal near Sialkot in Pakistan, Haider grew up in Kenya, Africa
where his father worked for the British Railways.
His father, late Syed Muhammad Hussain Shamsi was a man of great piety
and virtue. He was highly respected
in the nascent Immigrant Muslims community.
He started a Sunday school for Muslim youth.
He was often assisted by young Haider with his teaching materials.
Haider was frail but hard working. He
had beautiful and skillful hands; his dexterous fingers drew well.
Of all his children, the elder Shamsi wanted Haider to be a Physician.
By careful supervision he steered his gifted son in that direction. When
he breathed his last in the Mayo Hospital, Lahore, his illustrious son was in
attendance as Doctor on his bedside.
Having
achieved the goal set by his father, Dr. Haider Shamsi was to dedicate the next
three decades bringing new lives to this world.
He was a highly respected Ob Gyn Physician; he taught the same subject in
Columbia Presbyterian Hospital where he breathed his last on April 21, 1999. 1
was in attendance at a special Memorial Service for him at St.Lukes Hospital.
Haider's previous Director who had also hired him nearly 19 years gave a
eulogy. In a failing voice, Dr. Robert Neuwirth said, "Dr.
Shamsi was a competent Physician, capable Professor and a man of great
integrity. He did not seek power;
he strived for excellence in his profession.
"
Purity
of intent, integrity of action and sincerity in relationship were the cardinal
features of Haider's personality. He
not only cherished these virtues but also practiced them.
His life is best described by a line from Allama lqbal's Zarbe
Katim:'Zameere pako-Khayale buland-o-Zauqe Lateef.' Pure Conscience, Lofty
Thought and Fine Aesthetics. He
was sensitive to all that was good. He
was I meticulously particular about details; he picked up the right gift, when
visiting friends or relatives (I dearly cherish his last present: a cassette of
Allama lqbal's Shlkwa & jawabe Shikwa).
Haider Bhai was generous in complimenting others.
He loved to share other peoples' moment of joy as if it was his own.
Seldom have I seen anybody exhibiting so much enthusiasm ... with supreme
genuineness as he did, on the simple pleasures of others.
I have witnessed those moments of bliss, of pure joy when his face would
radiate with subliminal happiness, a true happiness, born of only a heart that
is touched by Divine Mercy.
Dr.Haider
Shamsi was truly a man of God. He
was a very simple person. He was
humble and shunned any display or fanfare.
Last year, he wrote an article for a souvenir to be published on the
occasion of Ali Day. The compiler wished to add a little Bio of each author
along with the articles. Haider
Bhai did not agree because it might take away the purity of purpose. The organizers contacted me.
When I hesitantly called him to discuss it, he reiterated the same
argument. When I asked him to oblige them, he said, "Nasir Bhai, if they
insist, you may give them a small note yourself."
Dr.
Haider Hussain Shamsi was a great visionary.
In a fast changing world, there are unique challenges confronting the
Muslims living in the West. He
often shared with me his concerns regarding lack of preparedness in the
immigrant Muslims to meet these challenges. We often talked about the
unwillingness of our people to come out of their cocoon and to reach out and
communicate with the people of other faiths.
Unfortunately among some Muslims, there is a sheer apathy and
indifference to the undeniable need for change.
Allah
(swt) has laid down certain clear limits, or 'hudood'.
Acting within the frame work of these Limits or the Divine Guidelines ,
we are permitted to adapt and evolve in response to the new needs and
challenges, and, as Dr. Scott Peck says in his book, The Road Less Traveled,
"to conform to the reality of the cosmos and our role in it, as best as
we can know that reality--we must constantly revise and extend our understanding
to include new knowledge of the larger world. We must constantly enlarge our
frame of reference."
History
bears eloquent testimony to the fact that the nations which did not change,
perished. The Greeks and the Romans, these great empires are no more. Allama
lqbal, emphasizing this need to change among the Muslims, reiterated a verse of
the Qur'an in his poetry, as follows:
"Khuda
ne aai tak oos qaum ki halat nahin bedli / naho jisko khayal khood aapni halat
ke badlne ka" God does not change the condition of people until they
themselves wish to change their condition.
The
problem, Dr. Shamsi often surmised, was that many Muslims were prone to defining
religion too narrowly. Therefore, they had failed to evolve a macrocosmic view
of religion, with a proper response to the changes brought in by socioeconomic
and scientific developments. Dr.
Haider Shamsi was a devoted Shia Muslim. He
believed that Shia Islam had much to offer to the world because this school had
continued reinterpreting jurisprudence in the light of changing circumstances,
through. ijtehad'. In contrast, the
other schools of fiqh had unfortunately forsaken acceptance of change, assuming,
'the doors of ijtehad had been closed' nearly eight centuries ago.
Haider Shamsi sincerely believed we
had a lot to share with other communities.
He stressed it was time to forge unity between Muslims living in the
West; we must build bridges and learn to cooperate with one another.
Muslims have an obligation to share the Divine Message with others. We
must particularly develop a dialogue with the Christians and the Jews, the
followers of the Monotheistic Faiths-- who share with us belief in one God.
He wrote a Paper on the subject when he was invited to address an
assembly of Christians in his neighborhood Church.
It had been his most ardent desire to establish an Interfaith Library.
During his tenure as President of the Muslim Foundation, New Jersey, he
wanted to achieve this goal. He
even purchased a building, at his own expense, to house the Islamic Central
Directorate and the Library. The
community was apparently not yet ready to embark on this ambitious program; the
idea did not fly and eventually fell through, to his great dismay.
Haider Shamsi had profound
ideas about the education of Muslim children.
He was very concerned about the peer pressure they were faced with, at
schools and elsewhere. He was
always eager and willing to work on plans to help children.
He was conscious that parents' priorities were somewhere else.
They were too involved in the rituals.
Unless we addressed this problem, he said, we could lose the next
generation. So he embarked on his
own to organize last year a Muslim Youth Forum in North New Jersey so that the
young could share ideas and work together to find solutions to their social and
psychological problems. He devoted
a lot of his time to writing on the subject and in preparing reading materials
for the youth.
He had devoted his weekends to
the Sunday school for the last 15 years. He
would not miss a class. I remember
that morning. I was teaching
Islamic Ethics in Mehfle Shahe Khorasan Sunday School in Englewood. Haider Shamsi lived in the same town then.
One morning he came to observe the class.
He looked great in his pin-stripe shirt and gray sweater.
My lesson that day was, "How to say, NO ' " The boys and girls
were excited; the subject was close to their heart and they loved it.
Haider Bhai was visibly moved by an active and enthusiastic participation
of children in the lively discussion that ensued. At he end of the class, he
expressed great exuberance and asked me if he too could teach a class.
I gave him my personal copy of Safdar Hussain's Early History Of Islam
and the following week, he started teaching Islamic History to the class.
To everyone's delight, he proved to be an excellent teacher.
He used firsthand materials, maps and charts to make his lectures more
productive and understandable. Because
of his unique method and style of teaching, he was very popular with his
students, who looked forward to attending his lecture.
Later, he continued teaching Islamic History at Masoomeen School in New
York. He drove 50 miles to commute
to the School and took great pains in preparing for the class. The Masoomeen
children loved Dr. Shams! for his exemplary dedication.
He recognized there was need
for teaching literature in English. This
led to his writing two important books in English, The Prophets of Islam and
... And The Message Continues. The
latter consists of the biographies of the Twelve Imams.
Since I had edited the two books, I am aware how much time and effort he
had contributed to complete the two books.
Ironically, his second and last book, ... And The Message Continues
was in the Press when he passed away. Initially,
the book had a different title. One
morning, Haider called me to relate that he was thinking, and it had just
occurred to him, that it would be better to rename the book as it is now.
He wanted my opinion. "It
is very good," I said. He was
very pleased to hear that. Now when
I think of it in retrospect, I am amazed at his selection of this name for his
last book. And I wistfully but
assuredly whisper, "You are gone, my brother ... but the message
continues."
Haider was a visionary. Often we would speak, on the weekends or at the end of the day; we were sort of Mentor to each other; he held up a mirror to me and I to him, often checking on things and points of view about our favorite subjects. We would talk of the current and future shape of things. Haider had great plans. He was a dreamer (only dreams give birth to change). He talked about the youth, about the need to have a learning center for them where they could sit more comfortably as they do in other American schools; the need to have an Inter-faith Library and to publish a series of books to disseminate the Message; taking steps to foster unity among Muslims; adopting measures to promote understanding of Islam among the Christians and the Jews and to replace the stereotypes by a crystal clear understanding of our beliefs and practices.
Haider Shamsi did not only
envision things, he wanted to implement them right away.
He did not procrastinate. Truly a pragmatist, he pursued things that he
believed in, with great passion. In
1993, he and his wife, Adiba Shamsi registered a Private Charitable Foundation
called Al-Huda Foundation to help carry out some good work.
Since then, the Foundation has helped publish thousands of copies of the
translation of Qur'an in English and Spanish, among other acts of charity.
Haider used to share with me
his inner thoughts; there was always a certain sublimity, sincerity, genuineness
and purity in his soft-spoken words. Concerning
an idea we had been discussing for a while, he thought its time had come.
Just a month before his sad demise, Haider told me it was time to
implement our idea of developing a Retirement Residential Community where all of
us could live close to one another when we retire.
This facility will have a common area consisting of a small mosque,
library and conference room, by the lake. We
can sell our properties and move in there right away.
"Will you?" he asked me. "Surely",
I replied. And he was dearly
pleased. So let us do it, he said.
Haider was a charismatic but a very low profile person.
He did a lot of good things, but without fan-fare or display.
He would have started the first Retirement Community for Muslims in
America, had he not been recalled to his eternal abode where he now rests in
peace, in Allah's Protection.
Just as hard work pays off in
this world, those who strive in the way of Allah are richly rewarded in the next
world. The recipients of Allah's
Bounty, according to Qur'an, "are they who are steadfast in prayer, who set
aside a due portion of their wealth for the needy and the deprived; who truly
believe in the Day of Reckoning, and dread the punishment of their. Lord; who
restrain their carnal desires; who keep their trusts and promises and bear true
witness; and who keep a guard on their prayers. These are the people who shall be in the gardens, honored
(jannatin mukraimoon)." [Ma'arij: 33]
Allah (swt) calls these
peoples, "the servants of Allah, the purified ones (ibadillah hil
mukhlaseen). For them is a known
sustenance, and they shall be honored, in gardens of pleasure (jannatin
naeem)." (Saffat: 4043]
"Allah has promised to
the believing men and the believing women gardens, beneath which rivers flow, to
abide in them, and goodly dwellings in gardens of perpetual abode; and best of
Allah's good pleasure--that is the great achievement (fauzul azeem)."
[Baraat: 72]
May Allah (swt) the Master of
the Universe, who alone we worship and who alone we ask for help, grant eternal
peace to the departed soul, enlighten him with His own Light and may He give his
wife, Adiba Shamsi, adequate strength to accept His Will and to continue the
mission they had undertaken together, so that the message continues.