Hafiz
Muhammad Bilal Khan Shaheed ? Muhammad Bilal Khan ? Hafiz ? Shaheed ? Bilal ?
I
first met him at Islamabad Press Club in one of the protests for War in Syria.
He was a juvenile, energetic lad frothing about here and there in the
demonstration field, meeting up with everybody. He asked me my introduction and
was appreciative of my commitment to social causes via my NGO. He said, ‘I am
with you’. I was rather flattered to have gained an instant volunteer for my
NGO, only to find out by the evening that he was already a rising and shining
star in the world of journalism much above my humble stature. He shared with me
some of his interviews to various channels. I was much impressed by his
eloquence in Urdu, journalistic knowledge and assertive aura.
In
the days to come, we kept crossing paths upon Geert Wilders, Aasia Bibi,
Qundooz Martyrs, and so on. He was always on top of the news, quick to respond
and respond by all modern fervor. He already had a Facebook page, a Twitter
account and soon opened his own YouTube channel as well. Once again, he spoke
and wrote very good Urdu, which is rare to find these days. It was pure,
original, powerful Urdu, independent of the crutches of English.
I
did find him a notch higher in protests than myself, but that’s okay. It is
okay to have a difference of opinion and freedom of expression, within sensible
boundaries of course. Somewhere the differences were slight and somewhere the
differences were glaring. Sometimes I also did find a touch of the viral male
chauvinism of the East in him and I did not hesitate to comment back and
reprimand him for it. Once I even threatened him to unfollow his official page.
Ma’sha Allah, he had a big fan following. He was bold and adamant to his
opinions but still took some care not to offend his followers to the point that
they unfollow him.
I
was secretly proud of him, because he was one of the rare. He was brave,
eloquent, Islamist and a journalist. A powerful combination indeed ! Was this
his crime ? Has he been murdered for this ? Was he more dangerous than Manzoor
Pashteen, who is still walking around free and alive ? Bilal’s last post was
about legislating respect of Sahaba RA in the Constitution of Pakistan. Did
that offend somebody ? Was that terrorism ? He was stabbed seventeen times !
And martyred in the legacy of the very Sahaba RA he defended. His lips were
reciting the Shahadah as he was received at the hospital.
He
wrote and spoke upon politics, religion, tourism, social issues … a number of
topics … but for no reason it keeps flashing before my eyes today a very cute
post that he posted one day about how to maintain and carry long locks of hair
for boys which he had and are the Sunnah of Prophet Muhammed SAW. He wrote
clear, step-by-step instructions as if doing a show for Zubaida Apa and even
posted pictures of his hairstyle from different angles.
He
was a budding gem indeed, still a student at International Islamic University,
Islamabad, who has been snuffed out by those losers who could not tackle him in
a journalistic sitting. May Bilal be with those right now, for whom he fought
for, Prophet Muhammed SAW and the Sahaba RA. May Allah Almighty give a
beautiful patience to his mother, father, fiancée, family, friends and
followers.
A mother to a mother, I would like to say to his
mother, ‘Allah has accepted your son only too soon … Ameen’, but the Muslim
nation has indeed lost a great spokesperson, for there are not many pen like
his.
