MBK

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.

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