In the name of Allah, the most Merciful, the most Beneficent!
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| Abba Jaan with S2 |
3 years ago we said goodbye to our dearest AbbA Jaan, who was the best father one could ask for. I know everyone says they have/had the best father, but our father was truly exceptional, I look back at the things he taught us and did for us and find his actions and teachings exemplary. He was so different from a typical orthodox father, especially considering he brought up 4 girls. Here are just few things on top of my mind, there are many that I must be forgetting right now, or were just to young to remember.
He was a a father who taught us driving while living in Saudi Arabia, in deserts risking himself, he taught us the concept of blind spot, importance of seat belts, and basics of driving before we were even teenagers. Every time I leave house I check the stoves, when I get in the car I make sure to lock the doors, check no article of clothes are stuck in the door, just because that is what he taught us.
While he was in Khobar and us in Riyadh, M said to to him
on phone I wish you were here to help me with my Arabic examination like you did with all others, and he told her to go to sleep and dont worry, he drove 5 hours and taught her all night, changed into office clothes, and drove 5 hours straight and went directly to office in Khobar. He cooked us dinners from scratch in Khobar, while Ammi was with S1 and H in Riyadh helping the with their exams.
AbbA jaan had to look for a job an entire year in Riyadh, yet he bought us things, took us to places just so we do not feel any less privileged, He bought us everything he would buy if he had a son, from a home library with 10,000 books, to computer as soon as it was available in market, to remote control cars and helicopters. We never felt we were not good enough for him. Someone asked him if he prayed for a son when he got an opportunity to visit Mecca, and he said why would I, I will gladly welcome 4 more daughters like the ones I have!!
Couple of years before he passed away, someone asked him you lived in Saudi Arabia for more than 20 years, you do not have any investments or assets, and he replied I have four solid investments. He considered his four daughters his biggest assets and poured everything he had into us along with Ammi.
Most of the parents support their children even after failures, but AbbA and Ammi were the kind of parents who encouraged us not to be scared of failures before they happened. I remember when we used to be nervous before exams, instead of saying study harder then, or saying you should have wasted less time on computer, he would ask us, what is the worst that can happen, that you will fail? if you fail, you can sit the exam again!!! Such sense a relief would wash over us.
After marriage when we would visit Pakistan and wander around shopping, He would accompany us with a torch, water and snacks, play with our kids while we shopped, and even held torch to help us finish shopping when the load shedding occurred in stores, all with a smile!! He considered it his pleasure, I feel awed at at times to think what a patient and selfless father he was, and of course feel I never appreciated him enough while he was here.
He took us to places like Iran, UAE, Pakistan cross country trip, all around the Saudi Arabia, chose to spend money on good houses while we were growing up, because he said I cannot promise what will happen after they all get married, but I want to ensure they have a great life while we are with me, which we truly had. Alhumdulillah.
Abba Jaan was an exceptional human being, instead of money he used to keep biscuits and juices for the beggar kids, and give them that, because he knew the money would be snatched by their handlers but the snacks they could eat right away, he used to keep extra petrol in a can in his trunk and stop for every car/motorcycle in trouble, especially during strikes, he would stop his car, cross traffic just to remove objects he would think could cause accident, he would fight an innocent's fight risking his life. May Allah guide us to do the same for others as selflessly as he did.
We were truly blessed and privileged to have AbbA Jaan as our father and Ammi Jaan as our mother, cannot thank Allah enough, and that makes it even harder to live without him. May Allah make us his and her best investments ever, Ameen. Miss you so much AbbA jaan. I am sorry but I still have not found the courage to see any of your videos yet, just cannot. No words can describe the pain and loss. and no time does not heal everything, the pain is as raw as 2012.
If you made it to the end of my father's tribute, please pray for his maghfirah, remember him in prayers that Allah grant him with the highest rank in Jannah, he was truly amazing for his family, may Allah reward him immensely for that. (AAMEEN)
Written by S2 (as Abba jaan would have called her) on the 3rd Death Anniversary of Hashim Syed.
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