Sa’eed Anwer comes to Islam

whizpen ♦ July 29, 2011 ♦ 1 Comment

                     Saeed Anwer was born a Muslim. But unfortunately his life was not like that of one. Just like millions of others who lived under a muslim name but sadly did not have in them that which Islam had to offer.ie “salam” or “peace” meaning peace of mind, peace of soul and peace of body. This peace, which is sought after by many in this chaotic world, is not something that all muslims have. It is something a muslim has to seek. And Sa’eed Anwer, the world renowned Pakistani cricket star did not have it.

                   There was most probably no cricket fan who had not heard of him and no Pakistani who had not admired him. Cricket was his life and his soul and nothing and nobody came before his sport. Not even his family. When victorious in any match or series he was jubilant, but when Pakistan lost…..well….all was not well. Upset, sad and angry he would shut himself in a separate section of the house that was meant only for him and which held all necessary facilities, for some days at end withholding himself even from his family until he got over his teams’ defeat. And until that time no one disturbed him.

                      One such time when Pakistan had lost a match and the cricketer had shut himself up for a few days until one night his solitude was disturbed by an urgent knock at his door. Angry at being disturbed, he opened the door only to find his distraught wife. Their daughter who had not been well for a few days had just passed away. And Sa’eed Anwer, shut inside, hadn’t even known about his daughter’s illness.

                        Cricket might have been his priority. But yet, nothing can be compared to a fathers love for his daughter. Shocked and grief stricken Anwer left the his home and went to the only place his numbed mind could think of : the local masjid or mosque, a place he did not usually frequent . But being late in the night he found the masjid closed. Not knowing what to do and not willing to go back home he sat on the steps of the masjid and in a little while fell asleep on its steps.      

                  Recounting that moment to a scholar of Islam “if you had seen my bed at home you would have seen how comfortable it was, but that night I slept in the steps of the mosque was the first time I had slept so peacefully”. And so it was in the tragedy of his beloved daughter’s death that the Pakistani cricket hero found solace and strength, at the doorstep of the house of God. A place he had not seeked before. Sa’eed Anwer had come to Islam.