Abrar Reyaz –Irreparable loss to Shopian

Zahid Hassan

Dard e dil k waastay paida kiya insaan ko
Warna iteaat k liyay kuch kam na thay karobiya

Allah proclaims in Quran, “Every soul shall taste death, and only on the Day of Judgment will you be paid your full recompense.”
Life is transient, short span and a vanishing period that meets destiny in the hereafter world. This temporary material world will terminate and everlasting eternal world will start to begin. We are here for the preparation in order to achieve success in the eternal test. This transition phase will be executed by death which acts as a gateway from this worldly life to afterlife. Every living being has to face death irrespective of caste, creed, colour or sex. Almighty in Quran says that
[He] who created death and life to test you [as to] which of you is best in deed – and He is the Exalted in Might, the Forgiving (chapter 67 verse 2)
In the above verse Allah clearly mentions death first and then life in order to bring out the dilemma of this material life which we think is long-lasting but Allah beautifully erases our confusion. The life of Barzakh( the whole period between the Day of Resurrection and death) will start after death until the time of great resurrection, The Judgement Day and we will be accounted for our deeds.
What matters is how we spent this time of preparation, highlights our results in the eternal world .Either modestly or arrogantly, benevolently or scornfully, sympathetically or unsympathetically, humanely or inhumanely, friendly or unfriendly, honestly or dishonestly, selfish or unselfish , generous or egoistic. These attribute the reality and define the domain of a person in both worlds. It characterises them the reality of being a supernatural creature. Such people contribute to humanity and serve the mankind in the best possible way. They define the real meaning of being a human.One of them was our best friend Abrar Reyaz , hailing from south Kashmir’s district Shopian.
Abrar was modest, kind, peace minded, pious and generous person who was famous for his sympathy and friendly nature with everyone. His fame among his peers and followers rises from the very beginning when he started to go through the Islamic books in deeper sense. This made him to change his dwelling room into library within few years. He always tried to escalate right ways and prevented people from practising bidʻah (Arabic: بدعة‎; refers to innovation in religious matters) through his talks with various Islamic scholars and Muftis of Kashmir, since in Kashmir most of the people are unaware about the right and proper Islamic rituals and practices.
This made him to be a significant and worthy individual of Shopian . He was sharp at his studies and always focuses on deeper sense of knowledge. He was considered aficionado and source of knowledge in his field. After attaining A grade in matriculation he opted non-medical stream and also succeed in intermediate exams too. Although being a science student his enthusiasm and essence in his interested field of analysis and perception of current status quo never bows down which enable him to join the department of legal studies at Central University of Kashmir.
At Central University of Kashmir his zest and zeal for books bloom him like a flower and started writing for newspapers and various dailies. He wrote for justice, peace, Kashmir issue and youngsters tranquillity. I remember in 2016 when he along with his two colleagues wrote,” An open letter to Mehbooba Mufti” which was published in a national daily and various newspapers of Kashmir. During the Asifa’s case when not only Kashmir rises but the whole world protests and demanding justice for Asifa, Abrar wrote many articles and through his social media shout the voice for peace and justice of the innocent Asifa. He was the voice to voiceless and downtrodden people.
Abrar’s room was set, full of reminders and the important dates/points. His art of delivering and presenting speech was incredible and extraordinary which enumerated him among ardent speaker. This enables him to earn name and fame in Central University of Kashmir and he was among 5 students who qualify for the international rounds of the Nuremberg Moot Court, scheduled at Nuremberg Germany in which 60 qualifying universities participated all over the world. This team made its position one among the top three universities.

Abrar Reyaz at Nuremberg Germany
Abrar was a shining star and role model for the yongesters of Shopain. During the pandemic time when everyone in Kashmir was busy with the Turkish historical drama, Dirilis Ertugul, Abrar was interpreting the exegesis by Dr Israr Ahmad and other Islamic scholars with a time division for his legal studies. He was always pointing the pros and cons of Kashmir dispute and their effects on the current and future generations.
It was the same pandemic when Abrar along with his father and uncle met with the severe accident on the way from Shopian to Srinagar. His uncle died on the spot and Abrar with his father were critically injured and were shifted to SMHS hospital Srinagar. Abrar had serious injuries to his head and was battling thoroughly in SMHS but pandemic protocol declare Abrar COVID-19 positive and was shifted to CD hospital where Abrar left for the heavenly abode and bid us good bye forever. It was the day when mayhem and havoc prevails over Shopian. Irrespective of age groups all were in a state of despair, in a state of chaos and confusion.
Abrar’s end was was the end of desperation and hope for those who considered him a role model. His decrement was the decrement of the voices to downtrodden people of not only Shopian but to the whole Kashmir. His loss left Shopian crippled and maimed. His separation provokes Shopian to be in a state of desperation and with his quit, Kashmir lost its future advocate, lawyer and Leader.
I culminated Abrar Reyaz in my poem
While I was chasing hope and aspiration
A thunderbolt suddenly throbs on my heart
Wrecked down me beneath the soil
Left me paused, crippled as if the earth was into its agony
Who was that? Whom downness leads the failure of silver lining of dark clouds?
O Abrar O! We have been Luna moths
Burn us for your love make us your companions
Don’t desolate us in this lone desert
Our hearts have been chocked, fretted with your longings and memories
How can we call u slain, lifeless? U were our jugular vein
How can we live without u Abrar?
Death is inevitable and everyone has to face it one day. It is Allah who decides the time and fate of people and nobody can resist before nature, so was Abrar’s 24 thrilling years. All we can say may your soul be rest in peace. May Allah give you the highest place in Jannah . May you live thousand of thousand times better and happiest life in Barzakh and may Allah keep you amongst the Illiyin (Righteous believers) and keep you away from Sijjin (sinners and disbelievers). And we will meet you in the afterlife Inshallah and there will be no separation anymore.
Author is a friend of Abrar Reyaz and student at GCET Jammu can be reached at emmzahid7@gmail.com