The sudden passing of a dear friend - Akram's Razor<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"As Shabana has reported, a dear friend, Ahmed Hussein, just passed away suddenly and completely unexpectedly in Baltimore. Inna lillahi wa inna\" \/>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/akramsrazor\/2006\/02\/the_sudden_pass\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"The sudden passing of a dear friend - Akram's Razor\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"As Shabana has reported, a dear friend, Ahmed Hussein, just passed away suddenly and completely unexpectedly in Baltimore. 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{"id":697,"date":"2006-02-09T08:57:55","date_gmt":"2006-02-09T08:57:55","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/akramsrazor\/2006\/02\/09\/the_sudden_pass\/"},"modified":"2013-05-07T18:41:46","modified_gmt":"2013-05-07T23:41:46","slug":"the_sudden_pass","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/akramsrazor\/2006\/02\/the_sudden_pass\/","title":{"rendered":"The sudden passing of a dear friend"},"content":{"rendered":"\n<\/head>

As Shabana has reported<\/a>, a dear friend, Ahmed Hussein, just passed away suddenly and completely unexpectedly in Baltimore.\u00a0 Inna lillahi wa inna ilayhi rajioon.\u00a0 \u00a0May he be forgiven for his sins and he be blessed with Jannah.<\/p>\n

Ahmed was a rarity, a truly kind and warm person.\u00a0 He was also a budding scholar whose knowledge of Islam, Sufism, and spirituality in other religions was inspiring.\u00a0 His jovial, light-bringing presence and mischevious sense of humor will be sorely missed by myself and countless people in\u00a0 DC and around the country.\u00a0 He really brought happiness wherever he went, which is so much more than most of us can say.<\/p>\n

Shabana reported his penchant for carrying a lota (see Wiki<\/a> for an indelicate but accurate explanation of this object, which, however much it may send shivers down contemporary Americans\u2019 spines, is at the heart of South Asian Muslim domestic life, and rightly so) around the office, to the utter horror of some of our non-Muslim colleagues (who couldn\u2019t grasp the fact that it was completely clean).\u00a0 That comical sight and the periodic ritual\/workout of giving him backrubs at his desk when his back acted up are the fondest of memories.\u00a0 <\/p>\n

I remember the impish glee with which he\u2019d conspicuously tote the lota in front of one particularly horrified colleague.\u00a0 Then there was the spectacle of his intense groans of\u00a0 relief intermingled with deep, Santa-like bellows at the pain sometimes caused by my violent efforts (he was a big man).\u00a0 It was a ritual we both came to enjoy.\u00a0 Those memories and countless others of his company I will always treasure.<\/p>\n

His janaza (funeral) service will be held at a Baltimore mosque, Masjid Rahmah, after jumah prayers this Friday.<\/p>\n

Please include him in your prayers.<\/p>\n

A reminder of how short life is and how precious good health is.<\/p>\n\n

Update: I\u2019ve since posted a longer reflection <\/a>on Ahmed and his life.<\/em><\/p>\n<\/body><\/html>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"