i met zacharia for the second time on february 8th, 2002. the first time i met him was some friday before that in the MCE library, 'abdus samad introduced us. he was wearing white pants. the months passed, he grew a beard, we would sit on carpets and talk about muhammad asad and malcolm x, the beauty of the deen. we spent some beautiful times at the MCE during i'tikaaf, all these things to the growing stream for my appreciation of him. when i went to syria, it was with his family i stayed; when he returned to damascus a year later, it was with me he (kind of) stayed. throughout this all, i have come to love the absolute sincerity he displays, his clarity of sight, the regard he gives the world. he is zachthecat, vice president of our MSA, a beloved brother. and between-times, we lie on the floor of the meditation room, quiet, as i try to soak up the barakah. (:
i don't remember the first time i met farooq, he just sort of grew with life. now the gentle giant, he started homeschooling in 2002, whereafter we became closer, comparing notes on englisch assignments. he was good enough not to say i told you so when i outgrew salafi stirrings. how do you explain someone, or talk about him, at all? i can say superficial, outside things, like he is one i am entirely comfortable around, no pretenses, we have a similar sense of humour, we sing together at sunday schools, we can realize 'no woman no cry' can be interpreted in two very different ways, can discuss sh.jibril's criticisms of martin lings' seerah, the superiority of the hanafi madhhab (ahem.), and so on - but all of these do not say anything about /him/. i'll...leave it at that.
except they're both leaving. in a few months, they're gone. disappeared. ne'er to be seen again. it's been good knowing you both, we've had some good times. remember me in your du'a, when you do remember me. name your children jake and roxanna. and so on.
hah. yes. here we are. (: both zacharia and farooq are going public, going official, it is...time. love is in the air.
zacharia al-khatib and saman atiq
and
farooq maseehuddin and salwa elladen
are now publically and officially...engaged.
"Remember your contemporaries who have passed...and were of your age."
- Imam al-Ghazali.
whee.
official announcement 1.
official announcement 2.
