Shah ast Hussain (as)

 

My mother in law Wassim Abbas Qazilbash comes from an old Bihar Shia family of Siwan.
Her father late Zakir Hussain , migrated to Lucknow , became part of Lucknowi ethos, her father is still remebered , when Mualanas bring his name at their Majlis, a devout Shia with unflinching faith in Ahle Bait.He was always offering Salwad so the gebneral public called him Zakir Hussain Salwadi.
Her late father coined the word Bul Bul.. Bur Umar Lanat..curses on the enemies of the Ahle Bait.
No you know why my mother in law whom I call Wassim Baji, supports Maulana Agha Roohi, the Lion of Lucknow , Agha Roohi saab is a staunch tabarahi, so is my mother in law.
My mother in law respects Maulana Kalbe Jawad , but her admiration ends there, she is a fighter , this frail Shia woman, she fears not even fear, recently she fell down, while going for a Majlis , cut herself badly but was not aware of the blood flowing, she just wanted to be in time for Maulana agha Roohis Majlis, till the women noticed her state called her son Mohomed Arif of Diamond Cassettes , who immediately rushed her to hospital, a few stitches later, she was at another Majlis.
This is my Mother In Law.
A very puny woman, very feminine , very soft spoken, always giving the other person a chance to talk, a fabulous cook, a great mother to her 3 daughters one son.
She loves all her sons in laws, Shahid Bhai, Amir , and Me, but she loves me far too much , to the envy of the other two.
I married her elder daughter Afshaan , who was 14 at that time I was 25.This was a marriage on the rebound as I was madly in love with a Sikh woman who had left me because of my alcholism that had seeped into the walls of my flesh like soul.
No they did not know about my drinking..they give me their daughter, because my mother Shamim Shakir was the daughter of late Daroga Nabban Saab from the family of Mir Anis.
Maulana Kalbe Abid Saab solemnised my marriage Nov26 1977.
It is because of this solemnity of a great Shia Maulana that I faced all the marital hurdles, all the storms , tsunamis in the tea cup.
I have been off booze since 7 years.
I fell in love too , almost at the verge of tying the knot with an American lady, I told my mother in law, she uttered just a word that hit me badly,” I know whatever you do you wont forsake my daughter and her kids..”
This is not a confessional, but the strength of my mother in law, who now afer the passing away of my mother, has become my matrenal hope by default.
My mother in law is a Tabarahi, she curses the killers of Imam Hussain very openly, but she has no sectarian ill will, she lived with Sunni neighbors, her domestic is Sunni , but yes my mother in law is a devout Muslim.
She does not miss Namaz or Roza , she is always making pickles for my family, to send through someone or the other going to Mumbai.
A week back Asif Shakirs mother in law left for Mumbai, without taking the pickles, Wassim Qazilbash cried like a child , her life is a love for her grandchildren.
Her husband Abbas Qasim is incomplete without her..
I was honestly not much into congregational Shiasm, even after having a devout Shia wife, I never was so open about my Shiasm either, but much of the credit of getting me out of the closetof my confusion , into the mainstream of Shia spirtuality goes to Wassim Qazilbash and her daughter my wife Afshaan.
Everybody alwayds thought that my wife was married to a non Muslim , because of my Sadhu attire , the dreads , the whiskers are all gone..
My wife has more guts than me to walk with a man.. dressed as I am..
My mother in laws House Imambada is her spirtual domain, she decorates it herself, polishes the Alams, all roads in her building in her area lead to her Imambada..
Her greatest happiness was to see both wife and me in Lucknow to celebrate Ashura..
The indiscretionshown by the Shia hardliners , the mountain they made out of a mole hill , hurt her the most, know she must ave died each moment , this Shia woman, the Shia hardliners of Lucnow are spiritually hollow show offs, nothing but sectarian hate to their credit..I have written this piece as the mothers of the Shia hardliners too must be having devout mothers like Wassim Qazilbash..Tolerance is what seperates a wise Muslim man from a foolish Muslim man..
This is my tribute not just to my mother in law , but to all the brave Shia women , nameless , faceless, bringing us up with values..its how we emulate them that becomes the crux..of our existence.
I will never go to Lucknow.. but I am greatful that I improved my life through the ardent prayers of my mother in law..
A good mother in law is the greatest gift to a Man.
He is Blessed till Eternity.
In the eyes of his wife lies the reflection of a good mother in law…

HAZRAT ALIS NAZAR

May 25th, 2007

Posted by photographerno1 on 26 May 2007 03:36 pm
Filed Under: firoze shakir, house imambara, wassim qazilbash |