RIYADH, 3 October — In this world of make believe where the rich and the mighty are often honored at the drop of a hat, rare are felicitations of unsung heroes. But, for the social elite of the capital city it was a great moment of reflected glory as they chose to immortalize a tale of two true Muslims who defied the odds to care and share.
It is a story of two ordinary men who, like the rest of us, work long hours to eke out a living. But they proved that they have a heart of gold and a zeal to share others’ sorrows though they have their own cupful.
They are Abdus Sakur of Bangladesh and Javed Jilani of Pakistan.
Sakur is engaged in a construction business in Hofuf and Mina. He is a sub-contractor and far from rich. But, recently, when a 38-year-old Bangladeshi entrepreneur, Eklasur Rahman, suddenly died of a heart attack, Sakur proved himself to be rich at heart. He came forward to pay the debts that Rahman had left behind. Contrary to what the community thought, the debt turned out to be very large. But Sakur did not back off. In spite of his own financial constraints, he cleared the debt and also contributed to the Special Trust Fund created for Rahman’s 2 1/2-year-old daughter.
Interestingly, according to Dr. Abdul Momen, a prominent American professor, Sakur did not even know Rahman for long. He had heard of him as a good person and met him casually through a common friend only a few weeks prior to his death. Rahman left behind his wife, a baby girl, his old mother as well as two dependent nephews.
Another guardian angel was a Pakistani, Javed Jilani, an assistant librarian at the Riyadh-based Saudi Industrial Development Fund (SIDF).
When a poor Bangladeshi laborer, Abdul Basher, who worked in Saudi Arabia for many years as a cleaner lost vision in one of his eyes and was about to lose in the other, Javed came forward to help him. He initiated efforts for his medical treatment and later arranged his safe return to Bangladesh.
Both these role models who went out of their way to help the needy in their hour of distress were felicitated at a glittering function organized here last night by Dr. Momen, who is currently a consultant for a government agency.
The event was attended by a cross-section of community leaders and prominent expatriates from the US, Canada, the UK, Ireland, the Netherlands, France, Bangladesh, Somalia, Philippines, and Saudi Arabia including a number of diplomats, doctors, engineers and other professionals.
Sakur and Jilani were introduced to the crowd by Dr. Momen, who is himself involved in humanitarian activities. “Let us applaud Sakur and Jilani for their humane work, generosity and help. Thank you all for joining me to show our respect to them”, said Dr. Momen.
Prominent expatriates like William Cornish, Dr. Abdulaziz Al-Oshban, Dr. Manjurul Islam, Dr. Sultan Mahmud, Dr. Syed Akthar Kamal, Gregory Winston and Brig. Gen. Mostafizur Rahman thanked Dr. Momen for recognizing such “unsung heroes”.
