A Tribute to Mr. Amin Selim (from someone who never met him)

Mr. Amin Selim. I've been hearing this name for a couple of years now, and never once was it mentioned in a negative context. I wasn't an IG student, and I haven't had the honor of getting to know him personally. However, I have four friends who know him well and have always been talking good about him.

On the day Mr. Amin died, I noticed everyone on Facebook and Twitter change their profile pictures and avatars to a photo of him. Facebook statuses, Facebook notes about him, and tweets all over Twitter mentioning what a great man and amazing teacher he was. Also, I was very touched by the event his students created just to make a خاتمة قرآن for him. 

I called a couple of my friends that knew him to tell them البقاء لله, and they were crying, not believing he's gone, going on and on about what a great man he was, and how he was the best teacher they've ever had. I'm a horrible person in situations like this. I didn't know what to say to them..

A whole week of seeing this man's name every time I get on the internet.

I was very curious to know how this man got everyone around to love him that much. How can someone possibly do that? 

Then came the ganaza announcement. Saturday 8:30am. Who will possibly go to a ganaza that early? I was wrong thinking this would result in only a few people attending. It seemed from people's posts and comments that everyone was going. I couldn't get my mind to stop thinking about all this..... I finally decided that I want to attend his ganaza. I thought a million times about how weird I'd feel and how weird I'd look, going to a ganaza of someone I never met. At the end, I decided I'm going anyway.

Saturday 7:30am, I woke up to the alarm clock, very energized, even though I had slept really late the night before. Yes, I'm finally going to see part of the difference this man has left behind. 

8:30am I was there. The ladies' praying area was almost full. More girls and women kept filling up the place. I kept watching people around, everyone looked sincerely sad, some were crying, and some were saying some prayers for the best teacher they've ever had. 

The ganaza prayer started when the place was literally packed. 

ثبت في حديث ابن عباس عن النبي صلى الله عليه وسلم أنه قال: (ما من رجل مسلم يموت فيقوم على جنازته أربعون رجلاً لا  يشركون بالله شيئاً إلا شفعهم الله فيه) رواه مسلم

I'm positive that Mr. Amin must have done great things in his life for Allah to grant him all this love from everyone around him.

I want to dedicate this post to Mr. Amin's family and students. I'd assume that everything I've seen and heard about this man is a sign that Allah truly loves him. No one should worry about where he is now.

قَالَ رَسُولُ اللَّهِ صَلَّى اللَّهُ عَلَيْهِ وَسَلَّمَ : " إِذَا أَحَبَّ اللَّهُ الْعَبْدَ نَادَى جِبْرِيلَ : إِنَّ اللَّهَ قَدْ أَحَبَّ فُلانًا فَأَحْبِبْهُ فَيُحِبُّهُ جِبْرِيلُ ، ثُمَّ يُنَادِي جِبْرِيلُ فِي أَهْلِ السَّمَاءِ : إِنَّ اللَّهَ قَدْ أَحَبَّ فُلانًا ، فَيُحِبُّهُ أَهْلُ السَّمَاءِ ثُمَّ يُوضَعُ لَهُ الْقَبُولُ فِي أَهْلِ الأَرْضِ " .

القبول فى الأرض ..

I'm not sure if I should feel sad that I missed out on knowing a great person like Mr. Amin. However, I'm sure that even though I didn't get the honor of knowing this great man personally, he still inspired me that it's possible to make a huge difference in this world, and leave a legacy behind..

أشعر بالغبطة نحو هذا الرجل الذى لم أره فى حياتى .. 

الله يرحمه ويصبر أهله ..