Omar Mukhtar Lion of Desert

Omar Mukhtar has been my favourite heroes. I came to know about this brave freedom fighter duritng college days when the film Omar Mukhtar the lion of the desert was released.

At those days I got myself attached with the Islamic movement and totally abstained from watching films. It was an experience - soothing, exhilerating one - to shoo away the influence of films.  Initially I counted the days without films. I counted upto 100. Then it is history. But Omar Mukhtar is the only exception. It was the only film I viewed in Theatre. I remember vividly the day I viewed in erstwhile Alankar Theatre in Madras. Note : I watched it with Brs P M Yousuf Patel, C Muhammad Parvez stalwarts of SIO then. We had gone to see the film after attending a three day training camp!


Then Br T Yousuff Basha gave the book on Omar Mukhtar. It was written by marumalarchi Yousuf Sahib and the narration was gripping. I read it while travelling in a bus. And I read it again and again. Here you can watch it.

Am I ready to face my Lord?

The Day...
It was 14th March, 2010, Sunday. The weather was salubrious and the train towards Chennai was moving fast...

The Train
The name of the train was Yelagiri Express. It usually departs from Tirupattur at 4.30 AM in the morning and reaches Chennai Central at 9.00 AM. It is known as JP Exp., Link Exp., etc. It is the most prefered train. It halts at Jolarpettai, Tirupattur, Vaniyambadi, Ambur, Gudiyattam, Katpadi, Arakkonam etc, etc.
The train was full of all kinds of people - traders, businessmen, housewives, students, office-goers, teachers etc.

The Men...
Janab H Abdur Raqeeb Sahib, Janab P Muhammad Yousuf, Janab C Tufail Ahmed were among those in the train which was moving fast towards Chennai. They are all veterans of the Islamic Movement in this part of the world and have spent decades in the struggle to establish Deen in all walks of life.
The weather was pleasant and the three musafirs of rah-e-huq cherished every moment of the journey. They were at their best as they were proceeding to Chennai for an important event. They were attached to Islamic Foundation Trust and they were on their way to attend the bi-annual meeting of the Board of Trustees of Islamic Foundation Trust. They were engrossed in deep discussion..

The incident...
When the train screeched to halt in Katpadi Junction, Br P Muhammad Yousuf and Br C Tufail Ahmed alighted from the train to get a cup of tea. They were never aware of what lied ahead them.

It was just an usual day. They have alighted here for tea umpteen number of times.

Then it happened.
They were in the platform roaming here and there in search of tea vendor. But , Strangely they could not sight the ubiquitous tea vendor.

Seconds moved fast into minutes.
Suddenly the train started to move. Both the brothers hurried to enter the train. Br CTA got the foothold and was in the train. Br PMY too followed suit.

Alas..! It happened in a fraction of a second..!
 To read more, click here!