On 29 November 2003 in Cape Town, South Africa, he will be participating at Nelson Mandela’s Aids concert, alongwith other individuals such as Peter Gabriel, Paul McCartney, Bono and many many other artists.
On 22 October 2003, he received the World Social Award, presented to him by Mikhail Gorbachev, in Germany, for his humanitarian work in helping children and victims of war.
In these times when people with integrity, of any religious faith, seem so few and far between, this man and the work he does - whether it’s Aids or Bosnian orphans - it’s an inspiration to many of us. i wish we had more individuals like him around. i’ve never heard him waste time on sectarianism, never heard him waste time on blaming the ‘west’ for all the world’s ills [yes, something i do myself]. All he does is concern himself about what he himself is capable of in his own world - helping widows, elderly, orphans - whether they be in Kosovo or South Africa. If anyone wants to see a contemporary example of jihad al nafs in action, Yusuf Islam is one such example. Mr. Edhi springs to mind as another. Too bad such people are so rare in this world.
One other thing i love about him and the work he does, is that he doesn’t differentiate between ‘different’ Muslims - to him, a Bosnian Muslim is as much his brother as a South African Muslim. i feel sometimes as though we Pakistanis [not all, manifestly] get caught up so much in attaching assumed-superiority of nationality with our religious beliefs, that invariably we treat others differently not based upon how pious they are, but rather what country they originate from… or how light-coloured their skin is.
yahudi, i love you man i was just thinking that myself. Lemme know what you find out from the provided link. I’d definately like to see the correspondence between you and Cat Stevens.
i was just thinking that myself. Lemme know what you find out from the provided link. I’d definately like to see the correspondence between you and Cat Stevens.