Farhad Qaisar
Shamail Ahmed - Water for Life
Fundraising for Humanity First UK
Story
In memory of my nephew who passed away on the 6th of January 2023, I am fundraising to help install a well for life in Africa to help provide clean drinking water to the poor. As part of this appeal, it will also help refurbish older water wells for villages with unstable drinking water systems. A name plate of Shamail will be installed on the well too.
My nephew was always striving to improve himself and his health through his mental health difficulties. This appeal, with the help of Humanity First UK, will allow his family to fulfil his sincere desires and dreams of making this world better for the less fortunate.
Humanity First drills water wells, make boreholes and install and repair hand pumps to provide clean drinking water in remote villages and poor communities in Africa, South East Asia and Central/South America. It takes £2,000 to provide a clean water well to a village of 100 for a lifetime. A further £750 is required to refurbish an existing water well system.
If you stand for the same principles then do donate and spread the love by sharing and promoting this link.
Finally thanks for taking the time to visit my JustGiving page.
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*Shamail Ahmed - Obituary* - written by Farhad Qaisar
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The word Shamail is of Arabic origin and means an all-comprehensive person. I would like to share a few thoughts about a young man who was blessed with a brief life characterised by his namesake – Shamail.
Shamail Ahmed, who passed away on the 6th of January 2023 at the age of 24, was a loving son, caring brother, and friend to many. He was also my eldest nephew. Born in Bruchsal, Germany, Shamail moved to London in 2007 with his family. He passed away at his home in south London after over 3 years of battle against mental health.
My nephew’s life was simple and he asked very little from others, not just from life itself. He wanted to be understood and loved, given time and most importantly, due to his young age and the illness he carried, have fun activities with.
Shamail was a member of the Ahmadiyya Muslim Community, whose motto is 'Love for all, hatred for none'. As an Ahmadi Muslim, he tried his level best to draw himself to a Higher Being, through the spiritual direction from the loving Caliph of the community, Hazrat Mirza Masroor Ahmad.
As part of this local community services, Shamail part took in various humanitarian activities with his local youth organisation (Majlis Khuddamul Ahmadiyya). This included homeless feeding in Central London, an activity where he learnt to cook pasta for the first time and pack and seal it with a regional team for distribution. He also took care of community cleanliness, which is a large part of the beliefs of his faith, by performing street litter cleaning on New Year’s Day.
His ethos in this regard was encapsulated by the saying of the second Ahmadi caliph, Mirza Bashiruddin Mahmood Ahmad, who stated: 'Nations cannot be reformed without the reformation of the youth.'
In 2019 Shamail also had the opportunity to make his journey to the Holy City of Mecca for Umrah, a lesser Islamic pilgrimage than Hajj, with his mother and maternal grandparents, a journey that he found very enlightening and had deeply cherished.
Shamail was a shy character and would hesitate to take up any titles or roles in the local community team, but always wanted to serve humanity whilst fighting his own battles inside of him. He had a contagious smile, an act of his that always reminded me of Prophet Muhammad’s (peace be upon him) saying, that “even a smile is charity.”
Shamail was deeply loved by our family, but his family wasn’t just us. His closest to distant relatives remember him for his obedient, content and cheerful nature. He respected and had a lot of love for them all. I can confidently assert that even if an unknown person who met Shamail once and never saw him again will remember him for his gentleness.
His battle against his mental illness is extremely moving for me. I saw him grow from a baby to a young adult with many hopes and dreams, and we’d spent long nights and talked for hours some days in his late teens discussing and planning his future.
During the acute moments of his illness, he liked boxing and was a regular at ABC boxing club in Earlsfield, London. He went to Ernest Bevin College in south London for A-levels where he loved using the college’s gym facilities. This would help him burn off not just physical but mental pressures he was going through in his life.
His character of not hurting someone’s feelings was something he literally took to his deathbed, as he never wanted to share his innermost thoughts even with me, his closest ally, in order to not cause me any distress. He felt enormous anguish that in his final years he thought he couldn’t become the young adult he wanted to be. But his family loved him and were there for his every journey in life. I knew it wasn’t ever easy for him.
Shamail, as his name suggests, gave life his all before it departed from him. He was the unknown servant of his faith. There may not be any mentions of him on television, of acts of bravery and magnitude he had done, but which he did have the potential to achieve if he had the chance. He ultimately inspired and left me more inclined towards spiritually.
My nephew passed away in much pain he carried with him most of his life, in his room, weak in body but stronger than ever in spirit.
I don’t want you to feel pity or sorrow for my nephew - nothing haunted him more than that thought which is why he was extremely private. On the other hand, he felt tremendous happiness when he spent time with me working on his dreams, right before our KFC bucket meals.
So let it do just that. Instead of mourning his death, I ask you to honour his brief life on earth. Live every day for others and not just for yourself. Set goals and ambitions and be persistent. Give time to your family and forgive your relatives. Check on your neighbours and see how they are doing today. Raise your children well and always give them a smile, if possible a smile similar to Shamail’s.
I’ve seen Shamail spend 24 years smiling, although less in his final years due to his illness. But from a gullible kid to a handsome 6ft and beyond giant I just know that such acts would make his smile widen a little more, and I have a firm feeling he’s in a better place, which is heaven, God willing.
Shamail is survived by his father and mother along with his two younger sisters.