by Yacoob Cassim
Onboard the Pakistan International Airlines flight which crashed late of Wednesday afternoon was Junaid Jamshed former pop singer turned Islamic scholar and his wife. The tragedy of his death sent shockwaves throughout the country. Jamshed was originally a secular liberal interested in Western Music. He is known to have emerged during the eighties in a band known as Vital Signs alongside band mates Bassist Shahzahd Hassan and Keyboardist Rohail Hyatt.
Since 2001 Jamshed reverted to a more Islamic lifestyle and abandoned his formerly glamorous music career. He became involved with a wide range of entrepreneurial enterprises with businesses as diverse as Travel Agencies, high fashion and high-end butcher shops. He became a preacher on National television whose lectures and religious podcasts drew large crowds. He became a born again Muslim and abandoned his pro- western lifestyle. Jamshed would often spend much of his free time in Jamaat in propogation of the Islamic faith and had a special connection to young people.
Jamshed has been hailed in several quarters as a community builder and a force of unity in an often divided Pakistan. Junaid Jamshed and his family and every one who died on board the ill-faithed PK 661 caused an outpouring of grief on social media by Pakistanis and others from around the world. Former Pakistani cricket player turned politician Imraan Khan described Jamshed as a ‘bridge builder’ and an inspiration to millions of young people in Pakistan and across the globe. In a turbulent period of political instability in his home country Jamshed has been called a ‘soothing influence’ often taking from his own pocket to help those less fortunate than himself with many charitable foundations close to his heart.
Despite his past Jamshed has been viewed largely as a beacon of hope and a symbol of the beauty that Islam has to offer to all. His legacy will not soon be forgotten.
May Allah accept all his efforts. Ameen.