AN OBITUARY FOR DR TARIQ MIRZA ALI (May Allah accept him Shaheed)

 

Dated 13th March 2015

 

I first met Dr. Tariq Ali in Ramadhan 2012 in London when he sat in a talk that Abu Izzadeen and I were giving just before Iftar in Regents Park Mosque. He told me afterwards that he first saw me in 2005 on BBC Newsnight following the 7/7 attacks and that he had always wanted to meet me.

 

Once we were acquainted I soon realised that Tariq Ali was no ordinary Muslim but rather in many respects an extremely exceptional one. Here was a man who refused to take orders when he was a Captain in the Pakistan army to fight against the Taleban because he feared dying at the hands of Mujahideen and going to the hellfire, despite the risk of himself being court marshalled and facing the firing squad.

 

As soon as I heard the incredible tale of how Tariq had escaped from Pakistan and sought asylum in Britain it was obvious that this story had to be told and I asked Tariq to make a video clip. In characteristic manner Tariq initially said that he was shy and had never done this before but later that same day I received a call from Tariq saying that in fact he would do it. The subsequent clip was quite simply amazing in the sense not only did Tariq relate his story in articulate detail but he also sent a strong message to others in the Pakistan army not to die apostates by fighting against Muslims at the request of the US.

 

As time went by Tariq became one of us in the UK Daw'ah field. However unlike many others he refused to be an observer. At the first demonstration he attended I asked Tariq to deliver a speech and he said that he had never done one before but that he would try to prepare something for the next protest. When that next one came along Tariq produced his written notes from his pocket and delivered an awe inspiring speech which one attendee said was one of the best he had heard at any protest.

 

I travelled around Britain taking Tariq as a companion and got to know him very well. The first time we travelled with Tariq we joked with him that the newcomer must sing a nasheed on the way home. Usually this results in light hearted humour due to an inability to sing. However when Tariq began singing his Urdu nasheed we were dumbstruck by his wonderful voice and the emotion he put into the Nasheed. In typical fashion the next time we travelled Tariq had memorised more Nasheeds and this time needed no prompting. He later became someone the brothers would call on to hear Nasheeds to fill their hearts with happiness and he never failed to respond.

 

A unique attribute of Tariq is that he never forgot the seriousness of the situation that the Unmah finds itself in and disliked drawing attention away from the serious task of calling to Islam and enjoining good and forbidding evil. To the extent that when his mother passed away (may Allah grant her paradise) in Pakistan, seeing as he had no passport to travel for the funeral prater, Tariq mourned in private and only disclosed his apparent sadness three days later to me. 

 

Tariq's skill as an NHS surgeon working at the Royal Free Hospital amongst others was also something which he used for the benefit of others outside of his work time. In once instance, instead of having me wait to be seen at the hospital to remove an infection in one of my fingers, Tariq brought his medical tools with local anaesthetic and operated at the back of a Cafe local to me! I wasn't the only one to benefit from having such a skilled Surgeon as a friend.

 

Another of Tariq's specialities was his love of Islamic history. When we initiated Shariah4Pakistan it was Tariq who soon became the main spokesman and who drafted the majority of the articles on the website including a detailed exposure of Muhammad Ali Jinnah, the so-called founder of Pakistan but in reality a pork eating, alcohol drinking Kaafir stooge of the British. He also dealt with all the questions and answers on the site himself in his spare time.

 

At a demonstration against the Shia committing atrocities against Muslims in Syria, Tariq came to the aid of Muslims fighting against Shia in Edgware Road, London. But before he could be brought before the UK courts, as a result of this confrontation, Tariq managed to escape and while on his way to join the Jihad in Iraq he was instead detained in Croatia and then deported back to Pakistan where he ironically joined the Taleban whom he had refused to fight before. He said that this is what Allah has destined and he was more than content with it.

 

We soon learnt that Tariq had became a spokesman for the Taleban and that his incredible skills were once again being put to use. 

 

Tariq never married and his

Maytytdom yesterday at hands of the murdering US and their drones, leaves behind the legacy of a man who exhausted his effort in Daw'ah and Jihad to see the implementation of the Shari'ah worldwide, wherever he happened to be.

 

An amazing story of an amazing and unique man. May Allah accept his martyrdom yesterday and enter him into his eternal paradise.

 

Mr Anjem Choudary

Friend of Dr Tariq Mirza Ali