Dr Yameen Zubairi’s Death: A Void Hard to Fill
By Mowahid H. Shah
I have known Dr Yameen Zubairi for over three decades. Through his passing, the Muslim community has lost one of its luminaries. It has left a void that will be hard to fill.
When I was the Editor of the EASTERN TIMES 20 years back, I was privileged to have Dr. Yameen Zubairi as one of its star contributors. His columns were always thoughtfully composed and well-reasoned. He was able to blend his deep insight into Muslim issues with his professional expertise in a Western setting.
Dr. Zubairi was one of the very few in the community who consistently applied his intellect with rigor and vigor to the pressing issues of the day. In this era of instant information and attention deficit, his concentration of mind would be hard to replicate. Dr. Zubairi was always engaged on ideas and I personally benefitted from his well-informed insights.
One abiding memory of Dr. Zubairi shall always be of his encounter with the late Begum Nusrat Bhutto during a meeting at the Embassy of Pakistan in October 1989, shortly after the PPP had assumed power. Dr. Zubairi -- through his questioning -- rattled Begum Nusrat Bhutto with his factual precision and historical grip.
I shall personally miss him. May his soul rest in peace.
(This message was read out by Dr. Yameen Zubairi's son, Rahail, during the memorial service on Saturday, May 19, at the Muslim Community Center (MCC), of the greater Washington, DC area).
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