Shehla Jawaid Passes away
A very courageous and caring community member, Sr. Shehla Jawaid, passed away on Tuesday, January 5, 2016. She was a cancer survivor, but died of other multiple causes. Inna lillahi wa inna ilayhi raji'oon.
May Allah rest her soul in eternal peace in Jannat al-Firdaus and give her family fortitude and courage to bear the monumental loss. My heartfelt condolences and sincere prayers are with the family. Sr. Shehla is survived by her loving husband of 37 years, Haider Jawaid, and three beautiful and handsome children, Naveen Jawaid, Amber Jawaid and Emraan Jawaid. May Allah make it easy for all of them to bear the loss with s abr jameel.
I have known Br. Haider Jawaid very well for the last four decades. His wife, Sr. Shehla, was an active and supportive member of the Muslim and Pakistani community of Southern California. Her unconditional love, active participation, strong community support and generosity were manifestly evident on many occasions over the years. Her kindness, jovial spirit, sense of humor and pliability will be deeply missed by all and sundry.
She earned my respect more than ten years ago after her bout with cancer. I was at a doctor's office reading magazines as usual and waiting for my wife, Shahana, to get done with her appointment. It was there that I came across a big, fancy and very professional looking book published by one of the medical organizations in the US. The book had real stories of survivors of chronic illnesses together with their pictures. Out of curiosity, I started flipping over pages to see if there were any Muslim survivors in the book. I went through the entire book and came across only one Muslim survivor and that turned out to be Sr. Shehla Jawaid. There she was in a full-page beautiful picture smiling in gorgeous Pakistani dress but completely bald. I was stunned by her outstanding courage exposing her medical history in order to encourage humanity at large not to give up, keep fighting and get treatment for any chronic illness. I salute her for her exceptional courage to this day.
She was an ardent reader of all my emails. Whenever she started a new treatment, she used to email me information about it saying, "Rafique Bhai, please pray for me". I unfailingly prayed for her, and most sincerely. Now that my considerate sister is gone, I will keep her and her entire family in my prayers, Insha'Allah indefinitely. May Allah bless her and her family.
Sr. Shehla Jawaid was laid to rest in the Rose Hills Memorial Park. May her soul rest in peace. - Rafique Ahmed
