“People are asleep. When they die, they awaken.”
Back in 2009, when I started working at Brown University, there were only three full-time Muslim chaplains in the Ivy League: myself, Omer Bajwa at Yale, and Sohaib Sultan at Princeton. The three of us worked together and coordinated many things, recognizing the privilege and responsibility our positions entailed. We each hosted an annual gathering of university Muslim chaplains at our respective campuses. Sohaib hosted a retreat for our students at a summer camp style facility that Princeton owned (picture below, where Sohaib was doing something silly – telling a jinn story? – and I had to capture it on camera). Omer hosted the Ivy League Muslims conference and Sohaib drove his students from the West and I drove my students from the East to converge on New Haven. It was a beautiful experience of starting something new, something that I had never experienced as both a Muslim undergrad at Brown and graduate student at Princeton.
I left my position at the end of 2013 right before our son was born, as my wife had a job in New Jersey at the time. Both Omer and Sohaib stayed in their positions, and as long as they were still working together I felt a sense of nostalgia and connection to “the old days.” But now I know those days are over forever. When I look back at it, it truly feels like a dream. When I look through my old pictures, I hardly feel like it was real.
And strangely enough, that is what gives my heart the most comfort at all. To hope that I will wake up in the next life, and Sohaib, Omer and I will be together in the company of the men and women we each tried to emulate and serve to the best of our ability. And we’ll think about our short time in this dunya and laugh at the beautiful dream it was, as we awaken to eternal possibilities in gardens underneath which rivers flow.
Our Lord! Admit them into the Gardens of Eternity which You have promised them, along with the righteous among their parents, spouses, and descendants. You are truly the Almighty, All-Wise. (40.8)
A Mercy Case 
Allahumma ameen. This is such a beautiful reflection. I am so grateful for the generosity and dedication of our Muslim chaplains and am grateful for everything you taught us at Brown – thank you so much. May Allah have mercy on Imam Sohaib and grant him and all of us the highest jannah, ameen.
Ameen! Thank you so much for your kind words. I hope all is well with you and your loved ones.
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