Al-Qalam 
By Al-Qalam Reporter
Only days before Award-winning broadcaster and author Marhoom Shafa’at Ahmed Khan passed away, he had learnt with joy that he was nominated as a trustee of the Islamic Propagation Centre International (IPCI) – a dream he had nurtured for half his life.
This emerged during a tribute to Marhoom Shafa’at Ahmed Khan held at Ismail Bemath Caterers in Newlands West. Over 200 people attended the tribute of this legendary personality. Some of his friends and colleagues had warm words to say about this dynamic figure.
Al-Qalam journalist Ismail Suder, who was a guest speaker, spoke about his three-decade-long friendship with brother Shafa’at Ahmed Khan
Addressing the packed hall, Suder told the crowd about his interaction with him: “Just two days before I left on a business trip to Lahore in Pakistan, Shafa’at phoned me to say that I was going to hear important news about him. I pleaded with him to tell me what it was, but he brushed me off with, ‘Don’t worry, brother, you will hear big news about me this week’. Three days later, while in Lahore, I read a WhatsApp message that he had suddenly passed away. It was a major shock to me as much as it was to thousands of his avid listeners.
“I’ve been grappling with the meaning of his words: ‘You will hear big news about me this week.’ I question myself whether his cryptic words to me was a premonition of his passing or whether the ‘big news’ related to him being nominated to become a trustee on the board of the IPCI – Allah knows best,” Suder said.
Marhoom Shafa’at Khan, who had mastered the art of broadcasting live from a studio at his Isipingo Beach, had over a million listeners combined on the radio stations he worked for, namely Radio Al-Ansaar, Sirius FM, Markaz Sahaba and Channel Islam.
Shabir Basha, an executive of the IPCI and a Director of Radio Al-Ansaar, told Al-Qalam that it was hard to say whether the words uttered to Suder were related to his nomination. “Because of his long association with the IPCI, where he was editor of the IPCI magazine, Al-Burhan and his close association with Shaik Ahmed Deedat, and his all-round skills on the workings of the IPCI, it was decided by Dr M. Khan (trustee) and I to nominate Shafa’at as a trustee of the IPCI, but nothing had been finalized as we were waiting to have a person-to-person meeting with him.
“I communicated this important news to him on the phone and he was excited. We arranged to meet to talk further, but on two occasions, the meeting was unfortunately postponed. On Thursday, the morning of his show – and the day of his passing – I spoke to Shafa’at and told him I will SEE him later. Little did I know that I would SEE him – but at his janaza that evening. May Allah Ta’ala give him the highest stages of Jannah, InshaAllah,” he said.
However, Suder told the guests that it was Shafa’at’s lifelong dream to become a trustee of the IPCI. In a book that he authored, called MY Golden Hand Shaik with Ahmed Deedat, he wrote that after Shaik Deedat returned from a tour of Australia, he attended an IPCI board meeting – which was to be his last – before he was afflicted with a stroke that left him bedridden for the rest of his days.”
Shafa’at wrote: “Much transpired at the meeting but one of his last words that Shaik Ahmed Deedat uttered was: ‘Shafa’at Ahmed Khan should be nominated as the next Trustee of the IPCI”.
“It touches my heart and reassures me that I was special to Shaik that he took the time during his last few hours of audibility to announce that he wanted me to be appointed as a trustee of the IPCI. After that we never heard the Shaik speak again.” Shafa’at wrote.
At the tribute, many speakers spoke warmly about how Shafa’at had touched their lives in many ways. Speakers included Islamic scholar Shaykh Rafick Hassan, co-presenter Mufti Ebrahim Smith, MP Ahmed Munzoor Shaik Emam, Lawyer Saber Jazbhay and many others.
At the tribute gathering, Shaykh Rafick Hassan summed it up well: “Radio was not just a “job” but a calling and a passion. He learned the importance of media under his mentor Sheik Ahmed Deedat. This passion coupled with wit, humour, versatility and his unique voice – resonated with his listeners which became imbedded not only in the hearts of the listeners, but also to his myriad of diverse guests, his studio colleagues and all those who came into contact with him. He was also bold and fearless and did not shy away from tackling “difficult” issues affecting the Ummah. He has left a great void that would be difficult to fill.”
