The Passing Away of a Dear Friend: Abdalla A. Hirad.
By Ali Bahar
September 27 , 2009

Waligeed Rag Waa Go'i Jiree Tanise Waa Gaare:
Inaa Lilaahi Waa Inaa Ilaahi Raajicuun.

Abdalla Ahmed Hirad

On the evening of September 22nd 2009, many of us have lost a dear friend and a valuable member of our community, Mr. Aballa A. Hirad. He passed away in New York with his loving wife on his side.  He died from diabetic complication.
My sincere condolence to his wife, Fartun Hassan, his mother and his two sons.

Abadalla loved life, and with his strong and wonderful wife always by his side, he enjoyed life as much as he could to the end; even when he was fighting major multiple health complications that were eating away some vital organs of his body. He always amazed me with his upbeat attitude, cracking jokes and never complained about a bad day or because he couldn’t do certain things without the help from those who loved him, his wife and his two sons. He was a proud man who never wanted anyone to feel sorry for him. He put up a fight to beat the odds stacked against his life and Fartun, his loving wife, was relentless in her determination to educate herself enough to know all that she could about the disease that ultimately destroyed the man she loved dearly.

He would be the first to tell you that without his wife, life could have been 10 times as difficult for him. He loved his wife dearly and appreciated all that she did for him during those difficult years he endured.

Blessed with unparallel brilliancy and with unique intellect, Abdalla was a remarkable pragmatic thinker with creative writing style. To the delight of his readers, Mr. Hirad had an amazingly impressive ability of delivering his message with clarity and with captivating wit that many of us envied but earned him respect among his peers. He always set the bar high for others to follow. His resourceful and informative writing style with thoughtful analytical ability attracted people who became his audience, even those who often disagreed with him. He always challenged his audience to go beyond the obvious. He had a knack for tackling difficult topics, where others often shied away from. Never compromising his principles, he would debate you with humbled intellect while challenging his opponents to venture into the path less traveled. In every subject matter he addressed, his writings had demonstrated his unique ability of formulating thought provoking discussions about social issues, particularly the Somali nation he loved. His only mission was to help, especially young people, to think outside the box. Ask the difficult questions.
He always challenged himself to tackle difficult and sensitive social questions. He was like a teacher in a class, teaching each subject in such a way that students had to reason their way into the subject while routinely encouraging his students to habitually look into each basic dimension of their thinking with purpose. He was a man with a mission.

Presenting independent ideas artfully separated by different streams of thought processing mechanism, whiles each with a life of its own was, Abdalla was a conscientious writer who was driven by the desire of presenting his readers a worthy reading analysis. He was loyal to his audience in that he always tried hard to explore an alternative to norm. “Let us stimulate some young minds and create some language for them to debate the issues better”, he would say. Many who never met him were attracted to his attention capturing writing style, something he refused to stop doing even when certain vital and important organs of his body were being attacked by that deadly disease; sometimes working with one finger and one eye. Writing was his passion and his refuge to escape and free himself from painful grip of the deadly disease that finally stolen from us.

What we will miss most about him is his true nationalistic commitment to the belief of a Somali nation for all Somalis. He was a strong pillar and a believer of Somali unity and was equally an adamant advocate for equality for all. He was a proud and giant gatekeeper, a Somali treasure and amazingly resourceful man who was deeply in love with his Somali heritage: poems and story telling in Somali, Arabic and English. He was a unique talent of its kind. He was master in story telling.

Above all, Abdalla Hirad always remained graceful and appreciated life to the fullest. Abdalla Hirad had a strong Islamic faith and followed his Islamic teachings: a religion of peace, mercy and forgiveness. Allah will forgive him and bless him in heaven.

I am sure the Abdalla I knew is in a better place and is probably laughing and cracking jokes in heaven. But I will miss him dearly.

Ali Bahar
E-Mail:aib_1@yahoo.com
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