Sh. Omar Faaruuq: A Remembrance

by Ali Osman
Sunday, March 13, 2011

 

Sh. Cumar Faaruuq

Sheikh Cumar Faaruuq is laid to rest in Saudi Arabia, may Allah shower his mercy upon him and grant him Jannah. Amen.  Without doubt, Sheikh Cumar Faaruuq was one of the greatest Somali scholars and renowned translators of the holly Quran.

 

Every Somali household has a copy of his cassettes, MP3’s or translation of the text of the holly Quran in Somali language which he contributed in making a reality. Anyone who searches Somali Tafsiir cannot escape the massive amount of holly Quran and lectures that are present in cyber space free of charge.

 

Sheikh Cumar Faaruuq was gifted orator and Allah gave him an extraordinary ability for clarity of speech. Allah guided his tongue to work for spreading his message. He was a natural orator who feared nothing but Allah and said it without mincing words.

 

Sheikh Cumar Faaruuq enhanced our understanding of the holy Quran by communicating with clarity and language that made it easy to grasp the true meaning of the holly Quran. It is mind-boggling if you look how he conveyed so accurately the meaning, rhetoric, historic context, logic and interrelations between various verses of the Quran in his seminal Tafsiir of the holly Quran.

 

Sheikh Cumar Faaruuq was Islamic scholar but equally a social and community worker. The Sheikh put the Somali community ahead of his personal affairs. There was no moment that he was not busy in the affairs of the Somali community whether in Somalia or Diaspora. He answered questions on all maters of religion, marriage, and counseling while at the same time making peace between worrying tribes and people.

 

The Sheikh traveled Western Europe and North America and was instrumental, for example in Sweden uniting Somali communities into unified cohesive umbrella organization that looks after the affairs of the communities in the Diaspora.

 

Sheikh Cumar Faaruuq was tireless campaigned against unhealthy practices such as extremism and killing innocent people, tribal warfare, genital mutilation of girls, grave-worshiping, superstitions, narcotics like Qat chewing, and many forms of destructive social practices.

 

Somalis everywhere are saddened and our eyes are filled with tears the passing of Sheikh Cumar Faaruuq. We all pray for him that Almighty Allah have mercy upon him and grant him Jannah al-Fardaws. Amen.

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By Ali Osman
E-mail: [email protected]