Obituary: In Memory of Prof. Nur-ud-Din Zahid [of Kashmir]
by Dr. Noman and Samina Malik
The Light (UK), January 2004 Issue (p. 2)
We had known Prof. Nur-ud-Din-Zahid for the last nine years. We first met him in the winter of 1994 in Srinagar, Kashmir, where we had gone to meet Dr. Khurshid Alam Tareen and the Kashmir Jamaat. Although it was bitterly cold outside, we were very comfortable in Dr. Tareen’s house. We met all the Jamaat members there, and Dr. Prof. Nur-ud-Din-Zahid stayed at Dr. Tareen’s while we were there, so that he could be with us.
We were very impressed by his knowledge of Islam and his expertise and the Arabic language. We could talk for long hours on religious matters and it was always a pleasure to listen to him.
Before we went to Kashmir, our late Hazrat Ameer Dr. Saeed Ahmad told us that Prof. Zahid and Dr. Tareen had reviewed the Bayan-ul-Quran and had made the necessary corrections in it.
Over the next five years, we went to Kashmir several times and had the pleasure of meeting him and initiating new projects to work on.
He wrote several books and translated important articles and books which included Hazrat Mirza Sahib’s [Hazrat Mirza Ghulam Ahmad of Qadian] famous Arabic Al-Qaseedah with an exhaustive commentary of almost four hundred pages. He also translated the Holy Quran into the Kashmiri language.
His passing away leaves a great void in the Lahore Ahmadiyya Movement. Dr. Tareen and Prof. Zahid had set up a Library and Reading Room in the Srinagar in Qualamdanpura Mosque. It is one of the best reading rooms in the Lahore Ahmadiyya Jamaat.
Their love and enthusiasm for the Jamaat was so much that several times they travelled from Srinagar to Delhi just to meet us.
Six years ago, when brother Mehboob Alam Tareen, a very dedicated Ahmadi, and the brother of Dr. Khurshid Tareen and son-in-law of Prof. Zahid was martyred for being an Ahmadi, we spoke to Prof. Zahid and were extremely impressed by his fortitude and patience.
We all have lost a dedicated Ahmadi and a great scholar. May Allah Almighty Grant him paradise and comfort his family in their hour of grief.