On June, 17, a Facebook post by Sreedharan, a non-resident Indian from Kalikavu, Malappuram, saying “my Umma (mother) has honored the summons of Allah, please pray for her soul…if there is heaven, my Umma will surely find a place there,” has caught many eyeballs.
There was definitely curiosity and a lot of questions raised that mock and troll on his Facebook page that went viral.
In deeper introspection, it turned out to be a cry of a Hindu child for her Muslim mother and could be an eye opener to those who are forcing the Muslims to chant ‘Jai Shree Ram’ and’ Jai Hanuman’ and killing them for being an Indian Muslim.
The 46-year-old Sreedharan’s Facebook post unravels an amazing account of how interfaith bonds went beyond religion and faith.
The Pious Muslim Couple
From the day, Sreedharan’s biological widow mother Chakki, one of the domestic helps at Thennadan house passed away due to sudden illness, the pious Muslim couple Subaida Thennad and Abdul Azeez Haji fostered these Hindu kids.
Having no one to look after them, Subaida took baby Sreedharan and his sisters 11-year-old Ramani and six-year-old Leela under her wings.
The trio grew up along with Subaida’s biological children – Shanavas, Jaffer and Joshina in their house.
Love Beyond Religion
The three Hindu children were raised by Subaida in her house as practicing Hindus along with her own three practicing Muslim children.
In the mornings, when Subaida’s biological children went to the madrassa, the trio went to the temple to learn about their religion.
Likewise, in the evenings, the Muslim children sat down to read the Holy Quran while Subaida’s foster children prayed to their Bhagwan with folded hands.
‘She is our own mother’
“Our foster parents brought us up like their own children and educated us. They got my sisters married off. Though we were taken in at an impressionable age, they never tried to convert us. For us, she is no foster mother; she is our own mother,” said Mr. Sreedharan in his FB post.
Sreedharan, who was in Oman at the time of Subaida’s demise was shattered by her mother’s death.
Holding bottles of perfume that he had bought for his beloved mother, he wept and prayed for her. He didn’t rush back as he couldn’t muster the courage to see her lifeless body.