Inna lillahi wa inna ilayhi raji’un
“Surely we belong to God and to Him we return” — Holy Qur’an, 2:156

“Life is a great and noble calling, not a mean and grovelling thing to be shuffled through as best as we can but a lofty and exalted destiny” — Mawlana Sultan Mahomed Shah, His Highness the Aga Khan III (1877-1957), 48th Imam of the Shia Imami Ismaili Muslims.

By MALIK MERCHANT

It is with deep sadness that we announce the passing on August 5, 2023, of the well-known Ismaili musician and composer Enoo in Orlando, Florida, at the age of 67, just days before his 68th birthday on August 11 — he was born in 1955. His funeral and burial ceremonies were held in Orlando on Wednesday, August 8.

Enoo is survived by his son Shehzad Ali, brothers Mushtaq and Ishtiaq and sister Rezia.

Some 8 years ago in 2015, Enoo had penned a loving tribute to his father Mohammed Ibrahim Ali who had passed away in Dallas, Texas, on March 15, 2014, at the age of 88. Eight years later, in 2022, Enoo lost his mother, Roshan Ibrahim Ali.

Shortly after his mother’s death, Enoo sent me the following message:

“I was closest at bedside when she breathed her final and I recited in her ear the Kalima, Salwaat, Ya Allah, Ya Muhammad, Ya Ali and Ya Shah Karim. As per everyone who was around her, my dearest mom was waiting for me and yes with Mawla Hazar Imam’s blessings I made it to her bedside. It was a miraculous day.”

Enoo had often expressed the wish to pen a tribute to his mother, just as he had done for his father.

Alas, and very sadly, Enoo was diagnosed with a terminal illness and was informed that he had a few months left to live. He spent the last days of his life as a patient in hospice and hospital care. He absorbed the news with courage. In a number of profound telephone conversations with me, he shared the challenges that he faced as he was coping with his illness that appeared so suddenly in his life.

In one of the last conversations with him, when he called me from his hospital bed, he told me he was unafraid of death. As an Ismaili Muslim, he expressed his immense love for his 49th Imam, Mawlana Hazar Imam, His Highness the Aga Khan, and said that the music that he had composed in his honour had sustained and inspired him at this extremely difficult period in his life. While he was talking to me, a nurse entered his room and interrupted our conversation. She signalled to him that the latest tests that the hospital had carried out did not look good at all.

Enoo communicated the nurse’s message to me and said that death was inevitable and not far away. In the midst of all this news, he told me his spirits remained high and that he followed the precepts of the Imam-of-the-Time, that each day was a day that must be lived and that during that day we should fulfill our responsibilities to the best of our ability (Mumbai, India,1973). He lived up to Mawlana Hazar Imam’s expectations until the last day of his life, meeting his struggles with joy and hope. He took a firm attitude toward coping with his suffering and did not become despondent.

For the last few weeks, I have been waiting to hear about Enoo’s latest status. He had told me that I would learn about his death “from someone”. On the evening of August 5, as I returned to my car after celebrating my 70th birthday, I received a text informing me that Enoo had passed away the same morning. Having already been informed in advance by Enoo about the inevitable, the news did not come as a shock to me. My thoughts immediately turned to Enoo’s special place in the life hereafter of happiness and peace, in the presence of Divine Light. The Qur’anic verse Inna lillahi wa inna ilayhi raji’un (Surely we belong to God and to Him we return), is the oft-remembered verse by Muslims on sad moments such as someone’s death.

Enoo was a musician all his life. Inspired by the voice of his mother, Roshan, Enoo’s passion for music manifested when he was still a young boy in Chennai, India. After moving to Pakistan at the age of 14, he began to cultivate a spiritual way of life, tightly interwoven with music. As a result of the steady musical influence, Enoo received awards for playing the harmonium and became a well-known artist at Radio Pakistan.

Over the years, Enoo built himself a great reputation as a composer and musician, and performed  around the world at important events and worked with radio and TV stations as well as the film industry. After settling in the USA in the 1980’s, first in Chicago before he made Orlando his home, Enoo continued to thrive and perform with a unique blend of jazz. He commemorated the Golden Jubilee of Mawlana Hazar Imam with a special CD. Shorty after the Golden Jubilee, The Ismaili, the official website of the Ismaili community, wrote a special piece about Ismaili musicians that also featured Enoo.

In his last weeks of his life, he sent me a number of emails that he said I should share with readers when I penned a tribute to him. On July 1, 2023, shortly after being seen by an oncologist, he wrote: “Only GOD knows but medically I have 3 weeks to most 3 months or less!” Very graciously, and I was truly touched, he wrote in the same email that he enjoyed reading my photo pieces about my adventure trips in Alberta. He also urged me to look after my health, knowing that my own health had been compromised by a serious autoimmune condition.

A week later on July 7, he said briefly in his email: “Seems very soon, Allah ki marzi” (as is God’s wish.) He then passed away a month later on August 5, 2023.

We ask all all readers to join us in our heartful prayer for Enoo that his soul may rest in eternal peace. Ameen. We convey our condolences to Enoo’s beloved family members and friends around the world and share in their sadness at this difficult time of bereavement.

Date posted: August 11, 2023.

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