LUMS Student Council Holds Memorial Ceremony for Muhammad Asad Khalid and Hamas Habib
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This week, the tragic and untimely passing of two students, Muhammad Asad Khalid and Hamas Habib, shook the entire LUMS community. To honour and pay tribute to their memory, the University’s Student Council organised a virtual memorial ceremony on May 8, 2021. Members of LUMS leadership, including Dr. Arshad Ahmad, Vice Chancellor; Dr. Farhat Haq, Provost, and Dr. Sabieh Anwar, Dean, Syed Babar Ali School of Science and Engineering, were in attendance, along with friends and acquaintances of both Asad and Hamas. During the session, participants shared their memories of the late students and offered their condolences.
Saba Ijaz, BSc ’22, a member of the Student Council, was the convener of the event and commenced the session by sharing a few words with the grieving community, “We are in this together. What we can do is try to remember them today, and for as long as we can.”
Dr. Anwar also expressed his sadness at the tragic loss and shared, “Two of our students have left us, and our hearts are heavy and grieving.”
Friends remember Asad, a sophomore BS Electrical Engineering major, as a hardworking, generous and passionate individual. His friend, Muhammad Talha, BS ’23, shares, “Asad had a wonderful and pure soul. He assisted so many students in securing admission to institutions and helped them in realising their ambitions. Due to his helpful nature, we used to call him ‘Professor Asad.’”
While remembering Hamas, each of his friends noted that he was always smiling. As a freshman at LUMS, he had only spent a short time on campus but made a lasting impression on anyone he met. “He used to help out everyone he used to meet. He was such a supportive person that even after just a first meeting, you could form a deep friendship with him,” says his friend, Abdul Moez, BS ’24.
“Our community is in shock,” said Dr. Ahmad. Urging the attendees to continue the legacy of their late friends, he said, “We must do what both Asad and Hamas would have wanted us to. We wouldn’t want our family and friends to suffer. We would want the people that we were closest to, to live our dreams.” He shared a few poignant lines from a poem by Khalil Gibran, “And what is it to cease breathing, but to free the breath from its restless tides, that it may rise and expand and seek God unencumbered?”
Dr. Ahmad also encouraged the LUMS community to support the departed students' families. He shared plans to hold a memorial service at LUMS and a tree-planting ceremony on campus to honour both students and keep their memories alive.
The session ended with Muhammad Aafaq Lone, BA-LL.B ’22, an acquaintance of Asad’s, reciting a few verses from the Holy Quran before leading an emotional and heartfelt prayer for the departed souls.
The LUMS community extends condolences and prayers to both the students’ families. May the Almighty grant them strength and patience at this time of extreme trial to bear their irreparable loss.
