ZEENA’S THEME
An inspiring story of achieving harmony between progressive living & religious faith
It is over three months since terror attacks returned Sri Lanka to a state of grief and fear. Hundreds of lives were taken on Easter Sunday - April 21st 2019 in Sri Lanka: lives of those congregating in places of prayer, and peaceful relaxation. Lives ended abruptly, in cruel irony on a day celebrated as a day of redemption and hope.
As religious unrest consumed this island-paradise in the aftermath, the world still searches for difficult answers, closure and for renewed hope of a peaceful future. Amidst this bitter strife, the story of a loving Sri Lankan-indian mother lost on that day, may yet guide us all – in an endearing way. Her life was filled with examples of how her deep Islamic faith could co-exist with an affinity for progressive living enriched by global influences.
Such a confluence is precious, given the communal and isolationist trends we observe today. Razeena Khader, fondly known as Zeena, was the daughter of a Sri Lankan businessman.
Originally from Kerala, she spent her early childhood in Vavuniya - a town near the stronghold of the armed rebel regime in Sri Lanka - LTTE. Zeena was proximally reunited with her ethnic roots in India when she married into a large Mangalorean 'Beary' Muslim family at the young age of 19. She immediately became a guidingfigure for most of her husband, Khader's, 10 siblings. Razeena was a devout Muslim. She nurtured its practice across her sprawling families ensuring the tenets of Islam were understood, observed, and therefore preserved even as progressive trends caught wind drawing many of the family members and their children westward.
Razeena at the same time had a comparable passion for progressive living, traditionally considered incompatible with way of life so-shaped by Islam. Her taste in music was astoundingly broad: ranging from global classical to modern day pop. Her daughter notes it was Zeena who introduced her to Britney Spears and the Spice Girls while growing up. She had a penchant for picking up and playing tunes on a piano she had only heard in passing. Zeena was also extraordinarily skilled at baking and cooking, and was always eager to try out new eatables. Zeena not only enjoyed unique street-food, but was also intimately aware of various global facets of fine-dining. She was always eager to experience new sights and sounds ; in the form of musical concerts, cinema and theater. To top it off, Razeena had an extremely playful yet witty sense of humor coupled with a refreshingly childlike joyful perspective on the comedy that life offered.
Razeena stood up for women against societal and religious pressures and followed through by giving the thus-empowered, social standing and protection. She was drawn to performing such considerate acts – some as far-reaching as helping an acquaintance overcome oppression and prosecution under draconian religious law in a foreign country. She lived in North Africa and Middle East, with short stints in Paris. She often visited the United States - where her daughter, son, and most importantly her cherished grand-daughter were living. Essentially, she was everywhere - almost omnipresent.
The painful irony is that Razeena spent many years in Sri Lanka, of which some were during a gruelling civil war. She experienced fear and terror, when her father was kidnapped and held hostage by the LTTE for over a month in the Sri Lankan jungles. She returned to her beautiful homeland after many years and enjoyed a relaxing vacation here in her last days. She was passionately attached to Sri Lanka - she spoke of its resurgence as a top holiday destination, pressing all she knew to experience it with her. Poignantly, the last tune she played impulsively on a piano while holidaying in Sri Lanka, was in fact the Sri Lankan National Anthem. Razeena would have been devastated by the horror her beloved Sri Lanka experienced that day - acts of terror and murder hijacked in the name of a faith she truly believed in, and the hateful unrest that ensued soon after among a diverse people she loved dearly.
Today, some of us fight to preserve (or attack) ‘a religion’, others fight against the ‘concept of religion’ asserting it to be archaic, while a few more strut around promoting misguided jingoism and xenophobia. Amidst this chaos, we may want to pause and consider a middle-ground, characterised by peaceful coexistence among faiths, progressive views, and a spirit of amiable cross-cultural exchange; a theme that is not only reminiscent of Razeena’s love and respect for all things sacred, but also equally representative of her passion for vibrant living and open learning - a theme perhaps aptly coined as "Zeena's Theme".
I conclude this writing with unwavering confidence in the potency of Zeena's Theme, because I have personally witnessed it, and have been a direct beneficiary of her warm spirit. I assert the above sentiment as Razeena's grieving son-in-law, who came from a culture vastly different than hers, and yet whom she so lovingly welcomed into her life. Rest in peace Zeena Mom, assured that your loved ones will revere your legacy and bask in your continuing omniscient presence. Also draw hope that your theme of “loving, believing and living allat-once” is imbibed and followed by many who knew you and by those who will come to know of you - bringing all of us, including your dear Sri Lanka, back from the precipice.