Condolences offered to family of the Shakils

To the editor:

The demise of the six members of Shakil family has been utterly depressing. We have not been left with a single representation of the lovely family. At this point I have nothing more than these words to offer. I forward my condolences to the relatives of Dr. Mohammad Shakil and Farida Shakil. May God rest their souls in peace and give us the courage to stand up again and move ahead in life, keeping such people as role models.

SHEHARYAR MALHI

Mount Allison University

Sackville, New Brunswick

Canada

Former student expresses grief and sympathy

To the editor:

I was an international student at Southeast Missouri State University. Learning about the tragic accident involving Dr. Mohammad Shakil and his family has left me shocked.

I wish to express my grief to Dr. Shakil's brother and family. I pray to God may he give Dr. Shakil and his family peace in the afterlife.

I knew Dr. Shakil for three years. He was a big asset to the Islamic community in Cape Girardeau. He worked hard for the community and was a friend to the international students.

May God give strength to his parents, family and to the whole Islamic community during this time of loss.

ANAS MAKLAI

Dubai

United Arab Emirates

Dr. Shakil was compassionate, kind and human

To the editor:

Having known Dr. Mohammad Shakil for the duration of his time in Cape Girardeau, I found him to be honest and compassionate, priding himself on his intrinsic ability to know the inner emotional and spiritual workings of people as well as the physical side.

As a social worker at Southeast Missouri Hospital, I knew Dr. Shakil to have the highest of standards. Yet he was human, funny and even patriarchal at times. As a friend and fellow professional, he freely told me that my own study of end-of-life issues was quite absurd and tried to discourage me. I relished in telling him that he was wrong and I was right in studying this topic. As we had ongoing verbal jousting about this, it is with great sadness that neither of us will ever win this debate. And how ironic that his death comes now. We last discussed ethnic diversity of death, with his Islamic beliefs of peace in death due to the universal beliefs in God and an afterlife. He will be greatly missed.

SUSAN NEAL PEKIOS

Cape Girardeau

Focus on the life and contributions of Shakil family

To the editor:

I was rather appalled at how the Southeast Missourian handled the deaths of the Shakil family. Being a journalist and reporting all the facts is one thing, being morbid and grotesque is something different all together. Could the paragraph about the bodies being sent to a crime lab so that they could be identified by dental records not have been left out? It did not make the article any better, and leaving it out would not have changed anything.

Everyone knows how a crash of that magnitude affects someone. It's the worst scene out of the worst nightmare you can imagine. Rather than telling gruesome details about their deaths, why not show Southeast Missouri what friends and family have known for a long time: the Shakil family brought so much culture, faith and love into this community. Why not focus on the life rather than the death? I think that would not only be more appropriate, but it's what they would have wanted.

ASHLEY FREEMAN

Cape Girardeau