leukaemialymphomaresearch.org.uk: We are very saddened at the news that supporter Kamal Aftab passed away last Friday. Kamal was a very inspirational man who selflessly supported charities, most recently Leukaemia & Lymphoma Research following his diagnosis with acute myeloid leukaemia in June, undertaking a marathon challenge from his hospital room. Our thoughts are with Kamal’s family and friends at this time, and his brother Yousaf has shared the below beautiful and fitting tribute in Kamal’s memory.

‘‘Every Good Deed is an Act of Charity.’’ By Yousaf Aftab

The word Kamal is of Arabic origin. It has many meanings, but all give a sense of ‘completeness’ – that is, a person or quality that is complete in nature. In this obituary I would like to share a few thoughts about a young man who was blessed with a life characterised by his namesake – Kamal.

Kamal Aftab, who has died aged 33, was a youth mentor, fundraising champion and optometrist. He was also my younger brother. Originally from Huddersfield in West Yorkshire, Kamal died at Leeds’ Saint James’s University Hospital on the 7th August 2015 after a six-week battle against Acute Myeloid Leukaemia.

My brother’s passion was simple, but vast: it was the service of humanity. This is known as ‘Khidmat e Khalq’ in Islam, a religion which Kamal had fallen in love with. Kamal was a member of the Ahmadiyya Muslim Community (AMC), who’s motto is ‘Love for all, hatred for none’, and spent more than a decade as a youth mentor in various voluntary capacities. As an Ahmadi Muslim he drew his spiritual direction from the loving Caliph of the community, Hazrat Mirza Masroor Ahmad. Most recently he served as the regional leader of the community’s Yorkshire youth branch. In that role he helped scores of young British Muslims in the area serve local communities, grow to love volunteering, and break down negative stereotypes whilst they were at it. His ethos in this regard was encapsulated by the saying of the second Ahmadi caliph, Mirza Bashiruddin Mahmood Ahmad, who stated: ‘Nations cannot be reformed without the reformation of the youth.”

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