This past Thursday, our community lost a man who, for as long as I remember, was a pillar for the Muslim community locally and in the region. Dr. Amjad Bhatti left this world peacefully, as he spent his life. He always was there but never made too much noise. He captured the minds and hearts of the people who got to know him by his humbleness and incredibly soft approach to doing things. For this and many other reasons, I wanted to dedicate my article today to talk about the example he set for youth in our community and professionals around him in the medical field.
Being calm, quiet or peaceful do not mean that you are a negative person. Dr. Bhatti came to Burlington before most of the Muslims who enjoy calling it home today. His feeling of being the lone Muslim in this town motivated him to encourage other Muslims (and non-Muslims) to come here and fill in the need that was present for professionals in the medical field and other businesses that were needed. He invited people who were like himself, greatly confident professionally and dedicated to serving and giving back to our community. This yielded a small flourishing community of professionals who strived to give a good example of their town through the lens of Muslim professionals.
He served in the older Alamance Hospital location as a care provider and then took part in giving for the building of the current location of the Alamance medical center and for a long time was a surgeon and a care provider for our community. He did not hesitate to go to someone’s house to check them and provide free care for them because they did not have insurance. His house was a witness for some of that was open for strangers who needed care to come by and be checked and given money to buy the medicine they needed rather than being charged. He was that good.
When Dr. Bhatti noticed that the community was growing and that there was a need for a place to do the prayers and community events, he opened his house for that and then helped establish the Pakistani Islamic foundation of North Carolina. It served as a community center and for a while provided Sunday school and Friday services to the local community.
When this center fell short of being able to provide everything that was needed for the community, he ventured with like-minded people to establish the Burlington Masjid. The masjid was a lot more than a community center or a place of worship. It provided free health care for the community through Al-Aqsa Community Clinic. It initiated and maintained interfaith dialogue and relations with churches around us. It provided help for needy families through food drives and clothes donations. It helped with the settlement and integration of newcomers and refugees coming to this town. It opened a small but continually active youth center with a playground for kids.
His final venture with our community was the project to have a cemetery for the community. We, as a town, city and county, failed him and failed the Muslim community by pushing back on the approval of the cemetery through selective enforcement of regulations that do not make our town better or more attractive to be a living place for kindhearted individuals like Dr. Bhatti, who had to buried in another county and town. I am sure he is resting in peace, but who are we to deprive a person or a community of having a burial place for their dead. Does that mean we are going to deny another group or minority from having an expansion or even a place to worship or live in?
Our Burlington can do better than that. Our city counsel and mayor can rise to much higher standards than this. And I hope the memory and the passing of my dear brother Dr. Bhatti will be a voice given to every servant who gave their youth and energy for this community, that we do keep up with them and their needs to the end rather than making them be buried in a neighboring town or county.
Rest in peace my brother, and may God shower you with His mercy and forgiveness. You lived to see a better community and town and we hope to keep up the good work you and many other honored heroes in the community did and are doing.