By ANTHONY BOTTAN
He lived his life as an optimist - a devout follower of Islam who loved dressing sharply and enjoyed a hearty, New York City gyro.
On July 25, Osama and his cousin Fahad Zahidi, 23, were swimming in the ocean at Long Beach when they were caught in a riptide and were pulled further out into the water, officials said. Zahidi was trying to help his cousin when he was swept by the current and submerged, police said.
"He wanted to get everything in life," Osama's 22-year-old sister, Hira, said. "He wanted to live it up. He was religious, and on that side, he was very successful."
Osama, who was an active member of the Valley Stream Central High School chapter of Future Business Leaders of America and Students Against Destructive Decisions, was focused on being successful in the dichotomy that was his life.
On one side, Osama was a "happy-go-lucky kid" who roamed the hallways of Central with a smile on his face because, as his sister said, he was simply happy. It was Osama's smile that defined him, and it was his infectious energy and happiness that drew people to him. "He knew how to make people fall in love with him," Hira said. "Everyone I knew liked him so much."
His father, Syed, said his son loved to eat at a gyro shop on 53rd Street and 6th Avenue in Manhattan and would often go out east on the weekends to help his cousin refurbish their new home. His best friend, Kamal Hack, said Osama was always a sharp dresser, and often spent every penny of his paycheck on buying new clothes. "He wanted to be voted 'Best Dressed' in his senior year," Hira said.
On the other side, Osama was a devout Muslim who devoted hours of his day to studying the Koran - the holy book of the Islamic religion. His mother, Ishrat, said her son loved his religion and would usually come home from school and spend three or four hours memorizing passages in the Koran. "He was so devoted and he had a very strong belief and foundation," she said.
His father explained that the Koran was written in Arabic, but they are Pakistani and their native language is Urdu. Osama already memorized 27 of the 30 sections of the Koran, which his father said, takes about six years to do. "It's not easy, you can't change a word," he said.
Ramadan - a month-long religious observance that takes place during the ninth month of the Islamic calendar - was Osama's favorite month, Hira said, and when he listened to the teachings of the Koran during Ramadan, it would make him cry.
Ishrat said there was never a day that she didn't see her son smiling. "Whenever I felt depressed, he said 'Mom, you worry too much, you have to leave some things up to God,'" she said. At Osama's funeral, more than 400 friends and family attended. The mosque, Hamza Masjid, was so packed, Hira said, that dozens of people could not get in - so they prayed in the parking lot.
Though his life was abruptly shortened, Osama's family and friends agreed that he knew where he wanted to go in life and had no problem working hard to get there. His senior quote in his yearbook truly describes how Osama lived his life: "Dream like you live forever, but live like you'll die today."
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