Not just a poet, but a poet with deep theological and spiritual insight, and a full command of the Urdu language, Jaazem Issac is a credit to CUWAP, and his natural ability to deal with deep emotions evoked by spiritual experiences make him unique among his contemporaries. Son of a local school teacher and church elder, Shoukat Masih Rai, Jaazem was blessed with his father's guidance in pursuit of education, especially theological education. He studied at CTI High School (Sialkot), Gordan college, Rawalpindi,(earned B.A), Pakistan Accounting College, Rawalpindi (earned B.Com) and at Gujranwala Theological Seminary (earned a degree in theology). It was in the last institution that he had the privilege of studying under Dr. WC Christie, Dr. KL Nasir, andPadri Nazir Yousaf. The inclination to write and to master the art of writing prose also passed on to him from his father. However, he acknowledges Master KR Zia as his academic guide and mentor in poetry.
Though Jaazem, officially retired in 2001, he has never retired from his active service for his Lord and Master Jesus Christ. Like a man madly in love and bewitched by the beauties of his beloved, Jaazem just cannot stop writing deeply insightful and touching poetry. His poetry book Mudawa* (مداوا), published in 2010 is a testament, not necessarily to his great command of the Urdu language, (about which some can argue about minutia), but to his unwavering dedication to Lord Jesus and his unshakable faith in the great truths of the Christan faith. He has also compiled, edited and published an editorialised anthology of his father's essays, Ilm-e Shanasai, (علم شناسائی ) (no. date).
The first line of his forward to his book Mudawa is his prayer, and belies his deepest wish.
خداوند کی حمد اور تعریف ہو اور اسی کی ستائش کرتے کرتے میرا دم نکلے. آمین
The last sentence of the same write-up is another prayer:
د عا ہے کہ میری آواز ہرمسیحی تک پہنچے اور اس کے وسیلے سے خداوند کے
جلال اور اس کی بزرگی کی ستائش ہر خاندان میں ہو. آمین "
It is my hope that www.cuwap.org will be instrumental in making his second prayer come true.
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*For a book review on Mudawa, please see the entry in Book Reviews section www.cuwap.org.