This is the story of some of the "Mohammedat" in my year:
On the first day that we started our Medical study in the college (September 1971), we were divided into groups. Each group was 18 students.
The groups were divided according to our alphabetic first names.
There were 22 Mohammeds in our year.
All my group's 18 students were called Mohammed.
One of them is Mohammed Al-Rawi. I am sure you would have heard of him. He was assassinated in his clinic a few months after the American invasion.
Some very interesting information about him is in WIKIPEDIA via this link:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mohammed_A.F._Al-Rawi
I am sure that you know he was a high ranking Baathi. But I can tell you for sure that at the same time, he was a model student. He was one of the most hard working and knowledgeable students. He achieved high marks on merits. He was such a nice and funny person. God bless his soul.
Another Mohammed was Mohammed Aram
He was a Kurd and was struggling with Arabic language when in first class. We were teasing him when making mistakes, but he just suitably ignored us. After a year or two, his Arabic improved considerably and we stopped being so awful and cruel to him.
Sadly, he was killed in a road traffic accident in 1977.
There was another student called Mohammed Kadhom Kan3an. He was extremely religious. At the time, the majority were NOT religious. Only about 10% used to pray.
I heard that Mohammed Kadhom was executed in late 1970s, accused of being Hizb Al-Da3wa. I am not sure whether this really happened or not. I hope he is still alive.
Another one is Mohammed Yahya Kadhom. He had such a nice and very calm personality. I met him in a London hospital in 1995. He was about to become an anaesthetist Consultant. I remember that he had the most huge hands that I had ever seen.
Another is Mohammed Ridha al-Sa3di. He came from Al-Nasiriyah and was extremely funny, especially with his strong shroogi dialect. He never lost this shroogi dialect in the 6 years of study. He was known to forget himself and unintentionally say swear words (fshar) in presence of girls, only to realise when it is too late.
Another is Mohammed Al-Falluji. He was also extremely funny. He was a close friend of Mohammed Al-Rawi but never became a senior Baathist. Mohammed Al-Rawi once joked about him saying: "Mohammed Al-Falluji never left Falluja in his life. He came to Baghdad for the first time when he was joining Medical College. He got on a bus to Baghdad and he got off the bus in Al-Ma-moon (near Al-Mansour) as he couldn't believe Baghdad to be that big and the bus was been going for quite a long time since Abu-Ghuraib. He thought that this must be the centre of Baghdad and asked to get off, only to discover that he got off too early"
Another is Mohammed Anwar. He was a Kurd but spoke in perfect Arabic from the start. He became one of my closest friends in first year. Sadly, he had some family problems and failed the first year twice. He was definitely as clever as any other person in Medical college and his failure puzzled everyone. He was therefore expelled and he then joined Ma3had Altib Al-Fanni. I understand that he then became very successful. I only saw him once by chance. in 1980s.
I am now struggling to remember any other Mohammed. Obviously, they did not leave much impression on me. Or, am I getting old and my memory failing?
On the first day that we started our Medical study in the college (September 1971), we were divided into groups. Each group was 18 students.
The groups were divided according to our alphabetic first names.
There were 22 Mohammeds in our year.
All my group's 18 students were called Mohammed.
One of them is Mohammed Al-Rawi. I am sure you would have heard of him. He was assassinated in his clinic a few months after the American invasion.
Some very interesting information about him is in WIKIPEDIA via this link:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mohammed_A.F._Al-Rawi
I am sure that you know he was a high ranking Baathi. But I can tell you for sure that at the same time, he was a model student. He was one of the most hard working and knowledgeable students. He achieved high marks on merits. He was such a nice and funny person. God bless his soul.
Another Mohammed was Mohammed Aram
He was a Kurd and was struggling with Arabic language when in first class. We were teasing him when making mistakes, but he just suitably ignored us. After a year or two, his Arabic improved considerably and we stopped being so awful and cruel to him.
Sadly, he was killed in a road traffic accident in 1977.
There was another student called Mohammed Kadhom Kan3an. He was extremely religious. At the time, the majority were NOT religious. Only about 10% used to pray.
I heard that Mohammed Kadhom was executed in late 1970s, accused of being Hizb Al-Da3wa. I am not sure whether this really happened or not. I hope he is still alive.
Another one is Mohammed Yahya Kadhom. He had such a nice and very calm personality. I met him in a London hospital in 1995. He was about to become an anaesthetist Consultant. I remember that he had the most huge hands that I had ever seen.
Another is Mohammed Ridha al-Sa3di. He came from Al-Nasiriyah and was extremely funny, especially with his strong shroogi dialect. He never lost this shroogi dialect in the 6 years of study. He was known to forget himself and unintentionally say swear words (fshar) in presence of girls, only to realise when it is too late.
Another is Mohammed Al-Falluji. He was also extremely funny. He was a close friend of Mohammed Al-Rawi but never became a senior Baathist. Mohammed Al-Rawi once joked about him saying: "Mohammed Al-Falluji never left Falluja in his life. He came to Baghdad for the first time when he was joining Medical College. He got on a bus to Baghdad and he got off the bus in Al-Ma-moon (near Al-Mansour) as he couldn't believe Baghdad to be that big and the bus was been going for quite a long time since Abu-Ghuraib. He thought that this must be the centre of Baghdad and asked to get off, only to discover that he got off too early"
Another is Mohammed Anwar. He was a Kurd but spoke in perfect Arabic from the start. He became one of my closest friends in first year. Sadly, he had some family problems and failed the first year twice. He was definitely as clever as any other person in Medical college and his failure puzzled everyone. He was therefore expelled and he then joined Ma3had Altib Al-Fanni. I understand that he then became very successful. I only saw him once by chance. in 1980s.
I am now struggling to remember any other Mohammed. Obviously, they did not leave much impression on me. Or, am I getting old and my memory failing?