Abdul Rahim had perhaps imagined this moment countless times inside a Saudi prison cell, a simple Eid morning at home in Kerala, sitting beside his mother while she placed snacks before him. For years, when the walls of prison cut the world away from him and a death sentence hung over his head, it may have felt like an impossible dream. But on Thursday morning, that dream unfolded quietly inside a modest room at Zeenath Mansil in Kodampuzha village in Kozhikode, as Rahim sat beside his mother Fathima and ate the food she had waited nearly two decades to serve him.
It was an Eid al-Adha reunion the family had almost stopped daring to imagine. Rahim, who was released from Saudi Jail on Wednesday, arrived at the Calicut International Airport in Karipur around 7.30 am. His family members, who had spent years praying and campaigning for his return, were there to receive him. But long before the flight landed, anticipation had already spread across Kodampuzha.
From early morning, hundreds of people, relatives, neighbours and villagers gathered at Zeenath Mansil, a small traditional Muslim ancestral home in Malabar. Many came immediately after offering their special Eid prayers. The house and surrounding lanes slowly filled with people anxiously waiting for the man whose story had touched Malayalis across the world. By around 9.15 am, the wait ended.
The SUV carrying Rahim turned into the narrow village road and reached the gate of Zeenath Mansil. The crowd surged forward, surrounding the vehicle for a glimpse of him. Rahim, visibly overwhelmed, waved to the people gathered around him before stepping out. For a moment, he struggled to move through the crowd as people stretched forward to greet him. In the sit-out of the old house, his mother, Fathima, stood there waiting. The years showed on her face, but her eyes remained fixed on her son. The moment Rahim stepped out of the vehicle and looked toward her from a distance, she broke down. Tears rolled down her cheeks. She covered her eyes with a towel and wept openly. Family members, including Rahim’s brother Abdul Naseer, tried to comfort her.
Rahim walked straight toward her. And when he finally reached her and touched her hands, Fathima pulled him close and embraced him tightly, resting her head against his chest for several long seconds. Around them, many in the crowd wiped tears. Inside the house, amid the heavy rush of visitors, Rahim slowly moved through the corridors of the familiar old home, greeting relatives and neighbours, hugging elderly women, smiling at children, reaching out to nearly everyone he passed.
Inside a room, away from the crowd for a brief moment, Fathima and Rahim finally sat together. She brought him snacks. This mother was feeding her son on Eid day after being apart for 20 years, when she had always fought the fear of not being able to see him again.
Abdul Rahim was just 26 when he left Kerala. His return ends one of Kerala’s most emotionally followed overseas legal battles. A native of Kodampuzha in Feroke, Rahim had left home for Saudi Arabia nearly 20 years ago in search of a better life. Within weeks of arriving, he was arrested following the accidental death of Anas Al-Shahri, the paralysed teenage son of his Saudi sponsor. Rahim, employed as a driver, had been accompanying the boy during a journey when a medical feeding device attached to the teenager’s neck was accidentally dislodged, leading to his death. Rahim was arrested immediately.
Years later, a Saudi court sentenced him to death. His only way to survival was securing Diyat, financial compensation paid to the victim’s family under Islamic law. What followed became an extraordinary humanitarian effort. Malayalis across the world united to raise 15 million Saudi Riyals, nearly ₹34 crore, helping Rahim secure a pardon under Saudi law and eventually paving the way for his release. His 20-year prison term officially ended on May 20. He was released on Wednesday, with members of the Rahim Legal Support Committee in Riyadh completing final procedures for his return. The team arranged his travel, and with the power of attorney, Sidhique Thuvvur accompanied him back.
While addressing family members and the media, Rahim had only a few words to offer in the middle of the crowd. “Thank you to everyone who stood by me and prayed for me, my family, Malayalis across the world, members of the Action Council, officials at the Riyadh embassy and businessman Boby Chemmanur. I am deeply grateful to all of you,” Rahim said in an emotional address.
K Suresh, chairman of the Rahim Legal Support Committee, earlier said the committee would decide on further assistance to Rahim after his return to Kerala. “A sizeable amount of more than 10Cr collected during the campaign still remains. We will take a decision regarding financial support for Rahim only after he reaches home,” he had said.
