Abdul Monir left two children, a wife and a life as a teacher behind when he left Afghanistan. He arrived in Canada as a refugee applicant 10 months ago and had started building a different kind of life here. Though he studied law in Afghanistan, he had just started a job at Halal Pizza Time Restaurant in a Scarborough strip mall.

Monir’s relatives in Canada and the United States say he was looking forward to his permanent residency hearing, scheduled for next Monday. For him, it was the first step toward being reunited with his wife, Nilofer, and children Hadia, 4, and Ahmad Emran, who is just 2.

But the 31-year-old was shot and killed at the pizza shop just after midnight on Sunday. The restaurant’s owner, Rahim Dorani, was also shot and remains in hospital. Police are considering the theory the incident was a robbery gone wrong.

“He wanted to secure his family’s future,” a bleary-eyed Jaweed Rasuli, Monir’s cousin, said Monday evening. “He went through so much hardship and turmoil to get an education in Afghanistan, and said to himself: ‘Why not bring my kids here? Why not let them have an education with peace of mind without a bomb going off? Let them enjoy school and take on a career that is promising.’”

Fluent in English, well-educated and with a reputation as an incredibly kind person, he initially struggled with the idea of spending long days in the pizza shop, say relatives. The hope of reuniting with his young children, however, saw him through.

Monir talked about his children endlessly, relatives recalled. He eagerly shared tales over Skype about Hadia’s first day at school and Ahmad Emran learning to walk. His Facebook profile is full of photos of his smiling kids, including one of them sitting on their father’s lap in a rose garden.







He was also supporting his parents and in-laws when he died, keeping very little for himself, said Rasuli, who drove up to Toronto with his father from Maryland as soon as they heard the news.

“It’s extremely hard for the entire family,” he said. “You come from a country that has been war-torn for 30 years and arrive in a place that you know to be very calm … You have a future for yourself here. And then you get shot.”

No arrests have been made.

Abdul Rasuli said the death came as a huge blow to Monir’s large family of eight siblings and numerous nieces and nephews, still mourning the death of Monir’s brother and nephew, who drowned in Afghanistan less than two years ago.

Monir’s father, a retired police officer, fainted when he was told of his son’s death, Jaweed said. His mother, who has a heart condition, has yet to be informed, while his wife is so distraught she can barely speak.

“At first, we thought we would bury him over here, but his father called me from Afghanistan and said they want to see the body,” said Abdul Rasuli. “If they see the body in Afghanistan, it might help.”

The family said that now they can only hope the government will come through and that Monir’s killer will be caught.

Rasuli, with his father, Abdul, and Monir’s brother-in-law, Baktash Wafa, met with senior members of the Afghan-Canadian community Monday evening to discuss their next steps.

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The family is appealing to the Canadian government to help bring Monir’s wife and children here. They have also set up a trust fund to cover the cost of sending Monir’s body back to Afghanistan, estimated at about $20,000, as well as enough to support his family as they recover from their loss.

“He had lots of hope,” said Wafa, his brother-in-law. “He always talked about this country as being a country of peace. He couldn’t wait to see his children again.”

Donations to the trust fund in Abdul Monir’s name are being accepted at afghancanada.com. Anyone with information on the shooting can contact Toronto police homicide squad at 416-808-7400.

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