The Wichita State University community is saddened by the tragic death of one of our students, Abduljaleel Alarbash, in a recent terrorist attack at a mosque in Dammam, Saudi Arabia.

Alarbash, 22, was an undergraduate student in electrical engineering at Wichita State and had returned to Saudi Arabia to get married. He was scheduled to return to WSU in the fall.

Media outlets are hailing Alarbash as a hero, reporting that he and a cousin were killed while trying to prevent the bomber from entering the crowded Imam Hussein mosque.

“I am not surprised that Abduljaleel did what he had to do to save the lives of all those people by giving up his own so readily,” says Preethika Kumar, undergraduate coordinator in electrical engineering and one of Alarbash’s professors. “In my faith, when someone is able to love God so deeply to the extent of putting their neighbor before themselves always, even to the point of laying their life down, he or she is a saint.”

Kumar says she got to know Alarbash well this past semester while he was enrolled in one of her courses. She remembers him as a kind person who was always happy.

“I can say he was more of a friend than a student,” Kumar says. “He had such a wonderful demeanor. I will always remember him as sitting in the front row in class, right in the middle, smiling always, no matter how hard the topic we were covering was. He was one of the friendliest, kindest, caring and most respectful people I have ever known, who was always willing to assist if he could.”