Khashoggi's daughters vow to keep his legacy alive

By Umar Farooq

WASHINGTON

While Jamal Khashoggi was a complex man, to his daughters, he was simply known as "Dad".

In an opinion piece published Friday in The Washington Post, Noha Khashoggi and Razan Jamal Khashoggi shared memories of their father.

For the sisters, life growing up included visits to countless museums and historical sites, reflecting their parents’ love of knowledge. They also recalled staying up nights wondering what their father was doing on one of his many trips abroad, “trusting that no matter how long he was gone, we would see him again, wide-armed, waiting for a hug”.

“As bittersweet as it was, we knew from a young age that Dad’s work meant that his reach extended far beyond our family, that he was an important man whose words had an effect on people over a great distance.”

Noha and Razan also wrote about the pride they had in their father's work and said they "understood the awe and grandeur with which some people viewed him".

"Dad certainly had a pragmatic side, but in his dreams and ambitions, he was always striving for a utopian version of reality," they said.

Khashoggi, a Saudi journalist and columnist for The Post, went missing after entering the Saudi Consulate in Istanbul on Oct. 2.

With the world watching, the Saudi administration initially said he had left the consulate alive until admitting weeks later that he was killed there.

The two sisters recounted the days after their father was first reported missing and how the family had visited his home in Virginia.

"The hardest part was seeing his empty chair. His absence was deafening. We could see him sitting there, glasses on his forehead, reading or typing away."

"This is no eulogy, for that would confer a state of closure. Rather, this is a promise that his light will never fade, that his legacy will be preserved within us," they wrote.

"We feel blessed to have been raised with his moral compass, his respect for knowledge and truth, and his love.

"Until we meet again in the next life."