Dr. Ahmad Sakr returns to his Lord
Dr. Ahmad Sakr returns to his Lord
by Dr. Tasneema Ghazi
Executive Director,
IQRA’ International Education Foundation
It is with heavy-heart and tear-filled eyes that the IQRA’ team has to relay the news of the passing of our beloved friend and longtime associate, Dr. Ahmad Sakr. So many beautiful memories of Dr. Sakr and his family pass through my eyes as I think of his time with us as well as the important and inspirational role he played in the founding of many Islamic institutions and centers, such as the first Islamic college in the United States, the American Islamic College of Chicago, the Islamic Food and Nutrition Council, and the Muslim Students Association. In fact, his academic background in nutritional health compelled him to write the first guide to Halal and Haram food products in America, a very valuable tool in those days when the Muslim community was still quite small. The guide was kept close by Muslims making a trip to the grocery stores.
Dr. Sakr’s selfless and continuous travels in establishing Islamic centers, Islamic schools and Da’wah institutes had always impressed me, all the more so since we often ran in to each other at different airports around the nation and Canada. He was regularly invited to help fundraise for different community projects and he did so without compensation. He happily accepted his role in serving communities around the country and beyond.
Dr. Sakr was so involved in offering his sage advice and guidance to individuals facing personal problems, be the Muslim or non-Muslim. Often people would call him about their personal and family problems. I remember the telephone in his Chicago home constantly ringing and Dr. Sakr once having two different phones in his hands trying to comfort two different individuals!
Dr. Sakr’s wife and companion, Mrs. Zuhar Sakr, and children have supported him through the years in his great work. May Allah bless them all!
Once during Fifth International Islamic Education Conference in South Africa many elders of the community mentioned Dr. Sakr as being the inspiration behind all of their work in community building. This is how far-reaching his influence was. He was a man who motivated young Muslims around the world to help build their community.
All of us at IQRA’ are going to miss him dearly. We pray that Allah grant him the highest station in Jannah and give patience to our Sister Zuhar and their family to endure this loss.
“Few hearts are selected to love This song cannot be played on every instrument”
Such was the heart of dear brother, Ahmad Sakr – very special and very generous.
– Letter from Dr Ahmad Sakr to IQRA’
Thanksgiving in our home
By Dr. Tasneema Ghazi 
My seven years old thinker-daughter said this to me in 1973. We had just moved from Harvard to San Diego where my husband got a teaching job at the university.
We bought our first house in the United States and decided to settle in this lovely land instead of returning to India. America was home now; and it has been ever since.
We all sat down and talked about the history and the significance of this special national holiday for all Americans, both recent immigrants and longstanding natives. We reckoned that Thanksgiving is not holiday centered on religious beliefs, like Christmas or Easter, but it is a national holiday where the citizens of this great nation together offer thanks to their Creator for giving them this land of bounty and keeping it thriving and prosperous.
If anything we can even find in the origins of Thanksgiving the very Islamic principles of migration for the sake of faith, as well as helping those in need. This Pilgrims fled their native England rather than compromise their beliefs. They struggled for existence in the first years of their life in the Plymouth Colony, and if it weren’t for the assistance of the indigenous Wampanoag people the Old World immigrants would not have survived. Does such a story ring a bell with Muslims?
Thanksgiving is about offering thanks to Allah (SWT) for bestowing His grace and blessings upon all of us living in this country. For our first Thanksgiving we invited our dear friend Qiaser Jahan, a graduate student from Pakistan, and Mr. Bari whose grandfather had migrated to California from Punjab in the early 1900. Dr. and Mrs. Dill, both professors at the university also joined us in the celebrations.
We decided that our first Thanksgiving would be in typical American-style, complete with turkey, corn, green beans, pumpkin pie and of course gravy. In the center of the table was a tray with the sign “Prophet Muhammad’s favorite Foods.” This tray contained olives, bread, finely sliced meat, watermelon etc. Dr. Dill offered the du’a before the meal and everyone enjoyed the delicious food.
Since then we have celebrated this most American holiday every year. Sometimes we cooked the turkey on Thanksgiving Day, while at other times it was on a Friday or Saturday, depending on the schedules of family members and guests over the long weekend. In Chicago we once invited a number of visiting poets from India and Pakistan who were in town for a poetry symposium and they asked for a turkey dinner. I prepared the dinner along with a roasted leg of lamb – Indian style. My daughter invited a dozen of her friends from University of Chicago International House. The guest poets sat on the dining table and spread the traditional dastarkhwan/sofrah on our living room floor for the rest of us. The joy of meeting with family and friends and having warm get together was so very important, and it continues to be so.
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