Community News (V15-I8)

Dr. Aqiq Khan remembered for his humanitarianism

Dr. Aqiq Khan, a retired internal medicine & family physician, passed away at the age of 77 in Northern Virginia. An avid humanitarian he was associated with many charitable and volunteer causes. His volunteer activities included working as a docent at the Library of Congress and a volunteer poll watcher on Election Day. He also established a fund to build and support a primary school for girls in his native village of Bara in the Ghazipur district of Uttar Pradesh in India.

Dr. Aqiq Khan’s life is exemplary as he overcame immense odds to attain his numerous accomplishments. According to a Washington Post obituary he was born in a cave to an illiterate sixteen year old mother in 1935 and swam in the ganges in his boyhood. In the troubled time of partition in 1947 he migrated to what is now Bangladesh and later to Lahore in Pakistan where he received his medical degree. He did postgraduate study in internal medicine at the University of Edinburgh in Scotland. He migrated to the US in 1972 and successfully practised in Missouri and later on in the Washington DC area.  Throughout his time he always was concerned and supported his large family.

Efforts underway to build the first mosque in Ithaca

ITHACA,NY–Ithaca’s Muslim community has finally collected enough funds to build the first mosque in the area. It was a long time coming as plans and fundraisings have been held for almost three decades. The fact that most of the Muslim community in the area consisted of transitory students made the fund raising even more impossible. But with the collected funds so far things are moving ahead.

A community spokesperson told the Cornell Daily Sun that they will either purchase a piece of land or a small building. Dr. Ahmed Ahmed, a senior research associate in the College of Veterinary Medicine, said “If you start even with a small building, you can go to the [big mosques] in big cities and ask them for donations to increase the space. If we don’t have a project, they won’t give us anything. This is the aim — to start anything [so that] at least we can start with something.”

There are approximately 400 Muslims in the community.

Symposium held in Oakland U. on Women in Islam

Oakland University Student Congress hosted  a symposium ob Women in Islam on Feb.7. This was the second meeting of the two-part event. During the previous week, students were invited to learn how to wear a hijab, wear it for the week and then return to the second meeting to share their experiences, the Oakland Post reported.

“The main goal today is to promote the education of culture and the acceptance of everyone,” Robbie Williford, vice president of OUSC, said. “We want to break down stereotypes that students might have.”

Also featured at the symposium was a a wall featuring Muslim women from various regions in different attires.

Nisa Khan receives Sheriff’s Youth Medal of Honor

Buffalo Grove High School senior Nisa Khan recently received the 25th Annual Cook County Sheriff’s Youth Service Medal of Honor for undertaking more than 100 hours of volunteer service. She volunteers for a number of organizations including the Rotary Club and the Islamic Society of Northwest Suburbs, according to the Chicago Tribune.

Last fall she helped organize helped organize the American Cancer Society’s Relay for Life at Stevenson High School in Lincolnshire, which attracted more than 502 participants from both Buffalo Grove High School and Stevenson High School and raised $86,000.

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