: The Loving Friend: Marghoob Quraishi

Last updated on: January 26, 2005 at 2:00 am by Guest Contributor

: The Loving Friend: Marghoob Quraishi 2005-01-26T02:00:26-04:00 Guest Contributor

LOGO Patheos Explore the world's faith through different perspectives on religion and spirituality! Patheos has the views of the prevalent religions and spiritualities of the world.

It was the summer of 1985 and inside the cubic Kaaba, there was this middle aged man next to me crying with floods of tears running on his cheeks. I had just finished my prayer inside the Kaaba. We looked at each other. He said, “I am Marghoob Quraishi from Palo Alto, California.” “I am Aslam Abdullah from London,” I replied. This was our first meeting, inside the Kaaba. Marghoob Quraishi was in Makkah attending an international conference on Islam and social change. I told him that I was there also to present a paper on media ethics. We spend the next three days together talking about almost everything that we could think of, as far as the Muslim state of affairs was concerned. He told me about a youth camp that he had initiated in California since 1958. I told him of the Arabia news magazine that I was associated with.

A few months later, we met again at the residence of Hashir Farooqi’s, a fellow journalist in London. Mr. Farooqi called me one evening and urged me to come to his home as quickly as possible, as he wanted me to meet someone from America who wanted to set up a think tank for Muslims. Without knowing that it was Marghoob Quraishi, I rushed to his residence and stayed there for almost six hours talking, once again, about the status of the Muslim community and the need to inject into it fresh thinking about the strategies of change.

The third time we met was in Malaysia, where Marghoob was attending another international conference. I was there giving a series of lectures to the university of Malay students on media ethics. It as at this meeting that he invited me to his summer youth camp. I said God willing.

I didn’t realize that the opportunity to visit him would come soon. Arabia was closed down and I found a job opportunity at the American Islamic College in Chicago. I contacted Marghoob upon my arrival to Chicago and this was the beginning of a long friendship and work.

For almost 10 years, I didn’t miss a single year of the camp he had pioneered in California. I was also with him when he organized the Muslim Student Network, an annual policy training program in Washington. We exchanged hundreds of phone calls and thousands of emails during these 18 years.

He was a tireless mujahid, always concerned about the future of the Muslim community, always worried about the dangers that lay ahead. His concerns were crystallized sharply when he founded the Strategic Research Foundation and invited me to be part of the foundation.

He was a visionary, an activist, a doer, a thinker and above all a very sincere and compassionate man. Not many people know the fact that he was the first elected president of the first ever Islamic organization started in the US by immigrant Muslims. He put his resources at the service of the Muslim community. He never sought any office or any reward for his work.

His most precious contribution to the Muslim community is the annual Muslim Youth Camp – now in its 43rd year – that he founded and carried on until he met his Creator. He was a mentor to the young people who attended his camps. Many of these young people are now working in important positions in different Islamic organizations.

His second most precious contribution to the Muslim community is the Muslim Student Network that he co founded with his wife Iffat Quraishi. The MSN is the only organized effort to link young Muslim America with political America. So far, more than 150 students have completed an intense summer training program that has been offered every year since 1993. I have had the privilege to work with him almost every year. He never complained about the apathy of those who knew the importance of this work. He never criticized those who opposed him silently on this project.

In particular, Marghoob Quraishi wanted the MSN program to succeed, in order to insure the future of Muslims in America. He knew that there were many in the Muslim community who did not support this project simply because their names were not on the list of invited guest speakers. Yet he never said a word of disrespect against anyone. On the contrary, he always tried to include such people in this project. The project that he was working till he departed from this world was about a conference of scholars and activists that he wanted to organize first in London and subsequently in the US. He wanted Muslim scholars and activists to present a “State of the Umma” report to find the ways to overcome our collective difficulties. We exchanged several drafts on the proposal. I had offered him the venue of the Las Vegas Islamic Society to host such a conference, and he was keen that such a conference takes place either in March or in April. A few days before he met his Lord, he said, “I want to put together the team to finish the job, as I know I will not be here long.” How right he was in foreseeing his last journey.

His legacy will live in the youth camps, MSN, and the scholars conference that, inshallah, will take place. But more so in his daughters and son. May God bless him and elevate his status in paradise and give sabr to his family. He was a silent soldier, a real hero, a real gem whose likes are rare to be found in the US, the land of glamour and razzmatazz where Islamic work is often carried on to win a few second’s spots in the media. He created waves after waves for change, yet he never proclaimed any status – for his would be with Allah.

Dr. Aslam Abdullah is the editor of the Muslim Observer, Director of the Islamic Society of Nevada, and founding director of the Muslim Electorates’ Council of America.

Commentary

Previous Post

January 26, 2005

Guantanamo detainees: Bittersweet return for Guantanamo Britons

Next Post

January 27, 2005 The Holocaust: No Muslim voices on Auschwitz liberation anniversary?

Browse Our Archives

Select a Category 2012 Elections 30 Dayd 30 Writers (2017) 30 Days 30 Writers 30 Days 30 Writers (2015) 30 Days 30 Writers (2016) 30 Days 30 Writers (2018) 30 Days 30 Writers 2017 Ali Asadullah Ali Eteraz Alper Bilgili Arthur Richards Asides Asma Uddin Black History Month Briefings Charles Turner Commentary Cyrus McGoldrick Eman H Aly Fatimah Popal Hajj Hajj and Dhul Hijjah Hesham Hassaballa Hisham Hellyer Ibrahim Abusharif Inas Younis Irfan Yusuf Jalal Baig Junaid Afeef Laila Alawa Laila Alwala Mas'ood Cajee Muqtedar Khan Nakia Jackson Newsmakers Parvez Ahmed Podcasts Rabia Chaudry Rafia Zakaria Ramadan Reviews Safiyyah Ally Saud Inam Shahed Amanullah Svend White The Opinionated Oncologist Visions Wajahat Ali Zahed Amanullah Zahir Janmohamed Zainab Khan

Select a Month November 2018 October 2018 September 2018 August 2018 July 2018 June 2018 May 2018 April 2018 March 2018 February 2018 January 2018 December 2017 November 2017 October 2017 September 2017 August 2017 July 2017 June 2017 May 2017 April 2017 March 2017 February 2017 January 2017 December 2016 November 2016 October 2016 September 2016 August 2016 July 2016 June 2016 May 2016 April 2016 March 2016 February 2016 January 2016 December 2015 November 2015 October 2015 September 2015 August 2015 July 2015 June 2015 May 2015 April 2015 March 2015 February 2015 January 2015 December 2014 November 2014 October 2014 September 2014 August 2014 July 2014 June 2014 May 2014 April 2014 March 2014 February 2014 January 2014 December 2013 November 2013 October 2013 September 2013 August 2013 July 2013 June 2013 May 2013 April 2013 March 2013 February 2013 January 2013 December 2012 November 2012 October 2012 September 2012 August 2012 July 2012 June 2012 May 2012 April 2012 March 2012 February 2012 January 2012 December 2011 November 2011 October 2011 September 2011 August 2011 July 2011 June 2011 May 2011 April 2011 March 2011 February 2011 January 2011 December 2010 November 2010 October 2010 September 2010 August 2010 July 2010 June 2010 May 2010 April 2010 March 2010 February 2010 January 2010 December 2009 November 2009 October 2009 September 2009 August 2009 July 2009 June 2009 May 2009 April 2009 March 2009 February 2009 January 2009 December 2008 November 2008 October 2008 September 2008 August 2008 July 2008 June 2008 May 2008 April 2008 March 2008 February 2008 January 2008 December 2007 November 2007 October 2007 September 2007 August 2007 July 2007 June 2007 May 2007 April 2007 March 2007 February 2007 January 2007 December 2006 November 2006 October 2006 September 2006 August 2006 July 2006 June 2006 May 2006 April 2006 March 2006 February 2006 January 2006 December 2005 November 2005 October 2005 September 2005 August 2005 July 2005 June 2005 May 2005 April 2005 March 2005 February 2005 January 2005 December 2004 November 2004 October 2004 September 2004 August 2004 July 2004 June 2004 May 2004 April 2004 March 2004 February 2004 January 2004 December 2003 November 2003 October 2003 September 2003 August 2003 July 2003 June 2003 May 2003 April 2003 March 2003 February 2003 January 2003 December 2002 November 2002 October 2002 September 2002 August 2002 July 2002 June 2002 May 2002 April 2002 March 2002

TAKE THE

Religious Wisdom Quiz

Who lamented Saul and Jonathan's death with a song?

Select your answer to see how you score.

David Samuel Abiathar Nathan