Biography of Khurshid Begum

Early Life and Family Background

Our beloved Grandma Khurshid Begum (Beji) was born 1934 in a small village, Kialin Sialin near Samote, Rawalpindi. She was the second youngest of 4 siblings. By her 2nd birthday her mother passed away and she was raised by her eldest sister.

Our grandma became a widow with her first husband at the same moment her 1-year old son was taken by her in-laws and she was never to see him again. She dearly missed her son and regularly spoke to him over the phone, may ALLAH (swt) reunite them in Jannah — Ameen. Every time she travelled to Pakistan her eldest son was working in Bahrain. Her comfort was a daughter but she also later tragically passed away at the age of 12 years before our grandma moved to the UK.

Life in England

Our Grandma remarried in 1957 and in 1967 arrived in the UK to join her husband Haji Master Muhammad Akram who had been here since 1962 working in the Steel industry and later in the pot banks becoming a well-respected community leader having a further 8 children.

Our grandma was one of the first ladies of Pakistani origin to settle in the Potteries. She was very resilient and had full reliance in ALLAH (swt) being tested with poverty, losing her mother in infancy, two young children and never seeing her eldest son. The young children of the community who are old men now, some came without their mothers and ended up with an endearing affinity to our grandma, she loved and cared for them dearly too.

Community Service

The community was very close knit and helped each other. Our grandparent's home was always open for food, tea and had immense barakah, I remember my grandma always busy in the kitchen. There were regular community meetings at the house, people coming to use the telephone to call Pakistan, my grandfather being one of the very few educated people reading and writing letters, completing forms.

In 1976 the first masjid in Stoke-on-Trent was established, our grandma walked the 6-towns to raise money for this noble project — Burslem/Cobridge, Hanley, Tunstall, Longton, Shelton/Stoke and Fenton. My Grandfather had the role of arranging the burial of the males, and likewise my grandma the washing of the females and preparing their coverings. She trained many women in this role and ultimately my Aunty Jabeen took over.

In 1997 our grandfather passed away which affected our grandma's health and a few years later became bed bound. This never stopped her from giving, she has contributed to all the Maasajid of Stoke. She never used to miss salah, even in her last days in partial consciousness she prayed using her fingers. She only had one eye losing it in childhood, in old age she had lost almost all her sight but used to listen to the Quran and run her fingers over the letters.

A Legacy of Faith and Generosity

The early muslims faced many hardships but they felt a sense of responsibility to show gratitude to ALLAH (swt) by helping their families, the poor, orphans and the most vulnerable. Throughout her life she conditioned us to be givers, never to forget our roots and be grateful to ALLAH (swt). She had immense love of the Prophet (saw), the companions, the mother of the believers and his family.

12th March 2019 our Grandma left this dunya. It is hard to put into words the life story of our grandma! She with other members of the community contributed to setting up our institutions. Today we are trying to continue her good work through her foundation as a sadaqah jariyah for her.