Essop and Salima Khan Receive Due Recognition in Sacramento
By Ras H. Siddiqui
The Sacramento area Muslim Community spearheaded by the Board of Trustees and Management of the Greater Sacramento Muslim Cemetery recognized the valuable services of Br Essop Khan and his wife Salima at a simple but well-attended ceremony in Sacramento on Sunday, May 23, 2021. The Octogenarian Khan couple has been at the forefront of many Islamic projects in the Greater Sacramento area for over 25 years, with the Muslim Cemetery being one of the most prominent and successful. Needless to say, those involved in carrying out the last rites for the deceased within our community are not doing it for the sake of gaining popularity but are truly engaged in the service of God.
A little interesting background of the immigrant Khan family recognized here at this ceremony is warranted. They immigrated to the US in 1974 and are a rare merger of Pakistanis and South Africans through their marriage. I chatted with Sister Salima for a short while and she revealed that three sisters married three brothers to form this Khan clan which came to the US and is now settled. While we are always looking at members in our community who excel in service to others, it was good to note that Brother Essop started his community service efforts in Durban, South Africa and it was wonderful talking to him about those old days.
Several members of the community spoke at this event including three prominent members of the Greater Sacramento Muslim Cemetery effort, each sharing their experiences of Brother Essop Khan and Sister Salima over the years. First, Dr Syed Khasimuddin started off the afternoon by welcoming everyone to the event and by saying that he had no words to express his personal gratitude to Brother Essop for his services to the cemetery effort as Manager and Treasurer since its inception. May Allah bless him for whatever he has done, he said. We appreciate his services and due to health reasons he could not continue, and close to three years ago we literally forced him to step aside and rest. What he has done cannot be replicated by anyone, he added.
Next Project Coordinator Dr Najme Minhaj expressed his thanks to the attendees and asked the Cemetery Board of Trustees and Committee members (plus Victor) to stand up and be recognized. He added that we are honoring Essop and Salima Khan at this event by planting a tree in their honor. Najme also took the opportunity to go back into history when Br Khasimuddin along with the late Tahir H. Siddiqui and Qavi Khan along with (present here) Haseeb Rana and Dr Islam Siddiqui first discussed and incubated the idea of Muslims in the Sacramento area having their own cemetery in the mid-1990’s. The initial plot was purchased in 1997, work started in 1998, and the first burial at the site took place in early 2000. Muslim rituals require the body of the deceased to be washed before burial and to do that Br Essop and Sister Salima first established a washroom for that purpose in the Sacramento Downtown (V Street) Mosque complex (which has played a key role in starting the Cemetery project). Imam Qasmi of that Mosque has also been a pillar of this project and Br Bashir Choudry and Javed Iqbal played key roles along with Javed Siddiqui amongst others. Najme also announced that additional cemetery property was purchased two years ago and the deal on the property in between has also recently been closed. For those who may not know the cemetery now has its own washing facilities on site and prayer rooms etc. and Br Essop Khan also played a lead role during their construction. He has done so many things for this project that it is really hard to explain, said Najme.
Imam Qasmi of the Sacramento Downtown Muslim Mosque next took time out from his busy schedule to be at this event. He said that he could talk for hours about the person sitting next to him (Br Essop Khan). He also especially wanted to recognize Sister Salima Khan because looking back 25 years ago, the ladies Janaza was really hard to deal with and that is where Sister Salima stepped in along four Aunty’s and the Imam’s wife and took charge. But age has caught up with all of them and they have had to retire, but now we have more modern equipment to help with the Ghusal at this facility, said the Imam. Speaking of Br Essop Khan he said that he made himself available almost 24/7 if someone in the community needed help with the last rites of members of their families. He had the passion (Jazbah) and Allah thankfully chose him to help our community. “Proper person for proper job,” said Imam Qasmi. He also prayed for the Khans’ long and healthy life and thanked them on behalf of the area Muslim community.
Br Essop Khan and Sister Salima Khan were presented a plaque on behalf of the Board of Trustees in recognition of their over 25 years of outstanding service to the Greater Sacramento Muslim Cemetery. This well-deserved award could not have been given to two nicer people.
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