Prominent Physicist and Educator Professor Dr Aquila Islam Departs
By Dr A. Khan
Chicago, IL
Professor Dr Aquila Islam, prominent educator, physicist, and researcher passed away in Dubai on Wednesday, June 16, 2021, due to Covid-19 complications. She was 85.
Dr Aquila Islam had traveled to Dubai for a family reunion. But the family reunion turned out to be a tragedy. Reflecting on this family calamity, Dr Aquila Islam’s younger brother Zafar Mahmood observes: “My sister Naheed Beg passed away on March 22, 2021, due to repeated infection after knee replacement surgery done some years ago. We lost Asif on June 2, 2021, Apa (Fehmida Moin) on June 9, 2021, and Appi (Aquila Islam) on June 16, 2021. All in the same hospital in Dubai due to Covid. Asif and Appi were fully vaccinated in Pakistan before travelling to Dubai. All three were visiting Dubai and were settled in Karachi.”
Dr Aquila Islam was the first female member of her family who attended a formal school, and later, she became the first Pakistani woman to receive a doctoral degree in nuclear physics. She was a pioneer and played a pivotal role in promoting Physics Education in Pakistan, especially for women. She was the founding president of Center for Physics Education (CPE), Karachi, established under the patronage of Professor Abdus Salam.
Her death is a great loss for the academia. She belonged to a very dedicated group of individuals who completed their studies in Physics at the University of Karachi during the 1950s, 1960s and 1970s, and proceeded to Europe and North America for higher studies, then returned to Pakistan and served in various capacities all over the country.
Aquila Islam was born on August 13, 1936, in Indore, Madhya Pradesh, British India. After partition, her parents Mohammd Islamuddin and Zehra Begum moved to Karachi, Pakistan. Her father was one of the two Chartered Accountants in the country at that time. She attended New Town Girls School, Karachi, for her early education. Later she received her BSc Honors (Physics, 1958) and MSc (Physics, 1959) degrees from the University of Karachi, where she was taught by a team of highly professional and dedicated professors which included Dr Syed Masoom Ali Tirmizi, Dr M. Aslam, Professor Bande Hassan, and Professor Waheed Ansari.
Dr Aquila Islam was the classmate of Prof. Naqi Akhter, in the BSc (Honors) & MSc programs at the Department of Physics, University of Karachi. Late Professor Naqi Akhter, former chair of Electronics Engineering & Technology programs at DeVry University, Chicago, had observed: “Dr Masoom Tirmizi was a professor of Physics at the University of Karachi when I entered the school as a BSc (Hons) student in 1955. Dr A.B.A. Haleem (Abu Bakr Ahmad Haleem) commonly referred as ABBA HALEEM was the Vice Chancellor. He was very genial, intelligent, and devoted to his job, which gave the University of Karachi a great start... Out of 25 students, two were female: Saghirun Nissa and Aqeela.” Reflecting on the academic brilliance of Aqeela Islam, Professor Akhter had observed: “Aqeela was a very smart student, she excelled in studies and passed the MSc (Physics) program with honors standing first class first.”
After spending a decade in academia and research, she went to Canada for higher studies. She completed her MSc (Bio Physics, 1971) at Western University, Ontario, Canada, and earned her PhD (Nuclear medicine, 1975) from McMaster University, Hamilton, Canada.
During her professional career, spanned over six decades, she served at a number of academic institutions holding various teaching, administrative and research positions: Karakoram International University (KIU), Gilgit, Baltistan (Professor & Dean, 2010-2014); Jinnah University for Women, Karachi (2008-2010); Waris Ali Shah Public School, Karachi (2004-2010); Usman Institute of Technology, Hamdard University, Karachi (2003); M.A. Jinnah University, Karachi (2000-2002); KASB Institute of Technology, Karachi (2007-2008); Hamdard Institute of Information Technology, Karachi (1998-2000); Western College of Business Administration, Karachi (1996-1998); Degree Colleges of Sindh (1981-1996); McMaster University, Hamilton, Canada (1979-1981); PINSTECH (1976-1979); Government Girls College, Hyderabad, Sindh (1965-1969); and Government College for Women, Karachi (1959-1965).
She was a member of National Committee for Review of Curriculum (1984-1987), Pakistan Association for the Advancement of Science (PAAS) [1982-1985], Karachi Physics Society, Pakistan Arts Council, American Physical Society (APS), Science Promotion Forum, Pakistan Federation of University Women, and HRCP Electron Watch. She coordinated many science fairs and local and national conferences on Physics Education. Recently she was working on establishing an astronomical observatory at KIU.
Dr Aquila Islam was also very active in social welfare work. She managed an industrial home in Hyderabad, a skill development center in Karachi; thanks to her efforts hundreds of girls from marginalized communities were trained in developing various skill sets. She also supported programs for promoting education in Sindh by her sister-in-law, Sadiqa Salahuddin’s Indus Resource Centre (IRC).
She had authored a plethora of technical and non-technical papers and presented them at more than 45 national and international conferences. She had penned a narrative of her academic career; it is posted on a Canadian website called “My STEM Story:”
https://mystemstory.ca/index.php/2018/10/29/aquila-islam-from-pakistan/
Dr Aquila Islam, concludes her narrative with the following insight:
“…From the treasure box of memories, I recall a couplet. The poet’s name, however, is missing from my memory pages. It says,
“Lives of great men all remind us,
We can make our lives sublime,
And parting leaves behind us,
Footprints on the sands of time,”
I think some great women (e.g., Lise Meitner, Madam Curie, Irene Curie, Maria Goeppert Meyer) could also prompt us to make our lives sublime .”
Indeed, Dr Aquila Islam was a great woman; she strived to make her students’ lives sublime. She never married; had no family of her own; she dedicated her life to the cause of education in Pakistan.
She was the eldest of her siblings: Ghazi Salahuddin, Fehmida Moin, Sanjeda Zain, Naheed Beg, Zafar Mahmood, Asif Akhtar and Samina Shakeel. She is survived by two brothers, Ghazi Salahuddin (prominent journalist in Karachi), Zafar Mahmood (Mississauga, ON, Canada) and two sisters Sanjeda Zain (Karachi) and Samina Shakeel (Michigan, USA).
May Allah SWT bless her soul and assign her a station in Janet-ul-Firdous for her outstanding efforts and accomplishments in educating the youth of Pakistan. Ameen!
