Maryam Funches, a tireless social worker and energetic activist in the DC area, passed away on Friday. Her Janazah will be held at the Islamic Center of Maryland at 19401 Woodfield Rd in Gaithersburg. She will be buried at George Washington Cemetery in Adelphi, MD
May Allah have mercy upon her
UPDATE: Please send donations to:
Maryam Funches Memorial Fund
2060 University Blvd W
Silver Springs, MD 20902
Proceeds go towards alleviating unfinished matters on Sister Maryam’s behalf. Remaining donations will be used to support the charities that Sister Maryam championed
Maryam Funches 1952-2007, May Allah have mercy upon her
UPDATE 2: Janazah was large masha Allah. Here are some posts on the sister here, and here and here
Filed under: Black American Muslims
Just want to add that the janazah is at 10am sharp on Sunday and that the masjid is asking people to carpool because parking will be limited and since it is Sunday the neighboring churches that allow us to use their lots as overflow parking will also most likely be full.
A lot can be known about a parent by their children. I didnt know Maryam, but have met Hud. May God rest her soul.
ASA:
Sis Maryam was in my soror and was going on the ski trip with us this weekend. We were to look at property to land in wihich to build cabins for a future rights of passage camp we think the youth seriously need in our area. She was going to try snow tubing with sister Turiyah. Subhannallah, I hope I have that same zeal for life if I am bless to make it pass 50. I went to her house fri. morning to check on her and get some food for the trip. She was perparing door prizes for people and offered to get halal meat for me. I was upset with her because I couldn’t reach her since our last conversation tues night. When I drove up, ERT were already on the scene but I didn’t know they were for her until I tried to go inside the house. Thats when her son told me Allah SWT took her away.
Dr. Maryam Funches will surly be missed. I was just at her house last week and she spoiled my boy and made us feel like family. She was a woman who took the salats seriously and was in Love with Allah SWT. Always trying to help the homeless and less fortunate. May Allah SWT forgive her of her sins, save her from the hell fire, make her grave spacious, and elevate her status in jannah.
Amin
An incredible outpouring of support from the community. The sister’s musallah was packed standing room only, I don’t think I’ve ever seen it that full and then there were more overflow lines in the metal building. I didn’t even try to park in the parking lot, I parked across the street at those warehouses and walked up, which was much quicker.
In the Name of Allah
THANK YOU for your prayers and kind words about my mother. I was born a muslim thanks to Allah and my parents My mother raised me Knowing about death and the after life and every time during this janaza(funeral) when i felt weak Allah and my mother picked me up. My strength I owe to my religion That I saw my mother practice everyday relentless pursuit of perfection is the coin phrase I think about when it comes to her. She was in a constant state of submission. Her full and her part time job was giving in charity she could do it in her sleep because she would often put our home up for any one to stay in and she did this until she passed. My mother lived Islam and would want her passing to be a reminder of that. My mother loved charity.My mother had just received her doctorate (phd) before she passed so she could give more in charity so the places she would go and speak would listen to her more because she had this paper she did that for the people who didn’t understand so she could not be denied because she was a woman. Thank you all for your prayers and kind words. Please remember to give in charity so Insha-Allah we can build our house in heaven…..”What is the life of this world but amusement and play? but verily the Home in the Hereafter,- that is life indeed, if they but knew.” Sura 29′ayat 64″ one of my mothers favorite you can email us at isawilliams@gmail.com May Allah bless you and forgive your sins
(sorry for the grammar mistakes) smile
Reflections on the Life of Maryam Funches, Ed.D.
By her daughter Zanjabil Williams-White
(As read at the Janazah Prayers, ICM, January 14, 2007)
Mary, Mert, MerNell, Auntie, Mimi, Nana, Sister Maryam or Mommy – no matter which name you knew her by, you knew and loved her well.
She was a daughter, a sister, an aunt, a niece and a cousin. She loved and cherished her family tremendously. They were her foundation, her building blocks of her love of God. She was always eager to be with them to sit and talk, laugh and sometimes argue, but most of all just to love.
She was a friend and a close Muslim sister to many, making friends wherever she would go. Most importantly she kept them––managing to give lasting love, support, advice and sisterhood to each of the countless people.
She was more than a community activist; for a lot of people she was their community. She worked tirelessly not only for numerous blessed and worthy causes, but also for individuals, families and friends by opening her home to anyone in need and by giving generously from what Allah provided her. Many times she gave up the comforts of her own bed (and that or our beds also) to facilitate the needs of others.
She was a grandmother –– enjoying her time shared with her grandkids, showering them with love and affection and spoiling them like only a grandparent can.
She gave birth to four children, but she was a mother to many, many more –-touching the lives of all of our friends and countless others. She naturally took the youth under her wing –– teaching, advising, inspiring and admonishing them like a second mother and like the mother some never had.
Undoubtedly she faced some of her greatest challenges with my brothers and me, but these challenges she met with courage. We all grew closer and closer to our mother as we matured and as she taught us how to better love each other, forgive more, and accept and appreciate people as they are. Her remedy to most problems we talked and called about was to Dhikir (or remember Allah). Even though we didn’t believe it was that simple––it always was.
All of the love she showed, which we were sometimes too blind to see, InshaAllah, we all felt and understood near the end. She became no longer just our Mother, nor just our Muslim sister in Islam, she truly became our Best Friend.
Finally, and I believe most importantly (and I know she’d agree), she was a Muslim: she didn’t claim one group of Muslims over another; she did not label herself as any particular kind of Muslim; she was simply a Muslim. She prayed in many masjids no matter the “school of thought.” She traveled in many circles and mingled effortlessly with most Muslims, and she supported the growth and establishment of Islam anywhere.
Being raised in a strong and loving household enabled her to answer the call from God to Islam. She understood and recognized the beauty of Islam and the unity it offered to communities and to the world.
The shock and great sadness that some may have felt at the news of her passing perhaps may have had less to do with the suddenness of her death, but more to do with the loss of such a vibrant, wonderfully bright Light in our lives. My mother would want us all to remember her good works, remember her giving and loving heart, remember her warm and friendly smile, and to work towards the unity with each other that she practiced among so many. Let her light live on in all of us; pray for her forgiveness, and pray for her entry into Paradise so that one day we too may realize the fulfillment of these ayats of the Quran that she so embodied:
“Say, Truly my prayer and service of sacrifice, my life and death are all for Allah, Lord of the Worlds: no partner has He: this I am commanded, and I am the first of those who bow to His Will.”
-6:162-163
[...] on the Life of Maryam Funches This was posted by Sister Maryam’s (May Allah have mercy upon her) eldest son Isa Williams. I can’t say [...]
ina Allaahi wa ina illaahi rajee’oon
[...] for Homeless Shelter I encourage everyone to support this worthy project. Maryam Funches co-founded this [...]