Date: Apr 27, 2023
Afaf Qayyum was born in Chicago to Dr. Ijaz Qayyum and Dr. Naheed Malik Qayyum, the second of their four children. Her maternal grandfather Lt. Col Malik Gulsher Khan was from Khabeki, Soon Valley. She graduated from the University of Chicago, earned her MS in accounting and was a certified public accountant. She worked as an auditor for the City of Chicago.
Afaf was a kind, compassionate human being, deeply involved in community service and philanthropy. She loved Mother Earth and all its beings, deeply caring for nature: it’s rivers, trees, forests and all living creatures. She believed God gave us a responsibility to care for this earth—from the animals to the water that supported it. She worried about sustainability. And because of this concern for the environment, she worried about all those who did not have access to water.
As a child she cared about the environment and all that it includes—from clean water to climate change to recycling. When she was 5 years old, she initiated Qayyum household’s first recycling program. She advocated that we could save the planet by rationing our everyday household water; Rather than throwing out old electronics and batteries, she collected them for refurbishment projects. Throughout her life, Afaf focused on sustaining our environment, our community, and our planet.
The activist in her grew into the adult thinker. She questioned first world problems of consumerism and its impact on developing countries, like Pakistan, Costa Rica, Egypt, and Tanzania. Afaf worried about the global water crisis. She recognized how water linked all of us—regardless of socio-economic status or culture. More importantly, she worried about how Allah (SWT) would ask for us to be accountable for the planet He leant to all of us.
She was more than an environmentalist. Afaf was and will always be a futurist. More than 15 years later, her favorite childhood story, “The Lorax” by Dr. Seuss, turned family film, became the symbol for USAID as they adopted the Lorax’s character to crusade for development, water access, and accountability. Afaf was ahead of her time! She was a dedicated civil servant who already knew the importance of accountability to the environment for the people, and by the people.
So with this huge water project, started and completed as her sadaqah jariya by the Qayyum family, it’s not about what we think, but about the results for your community. Water is life and ensuring clean water access means taking care of this earth so that the earth takes care of our communities.
Afaf Qayyum went back to her Creator too soon, but left a legacy of sustainable environment. We all come from dust, and to dust shall we return: But while we live, let us honor her legacy and take care of the dam, the environment and save the Mother Earth.
May Allah SWT accept this Sadqa-e-Jariah
(Ameen).
April 18, 1983 - March 4, 2019
— The Qayyum Family