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Amatullah Al Marwani -- Bay Area Islamic educator and author
- Michael Taylor, Chronicle Staff Writer
Thursday, May 5, 2005

 

 

 

 

Amatullah Al Marwani, an author and educator who was one of the strong moderating voices of the Bay Area Islamic community in the days after the Sept. 11 attacks, died at Stanford Hospital on Friday after a long battle with leukemia. She was 34.

 

 

On Sept. 11, 2001, the day of the Al Qaeda-sponsored attacks on New York's World Trade Center towers and the Pentagon, Ms. Al Marwani, executive secretary of the Islamic Society, was one of three women at prayer services at the San Francisco mosque.

 

 

Dressed in traditional garb and clearly in pain over the devastating news, she told The Chronicle, "This is my country. These are my people. It is a double-edged sword because I know when people look at me, they won't see that. They'll just see that I'm one of them."

 

 

Less than a week later, Ms. Al Marwani was one of the featured speakers at San Francisco 's "Day of Remembrance" memorial event at Bill Graham Civic Auditorium. Because the crowd was so huge -- mushrooming into the thousands -- it spilled outdoors, to Civic Center Plaza .

 

 

Escorted to the podium by then-Mayor Willie Brown, Ms. Al Marwani said, "It is good to know that hatred and intolerance in this country is not shared by everyone. We do not believe there will be any holy reward for these acts of violence; nor do we endorse terrorism at any time, or any place."

 

 

Ms. Al Marwani was born Kristina Sue Martinez in Hagerstown, Md., and grew up in Maryland and Virginia . Her family moved to San Francisco when she was 13. She attended Galileo High School , then later went to a trade school to learn about computers. In 1996, while living in San Francisco, she met her neighbor, Mohamad Zaro, a native of Jordan , and the two fell in love, Zaro said. At the time, both were going through divorces. They married in 1997, the year Ms. Al Marwani converted to Islam. Her leukemia was diagnosed in 2000.

 

 

After chemotherapy, the disease went into remission, and she became pregnant with their son, Zaahir, who is now 3 years old. Later, Ms. Al Marwani became sick again.

 

 

A few weeks before she died, Ms. Al Marwani was interviewed by Rising Star, a monthly Web-based (www.ourrisingstar.org) publication originally titled Islamic Journal. Seriously ill and facing a bone-marrow transplant, Ms. Al Marwani said, "Sometimes you can clearly see Allah's design, and sometimes it's hidden in the patterns of life we take for granted. Whenever I feel overwhelmed and afraid of the choices I'm up against, I kiss our son."

 

 

Ms. Al Marwani was a librarian and educator at the Granada Islamic School in Santa Clara and was the author of Islamic faith children's books, such as "Zaahir and Jamel the Camel at the Hajj."

 

 

In addition to her husband and son of Mountain View, Ms. Al Marwani is survived by her 14-year-old daughter, Amira; her mother, Mary Ellen Maffitt of Hagerstown, Md.; two sisters, Kara McBryde of Pensacola, Fla., and Edi Swearingen of Keene, N.H.; and a stepbrother, Paul Lemon of Fresno .

 

 

Services have been held. The family suggests donations to the Muslim Community Association,

3003 Scott Blvd., Santa Clara, CA 95054

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URL: http://sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?file=/c/a/2005/05/05/BAGBBCK6731.DTL

 

 

©2005 San Francisco Chronicle

  

Nabi un Nabi 

 

 

 

 

 

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