Sanaullah Kirmani, Muslim student chaplain at Towson, dies

Jacques Kelly, Baltimore Sun
·3 min read

Sanaullah Kirmani, Towson University’s Muslim student chaplain, died Feb. 23 at the University of Maryland St. Joseph Medical Center. He was 87 and lived in Towson.

A medical cause of death was not immediately available.

Born in Sandila, India, he was the son of Zakaullah Kirmani, a botanist, and Zahra Faruqi, a homemaker.

After schooling in India, he traveled by ox cart, train and plane to the U.S. in 1957. He received a bachelor’s degree from Michigan State University, a master’s degree from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology and a doctorate from Harvard Divinity School’s Center for the Study of World Religions.

He met his future wife, Mubina Hassanali Kirmani, in a Harvard Square coffee shop. They married in 1985.

“He was a charismatic intellectual,” said a son, Nabeel Kirmani. “He was accessible to people across all communities and of all backgrounds. He was regimented in his daily life. He had strong emotional ties to his birthplace in India. He was passionate about peace, which he demonstrated through his inner faith work.”

He became an expert on the history of religions and Islamic and Jewish philosophy.

Mr. Kirmani co-founded the Jewish/Christian/Muslim Trialogue at the Kennedy Institute of Ethics at Georgetown University in 1975.

He also founded the interfaith dialogue program at the Islamic Council of New England in 1984. He served as the director of the Interfaith Conference of Metropolitan Washington.

Mr. Kirmani taught at the George Washington University, University of Connecticut, Colgate University, Goucher College and Towson University.

He was the Muslim community chaplain at Towson.

In this capacity he spoke at a rally after 49 people were gunned down at Pulse, a gay nightclub in Orlando, Florida, in 2016.

“It is our duty to promote love over hate,” he told The Baltimore Sun at a vigil in Towson. “Something like this never really goes away.”

He conducted Islamic Friday prayer service at Towson.

“He liked giving sermons. They were concise with substantive takeaways. He would infuse humor and had a way of relating to his students, the majority of whom were undergraduates,” said his son, Nabeel Kirmani.

In 2004, he told The Sun why he was advocating for the creation of two floating holidays on the public school calendar.

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“Their most sacred holidays celebrate the end of Ramadan, a month of daytime fasting and reflection, and the Quranic account of God letting Abraham sacrifice a sheep instead of his son,” he was quoted as saying.

“For the 40 years I have been here, I have been celebrating Christmas with my friends,” he told the paper. “I want my boys’ friends to celebrate with us.”

He enjoyed listening to classical Indian music.

Survivors include his wife of 39 years, Mrs. Mubina Hassanali Kirmani, a retired Towson University early childhood education professor; two sons, Nabeel Kirmani, of Towson, and Muneer Kirmani, of Denver; a daughter, Rasmia Kirmani, of Brooklyn, New York; and a grandson.

Services were Sunday at the Islamic Society of Baltimore.