Source: Mount Holyoke News
For many people, the events of Sept. 11 caused them to question their faith, but for Mount Holyoke's new Muslim chaplain, Tahera Ahmad, her faith only strengthened. Ahmad, who began at Mount Holyoke Feb. 1, was in high school when the terrorist attack occurred, and her prospective career path changed from pharmaceuticals to the ministry.
"I did some soul-searching after Sept. 11, and I wanted to answer not only other people's questions [about Islam], but also my own," she said.
Ahmad grew up in Chicago, and has been a member of the Islamic faith her whole life. She attended the Institute of Islamic Education in Elgin, Illinois, a residential institute with separate boys' and girls' campuses. She then received her graduate certificate in Arabic from Al-Diwan Institute in Cairo, Egypt. She is currently pursuing graduate studies in Islamic Chaplaincy/Islamic Studies and Christian-Muslim Relations at the Hartford Seminary in Hartford, Connecticut.
While this is her first missionary job, Ahmad has worked at other colleges in Chicago and has spoken at numerous events.