Sister Sakeenah Ishaq

You have to always continue to learn and grow. It should never stop.

Sakeenah Ishaq was born in New Jersey in 1950. She moved to Greensboro in 2008, where she found the Islamic Center of Greensboro. She liked it enough, but when her mother passed, her husband found Sister Amal at the Burlington Masjid. Ishaq immediately felt a sense of warmth from Sister Amal, which is what brought her to the Burlington Masjid. She felt at home there, a place where everyone was welcome and every nationality got along. The name Sakeenah means peace and tranquility, something that Ishaq believes that we should all embody, especially during times such as these when people are so divided. The Burlington Masjid provides this peace and tranquility.

Ishaq grew up as a Christian, but she always found herself questioning what she was reading at Sunday school, feeling like something was missing. She eventually told her sister that she wanted to be Muslim.

Ishaq was one of the original Sunday school teachers at the Burlington Masjid, and she made it her goal to foster an environment of love, care, and warmth for her students. To her, teaching is not about conveying information to her students; it is about showing them that they are capable of learning and growing. Currently, she is studying the Arabic language and attending Sisters’ meetings every Wednesday to continue learning, as she believes that learning should be lifelong.