Iqra Rahamatullah: A life well lived
Update: Iqra's legacy is stronger than ever - let's keep the momentum going. Thanks to your generosity, the endowment minimum has been reached. As we continue to grow the endowment, more lives will be impacted in Iqra's name.
Who was Iqra?
Iqra battled cancer for over 13 years. If you did not know she had cancer, you would never have guessed based on how she lived. Even during her last hospital admission, she would send her millions of visitors home so she could tutor students, because she refused to let treatment put her life fully on pause. An absolutely unhinged desire to live.
Iqra’s passion was not only to live, but to thrive, and that energy was infectious. In the short 29 years she had on this earth, Iqra was, including but absolutely not limited to:
- An ice cream connoisseur collaborating with Village Ice Cream on an incredible flavour that is set to be released SOON. Side note: the people at Village Ice Cream are AMAZING, so please go buy their delicious ice cream and show them your support.
- Named a Trailblazer in Avenue Magazine and raised funds for the new Arthur J.E. Child Comprehensive Cancer Centre. Iqra would be far too humble to mention this herself but I am far too proud of her to not include it.
- An absolute MACHINE. In between chemotherapy sessions, with ONE lung, she biked the entire Shimanami Kaido trail in Japan (approximately 65 kilometres!). On another biking adventure of ours (again, in between chemo sessions), we discovered cow cuddling in Hilo, Hawaii!
- Studying to become a doctor at the University of Calgary’s Cumming School of Medicine. Fun fact: Iqra had surgery to remove her entire right lung on January 28, 2022 and was told she would be bedridden for months. She interviewed for medical school in early March 2022 and got into the ONLY medical school she applied to, on her FIRST ATTEMPT. WHAT AN ICON.
As some of you may know, Iqra and I got married when we were silly students. And like most silly students, money was not exactly abundant. However, Iqra, being Iqra, refused to “burden” anyone and funded her dream of becoming a doctor entirely through SCHOLARSHIPS. Every dollar of her medical school tuition came from the generosity of others.
What is this campaign about?
In Islam, there is a concept called sadaqah jariyah, an ongoing charity whose benefit continues long after a person has passed. Supporting education is one of the clearest forms of this lasting good.
This campaign exists to establish an endowed scholarship in Iqra’s name at the Cumming School of Medicine.
To place a scholarship into the University of Calgary’s endowment, a minimum of $50,000 is required. Once endowed, the scholarship should exist in perpetuity, supporting medical students year after year, generation after generation. In other words, Iqra’s legacy will live well beyond all of us.
That is the goal of this fundraiser: to reach the minimum $50,000 endowment threshold so Iqra’s legacy can live on forever.
That idea, of building something that continues to do good long after we are gone, mattered deeply to Iqra. She cared about impact, about intention, and about leaving things better than she found them.
Which brings us to Keeping It Iqrizzle. A day we planned to celebrate Iqra, with her and all her loved ones.
Keeping It Iqrizzle
It is heartbreaking that we planned this day just one day too late for our angel to see and witness the incredible impact she made in her short time. However, she knew this was happening, and she knew all the incredible people who were going to come together to celebrate her beautiful life.
Although this scholarship was meant to be a surprise, during her final hours we were able to tell her about it. She was absolutely thrilled. Of everything we shared, what excited her most was knowing that this would live on beyond any of us.
She believed me when I told her this would live on forever. I may have conveniently skipped the part about the $50,000 minimum to make that happen because she might have thought we may not be able to pull that off. So please, help me keep my word to my wife and let us make this real.
Together, we can ensure that Iqra is remembered not only for the life she lived, but for the lives she continues to uplift.
With deep gratitude,
Bilal Qureshi
If by March 1, 2028 the total amount received from all donors does not reach the endowment goal of $50,000.00, the funds will be utilized to support the award on an annual basis until the funds are completely depleted. If the total amount received from all donors is unable to support the annual award minimum of $15,000.00 paid out over five years, the funds will be directed to a general Award at the Cumming School of Medicine.
Thank you for choosing to support the Cumming School of Medicine. If you have questions or would like to know more about this initiative, please reach out to fdmed@ucalgary.ca or by phone at 403-210-3964. If you wish to donate via cheque, please issue it payable to the University of Calgary and put the name of this initiative in the memo line.