Amina Jehan Baig, a pioneering philanthropist and beloved pillar of Montgomery County’s Muslim community, passed away on Sunday at the age of 68 after a courageous battle with leukemia. She died at home in Burtonsville under hospice care, surrounded by family and friends.
Born to the princely family of the Indian House of Junagadh, Amina came to the United States in the 1970s as a shy, deeply spiritual young woman. She supported her husband, Mirza Baig — then a young medical resident — with quiet determination, sometimes sleeping in their car outside the hospital where he trained. As the couple’s fortunes grew, Mirza built their family a home in Burtonsville and named the street in her honor: Amina Drive.
Together, Amina and Mirza became steadfast supporters of regional philanthropic and faith-based causes, helping to fund several of the Washington area’s most prominent mosques — including the Muslim Community Center on New Hampshire Avenue, a cornerstone of the area now known as the “Halal Triangle.” Known for her warmth, diplomatic grace, and “open-door” hospitality, Amina welcomed relatives, friends, and even social rivals who found themselves in need.
Throughout the 1990s and 2000s, the Baig home was a gathering place for those who wanted to better the world. Business leaders, diplomats, and a generation of future elected officials, imams, attorneys, political activists, and journalists regularly convened there during Ramadan and Islamic high holidays. Amina in particular had a gift for making everyone who entered her home feel as if they had found a true community.
Beyond her work within the Muslim community, Amina and Mirza were recognized throughout the DC region for their commitment to fair housing, civic volunteerism, and quiet charitable giving. True to the Islamic principle that charity done in private carries the greatest spiritual reward, the couple often supported the poor and vulnerable without seeking public recognition.
Her passing has prompted an outpouring of tributes across Montgomery County. Each of the county’s more than two dozen Islamic congregations — Ahmadi, Shia, and Sunni alike — offered prayers of remembrance, a rare testament to the depth and breadth of her impact.
Amina’s funeral was held Tuesday morning at 10:30 a.m. at Dar us Taqwa Mosque in Howard County, where mourners filled the prayer hall. Scores of people touched by her warmth and dignified grace in life attended her burial later that day as a light rain began to fall — a moment many described as a sign of divine mercy for her soul.
She is survived by her husband, Mirza Baig, her children Zehra, Osman, Ahmed, and Kasim, and ten grandchildren. Inna Lillahi wa Inna Ilayhi Raji’un.
Submitted by community member
