ISLAMIC ARTS
SOCIETY

Khawaja Azimuddin is a General and Colon-Rectal surgeon who lives and works in Spring, TX. He specializes in minimally invasive surgery for diseases of the colon such as cancer or diverticulitis. He is one of the pioneers in robotic colon & rectal surgery and teaches this type of surgery to practicing surgeons from all over America. He has lectured and published extensively and is an editorial reviewer for the Diseases of Colon & Rectum, the official journal of the American Society of Colon and Rectal Surgeons and the International Journal of Surgery. He has authored 22 research articles in scientific journals, has written 8 book chapters and is the co-author of a surgical text book printed by Springer, UK in 2009. He is a member of numerous surgical societies including the American College of Surgeons and the American Society of Colon and Rectal Surgeons. Dr. Azimuddin is an active member of the community. He believes in “Service Above Self” and is a member of the Rotary International. He has been named a Paul Harris Fellow and has received the “Distinguished Service Award” (two of the highest awards conferred by Rotary International). In his spare time, he loves to design, carve, and create art with his hands. Apart from operating, his hobby and passion is Calligraphy. He does calligraphy on ceramic glazed tiles. The verses from the Quran are the source of inspiration for his calligraphy pieces. He also likes arabesque – these patterns are inspired by the Islamic art created over the centuries by Muslim artists. His work has been displayed at the Pearl Fincher Museum of Fine Arts, local libraries, Methodist Willowbrook Hospital’s Faith Wall, and incorporated in Masjid Al-Salam’s main prayer hall.

Born in Lahore, Pakistan and now residing in Spring, Texas, Zulfiqar Ali is a founding board member of the Islamic Arts Society. He received his Ph.D. in Mechanical Engineering from Northwestern University. His professional experience includes General Motors, NASCAR Auto Racing and Oil & Gas industry. He received his formal training in calligraphy from Haji Mohammad Azam also known as Munawwar Raqam in Urdu Bazar, Lahore, Pakistan. Haji Azam is a master calligrapher and is the author of “Tadrees-e-Khattati” book on Nastaliq script. Calligraphy is a form of meditation for Mr. Ali. He mastered in Nastaliq script which is popular in Iran, Pakistan, India and Western China. Nastaliq is primarily used for written poetry and as a form of art. He uses traditional reed qalam (pen), ink and paper for his calligraphy. He also taught many Nastaliq calligraphy classes. He has performed live calligraphy at Pearl Fincher Museum of Fine Arts, Houston Calligraphy Guild, Springworld International Festival, ICNA Annual Convention, TCF Annual Gala, Islamic Arts Festival and Aaj TV show.

Zafar “Zaf” Tahir is an attorney with an MBA and BS in Electrical engineering. Mr. Tahir has extensive technical and management experience as an engineer, project manager, businessman, consultant and now a legal practitioner.Mr. Tahir has worked both, in domestic and international arena in the fields of oil & gas, chemicals, automation, project management, international business development, consultant in franchise industry and management consultancy. Mr. Tahir has led a life consumed with civic and political activities in the greater Houston area. Starting with a student leadership role on the campus of University of Houston (UH), serving as V. President and then President of PSA at UH. He quickly moved into leading the Pakistan-American community as the youngest leader in the mid 80s and then the President of Pakistani-American Association of Greater Houston in 1990. He served on the planning committee of Islamic Society of Greater Houston in the early 90s. In 1991 his focus shifted exclusively to the inclusion of Pakistani-Americans, South Asian-Americans and Muslim-Americans in the mainstream politics of Houston and Texas. He has been part of several PACs, having served on the board of PAKPAC and continues to serve as General Secretary of Pakistan American Council of Texas. In 1997 Mr. Tahir served as the transition co-Chair of Mayor Browns Transition Team and has since served all three mayors of Houston – Brown, White and Parker in various capacities. He has served for the last 18 years on the Mayor’s council on International Trade & Development, and Public Works commission under Brown administration. Mr. Tahir led a task force on Safety & Security for convenience store and small retailers under White administration.In 2000 he was the first ever Muslim to be elected as a National delegate of the Democratic party from Texas. In 2004 he was elected again as a National delegate from Texas. In 2007 he ran for Houston city council for an At-large position but did not succeed. He has served on the Advisory Board of Asia Society since 2007. He served on the board of Crime Stoppers from 2008-2010. He is a founding board member of the Islamic Art Society of Houston.

By profession Ather Jamil is a technologist and a solutions architect at a Fortune 500 company, but is an entrepreneur and artist at heart. He spent the past several years evangelizing an industry-wide shift to the cloud, virtualization, infrastructure convergence and software defined datacenter paradigms, to transform the modern enterprise workspace. He is a member of several professional and technical organizations setting industry standards. As an entrepreneur, Ather founded two startups. The first, Transworld Digital Solutions provided applications development, and secure data backup services. Pakvoice was his second startup providing telecom services to US and Asian sub-continent based customers. Both companies were later acquired. Visual Arts has been Ather’s passion since childhood. He enjoys mixing realism with abstraction in a classical Middle Eastern setting. Islamic geometric patterns and Arabesque are his latest interests. A large portion of his art work is donated for community and community fundraisers. He is also a freelance photographer.

Zakia Lalani is a Houstonian at heart and she is active in volunteering for numerous charitable organizations. She is a member of Host committee of Houston Health Fest, The Agha Khan walk and member of The Agha Khan Council for Southwest region. She is married to Dr. Sulaiman Lalani who is also well known for his philanthropic work and lives in Sugar Land with her three children

Dr. Muhammed Gulzar Nathani is a practicing gastroenterologist who moved to Houston, Texas in 2007. He took an Internal Medicine Residency, Gastroenterology Fellowship, and Hepatology Fellowship at Wayne State University, Detroit, Michigan. He moved to south Texas in 1999. He pioneered a residency program at the Regional Academic Health Center (RAHC) in Harlingen, Texas affiliated with the University of Texas Health Science Center at San Antonio. He is a Fellow of the American College of Physician (FACP) and a Fellow at the American College of Gastroenterology (FACG). He served as a Division Chief of Gastroenterology at the RAHC. He was also awarded with a “Faculty of the Year” award. He is practicing as a Gastroenterologist in Houston since 2007. He has a keen interest in teaching and serves as a faculty member at the Baylor College of Medicine in the capacity of Associate Professor. He has delivered community lectures, written newspaper articles, participated in CME lectures, has been invited as a guest speaker on the PBS channel and has published more than 25 papers/abstracts in various medical journals. He was recently honored with “The Blue award, There is hope…” by the Crusaders of Colon Cancer, Inc. Dr. Nathani is a firm believer of community service and has been involved in various local and international projects. He served as a Chairperson of the school board at Houston Peace Academy. He has served as a host committee member in Indus Hospital, Habib University and Midland Doctors fundraising events on a regular basis. He is blessed with three children. He loves cricket and racquetball. His passion is poetry. He has presented his poetry at the local, national and international levels. Dr. Nathani has always had a great love for Islamic arts. He is honored to be appointed as a Board Member for the Islamic Art Society.

Shaheen Janjua Rahman is a Pakistani American and now a resident of Houston, Texas. She moved from Pakistan to Canada as part of a diplomatic family at the Pakistan Consulate in Montreal. After completing her secondary education and graduating with a Bachelors and Masters in Plant Biology in Montreal, she pursued research in plant sciences before moving to the United States. Shaheen has worked as Adjunct faculty at the secondary school, and college level, and has actively served as a school and community volunteer while raising a family in California, Pennsylvania, Louisiana, and now Texas. After moving to Houston, she has been involved in providing translation and interpretation services that help the immigrant/refugee community navigate through the educational and healthcare systems. Shaheen’s journey towards the Arts began with water colors and botanicals at first, but she soon discovered the Silk Road Art of Marbling, known today in Turkey as Ebru. She went on to learn this new medium and presents her work at galleries and venues around Houston including libraries, colleges, companies, and festivals. Shaheen introduced the Islamic Arts Society to the Houston Mayor’s Office through an art exhibit at City Hall. She has organized IAS art programs and displays at the Asia Society, MFAH, Pearl Fincher Museum of Fine Arts, the Jung Center, various local universities, places of worship, and the Philbrook Museum in Tulsa, OK. She is always looking forward to promoting and organizing art programs. Like all the board members, she believes strongly in the ability of the arts to bring people together and to reach new audiences in the many communities and cultures who have made Houston their home. In 2019, Shaheen was appointed by Houston Mayor, Sylvester Turner, to the Houston Arts Alliance board for a three-year term, to help manage and enhance Houston's community involvement in the city's Arts and Culture programs. SHAHEEN J. RAHMAN BOARD MEMBER, AND DIRECTOR OF OUTREACH

Dr Monira Hamid-Kundi is a general/ colorectal surgeon from Houston Texas affiliated with The Methodist Hospital. She is a graduate of the Aga khan university medical school as serves as an Emissary for the Aga Khan Foundation. Dr Hamid- Kundi is a very socio-politically active individual. She is the current Chair of the International medical graduates council of the Texas Medical Association(the largest medical society in USA). She is also a delegate for the Harris County medical society, Houston Texas, and part of the Republican Party Caucus. She is a member of the Founders committee for the Islamic Society of North America. Dr Kundi's social activities are focused towards empowering immigrant women to attain financial and entrepreneurial independence. She is on the board of Shifa Women's Center and Muslim Women Leadership Forum. She is also involved multiple projects in Pakistan through The American Pakistan Foundation and Child Life Foundation.