Siraj Ahmad

It is with heavy hearts that we announce the passing of Dr. Siraj Ahmad.

Siraj was born April 12, 1939 to Rezia Sultan and Ghulam Mohammed Khan in Peshawar, Pakistan. His father was a civil servant for the Northwest Frontier Province, then a province of British India.

Siraj was studious and determined from a young age. He was known for sitting on the steps of his home in a bustling neighbourhood of the old, walled city of Peshawar to finish his schoolwork before setting foot in the house.

As a child, he was witness to the chaos and panic of the Indian Partition but came through it with an abiding sense of compassion for others regardless of nationality or creed.

His first job was selling tickets at an industrial fair in 1954 where the first television in Peshawar was displayed. He used the proceeds to buy a tea set for his mother, which remains in the family's possession.

After completing secondary school at Islamia College, he enrolled in Khyber Medical College in Peshawar and was a member of their first graduating class in 1960.

In 1963, he evaded his parents' plans for an arranged marriage, enlisting his silver-tongued friend Amjad Hussain to convince his mother to allow him to marry Munawar, a charming young Masters student in English Literature at Peshawar University.

On the recommendation of a friend who spotted a recruitment ad, he applied for a medical internship in the United States and was successful in securing a position at Albany Medical College, NY in 1963. This was followed by Internal Medicine residency at St. Vincent's Charity Hospital in Cleveland, Ohio. In later years he recalled his puzzlement upon hearing on the radio one morning that Cleveland’s Cuyahoga River was ablaze. He subsequently secured a Rheumatology fellowship at Dalhousie University in Halifax, Canada. He chose Halifax over Winnipeg based on an Encyclopedia Britannica entry that indicated higher daily winter temperatures in Halifax.

It was in Halifax that he met his lifelong friend and mentor, Dr. Jack Woodbury, one of the founders of Rheumatology in Atlantic Canada. Dr. Woodbury also arranged for Siraj to travel to Taplow, England to study with Dr. Eric Bywaters, a key figure in the rise of Rheumatology as a discipline. Siraj then settled in Halifax to begin a long career in which he cared for thousands of patients and trained generations of rheumatologists with his trademark warmth and humour.

While in Halifax, he and Munawar became key members of the nascent Muslim community in Eastern Canada. Alongside a handful of families from Pakistan, India, Bangladesh, Egypt, Turkey, Iraq and Lebanon, Siraj and Munawar devoted countless hours to establishing one of the first purpose-built mosques in Canada in 1971.

They later went on to become central founding members of the Nova Scotia Islamic Community Centre in 1990. Their vision was to create a venue for worship and community activity with a spirit of openness and inclusion.

Siraj had a lifelong love of music and picked up the sitar, tabla, saxophone and tin whistle at various points in his life. His tastes ranged from Indian ragas and classic Indian songs of the 1930s to Louis Armstrong and Sarah Vaughan. He and Munawar were known for hosting raucous “music parties” at their homes in Halifax and in Peshawar, where friends and musicians would play Qawwali music and recite poetry in classical Urdu until late in the night.

As a father of three, Siraj ingrained a love of learning in his children and shared his enthusiasm for history, philosophy and exploring far-flung regions of the world. He set a quiet example of charity, helping countless individuals and organizations with financial and moral support but never seeking to draw attention to his generosity. He was an unfailing source of wisdom and support for his children and remained their rock until his final years.

Following a stroke and a bout of COVID in early 2022, he defied medical expectations and regained his ability to walk by means of the focus and determination that characterized his entire life. In his final years, he was cared for unwaveringly by Munawar, who was at his side when he passed peacefully at home on October 7, 2025.

Siraj is survived by his wife of 62 years, Munawar. He is also survived by his children Kamran, Sabeena (Frank), Zareen (Lucan) and his grandchildren Max, Ixa, Kamran and Idris. The family would like to thank the many individuals who assisted in his last years, particularly Drs. David MacNeil and Valerie Lewis, Ms. Ligaya Parreno, and physiotherapist Ms. Lesley D'Appolonia. The family also wishes to thank the loving circle of friends who surrounded Siraj through these final years, including Drs. Amjad Hussain, Arif Samad and Ata Quraishi, Ms. Suzie Ketene, Mr. Mohammed Haroon and Mr. Jawad Rassoul.

In the spirit of Siraj's love of reading and of history, donations in lieu of flowers can be directed to the Halifax Public Libraries or to the Peshawar Museum.

Inna lillahi wa inna ilayhi raji'un (Indeed, to God we belong and to God we will return).