Dua for Manzoor Chaudhry and
Dua for Manzoor Chaudhry
Please join us on Saturday, October 31st, 2026, at 4:00 PM EST at MYCP
11080 Knights Rd, Philadelphia, PA for dua, recitation, and reflection.
The Muslim Society of the Delaware Valley mourns the passing of Manzoor Ahmad Chaudhry, one of the organization’s founders and long time former Chairman of the Board.
He passed away around Fajr time on Friday, October 30th, 2026. The janaza was held at Jummah time. We will also be holding a get together for dua, Quran recitation, and ta'ziya on Saturday October 31st at 4 PM at MYCP.
Br. Manzoor Chaudhry remained actively involved with MSDV for nearly four decades since its inception. MSDV, the umbrella organization for the Front Street Masjid, Muslim Youth Center of Philadelphia, Islamic Cultural Center of Willow Grove, and Nibras Day School, had humble beginnings. It developed as a collaboration between local Muslim Student Association (MSA) chapters under the guidance of the esteemed Islamic scholar and activist, Dr. Ismail Faruqi, around 1978. The organization was officially incorporated a few years later in 1984, and began operating out of the Albanian Masjid. The small group of early members played a pivotal role in the development of other Islamic institutions across the Philadelphia area, including the Islamic Society of Greater Valley Forge, Al-Aqsa Islamic Society, Islamic Society of Chester County, and Al- Furqan Islamic Society. The early founders also navigated significant tragedies in the early 80’s, with the murder or assassination of three Philadelphia based Islamic scholars- Ismail Faruqi, Lois Lamya Faruqi, and Muhammad Aslam.
Br. Manzoor made many contributions to MSDV and its community. He helped name the organization and formulate its constitution and bylaws. He signed the purchase agreement for all three MSDV facilities. He set and enforced the organization’s strict standards for accounting and financial transparency. He vigorously safeguarded the organization’s mission to serve all American Muslims, regardless of sectarian and ideological differences, race, ethnicity, or linguistic preference. He helped organize the first Muslim burial grounds in the Philadelphia area. Around 1985, he arranged MSDV’s first interfaith program, conducted by Seyyed Hossein Nasr, the famed thinker and scholar who was based in Philadelphia at that time. In the early 90’s, he convened local scholars to formalize the moon sighting protocol for MSDV, and made it a standard organizational policy. He helped to establish the Majlis-as-Shura in Philadelphia as a forum for local masaajid and diverse communities to interact with each other. One of the first CAIR-Philadelphia meetings were held at his kitchen table. In 2011, he launched the Bensalem Masjid project, donated the land, supervised it through protracted litigation, and the project inshallah continues to move forward through the final stages of the land development process today.
He and Br Abdul Waheed worked to reorganize the structure of the organization around 2010 to position it on a secure footing for the future. They aligned the organization with ISNA and NAIT policies. They then resigned from the board and handed off the affairs to the current team. They asked the renowned Islamic scholar and historian Dr. Khalid Blankenship to provide oversight and mediate any conflicts within the board to ensure a smooth transition.
In addition to his role at MSDV, Br. Manzoor spent considerable time working with Imam Zakiuddin Sharfi and the organizations he founded, including Masjid Shuhadaa and Islamic Educational Services, a progenitor of the Islamic Academy of Burlington County. Br Manzoor was often called upon to be a mediator by local Muslim organizations to help resolve conflicts. He worked with the Pakistani American Society, and served as its election commissioner for decades.
In his village in Pakistan, he established a full time school, which is set on more than two acres, has an enrollment of nearly eight hundred students, and continues to provide high quality education at subsidized rates. For twenty years, he helped to organize and volunteered in overseas surgical eye camps with his children. He was quick to help others not only through institutions, but on a personal level. He worked and served quietly, not seeking recognition or material gain. He considered no task too menial or small.
Br Manzoor’s educational background was in organic chemistry as well as management and organizational behavior. He had a successful career in industry with research work culminating in three United States patents. He was also very well versed in Urdu and Persian poetry, which he often turned to as a guiding light in his life. His writing in English was organized, crisp, and refined - a skill that he honed over decades of writing corporate reports, scientific papers, and MSDV’s communications.
He was deeply grateful to the opportunities the United States of America provided for him and his family. In return, he felt that American Muslims had a vital role to play to enrich the fabric of this society. He and his family created educational endowments at local institutions, including Jefferson and Temple.
He is survived by his wife, Mukhtar Chaudhry; his brother, Muhammad Basheer Chaudhry; children Iftikhar (m. Aisha), Ijaz (m. Aaila), Imtiaz (m. Uzma); twelve grandchildren as well as many nieces and nephews. We pray Allah forgives his sins, rewards him abundantly for his noble efforts, and continues to bless our institutions and community.
Br. Manzoor working with the youth at the Albanian Masjid circa 1983.
Br. Manzoor and Br. Eyad Takiedine, current Chairman of the Board, signing the purchase agreement for ICCWG in 2017.
Manzoor Ahmad Chaudhry
March 14, 1941-October 30, 2026
