Personal Life
In 1948 his family emigrated to Egypt, and he grew up there. In 1969 he graduated as a mechanical engineer. In 1974 he married his cousin Iman; the couple had seven children. He studied Islamic theology with scholars in different Muslim countries. He was employed in the Persian Gulf oil industry from 1970 to 1982, and in a contracting company in Nigeria from 1982 to 1984. He contributed to Islamic projects in education in different states of Nigeria.
He emigrated to Denmark in 1984 and lived there for the rest of his life. He publicly denounced terrorism and the use of violence to further the Islamic cause. Moreover, he was known to fight for social justice and help alleviate social ills, by preaching that Danish Muslims had a responsibility to better the society in which they were a part. On January 19, 2007 the Islamic Society in Denmark announced that Abu Laban had cancer, and that it probably was lung cancer. Abu Laban died on February 1, 2007, aged 60. The love and devotion many Danish Muslims had for Abu Laban come to display at his funeral, where thousands of Muslims poured into the streets of Copenhagen to engage in his Islamic funeral ceremony.
At the time of his death, Ahmad Abu Laban worked as a religious advisor with Islamic Society in Denmark. According to the Society's website, he was a member of the "Co-ordination council of Imams" in Europe.
Read more about this topic: Ahmad Abu Laban
Famous quotes containing the words personal life, personal and/or life:
“A man lives not only his personal life, as an individual, but also, consciously or unconsciously, the life of his epoch and his contemporaries.”
—Thomas Mann (1875–1955)
“Women’s childhood relationships with their fathers are important to them all their lives. Regardless of age or status, women who seem clearest about their goals and most satisfied with their lives and personal and family relationships usually remember that their fathers enjoyed them and were actively interested in their development.”
—Stella Chess (20th century)
“Our democracy, our culture, our whole way of life is a spectacular triumph of the blah. Why not have a political convention without politics to nominate a leader who’s out in front of nobody?... Maybe our national mindlessness is the very thing that keeps us from turning into one of those smelly European countries full of pseudo-reds and crypto-fascists and greens who dress like forest elves.”
—P.J. (Patrick Jake)