Yusuf Ahmed
Chachi jaan was the moral compass of our entire extended family. We all knew what she would say before we even asked. That voice will guide us forever.
May 11, 2026
(89 years, 7 months)
Zubeda Begum Shaikh — Ammi to three generations — was born on 25 April 1935 in the old city of Hyderabad, in a neighbourhood where the lanes were narrow, the mosques were ancient, and everyone knew everyone else's name. She was the daughter of a Quran teacher and grew up in a household where learning and faith were indistinguishable from each other.
At a time when most girls in her community did not finish school, Zubeda completed her matriculation and went on to study Urdu literature at Osmania University — a choice her father supported with great pride. She taught Urdu at a government girls' school for 28 years and was beloved by students who still, decades later, recite verses she taught them.
She married Mohammed Yusuf Shaikh in 1957 and raised five children in a home that was always open. Her cooking — particularly her haleem, biryani, and sheer khurma — was the stuff of legend in Purani Haveli. More than once, neighbours arrived uninvited on Eid and were seated and fed without a word of complaint.
Zubeda performed the Hajj with her husband in 1985, and she spoke of Mecca for the rest of her life as the most profound experience a human being could have. In her final years she read poetry daily — Mir Taqi Mir and Faiz Ahmed Faiz particularly — and kept a small diary in elegant Urdu script that her grandchildren are only now beginning to read.
She passed on 3 December 2024 at the age of 89, peacefully, in the same city where she was born. She is survived by her five children, seventeen grandchildren, and four great-grandchildren — all of whom carry pieces of her in the way they speak, the way they host, and the way they love.
Ammi would wake before Fajr every morning and sit on the takht in the courtyard with her tasbih. If you woke early enough, you could see her there in the lamplight, lips moving quietly, completely still. As a child it frightened me a little — that stillness. As an adult I understand it was the most powerful thing I ever witnessed. She was simply at peace with God. I have spent my entire life trying to find that.
28-year teaching career at Government Girls' School, Hyderabad
BA in Urdu Literature from Osmania University, at a time few women pursued higher education
Performed Hajj with her husband in 1985
Compiled a handwritten manuscript of traditional Hyderabadi recipes preserved for future generations
Lifelong patron of a local madrassa supporting underprivileged children's education
Mecca Masjid, Charminar, Hyderabad, Telangana 500002
Daairas Shaadat Cemetery, Purani Haveli, Hyderabad, Telangana
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