Namal Fundraiser in Sacramento Offers Support for Higher Education in Pakistan

By Ras H. Siddiqui

Over many years now Northern California Pakistani Americans have gone out to bat for supporting educational causes in their country of origin and since last year they have adopted the Namal Scholarship Club as one of these causes. For those who may not be aware, this fund assists higher education access by providing scholarships to deserving students, enabling them to attend Namal University located in Mianwali, Punjab, Pakistan (close to the KPK border).

This university was founded in the year 2008 out of need and remains the brainchild of a visionary from Pakistan whose name remains attached to it. It is better described as Namal University & Namal Knowledge City, modeled after Oxford University in the UK, and possibly Aligarh Muslim University (AMU) in India. One fact that is well known is that its founder, Cricket Legend Imran Khan, has never been known to think small.

This year their fundraiser was held at the Hilton Arden West in Sacramento on April 10, 2026. The evening started off with dinner and a social hour as attendees trickled in, many after work, since the event was on a working Friday. The formalities once again started off in the very capable hands of emcee Waqar Rizvi who welcomed everyone and invited Usman Khalid to start the evening with a recitation from the Holy Qur’an. Waqar also added his own message highlighting education as the most powerful weapon to bring societal change. 

The first scheduled speaker was young Usayd Azhar whose wisdom far exceeds his age. Usayd shared many inspirational snippets and focused on the ways to earn Allah’s (SWT) blessings by leaving a righteous and generous legacy behind. At the end of our lives, we will not be judged by what we had (cars, houses, etc.) but by what we were willing to give up, he said. Supporting access to education is one essential element, as our religion has strongly supported its pursuit from the early beginnings of Islam. He said there are people in our Ummah who are looking for a chance to learn and this was one great reason to support this cause.

The keynote speech at this event was delivered by Senator Walid Iqbal, son of former Chief Justice Javid Iqbal, and grandson of the man who gave inspiration to the very foundations of Pakistan, the poet philosopher Allama Muhammad Iqbal. Senator Walid’s famous grandfather already has roads named after him in Cordoba, Spain; Heidelberg, Germany; Oldham, UK; and now even in America in Queens, New York (named in 2023). But how did that all come about? The edifice on which Allama Iqbal’s (and his family’s) global intellectual reach was built sits primarily on talent, effort, and certainly access to quality higher education.

Senator Walid, after giving a brief background of Namal University and its founder’s vision, highlighted Allama Iqbal’s own educational journey in his speech. Higher education is in my blood; he said, and then provided some background. The poet Iqbal did not come from an educated family in the Western sense. Iqbal’s learning path started at the age of four at a Madrassa (to learn to read the Qur'an). The affection that he developed there for God’s word stayed with Iqbal till his dying day, said Walid.

Allama Iqbal’s talent was spotted early by one of his teachers (Syed Mir Hassan) who taught Arabic and Persian. He was sent to Scotch Mission School/College, Sialkot where he got his first exposure to Western education and won every award that they had. And by grade twelve there was nothing else that the city of Sialkot had left to offer him, said Walid. On the advice of his teacher, he was next sent to Government College, Lahore (receiving a BA in Philosophy, English Literature and Arabic) where he worked under the supervision of Sir Thomas Walker Arnold who encouraged him to go to Europe. It was from there on that he returned as a transformed man, said Walid. Had he not been blessed with solid higher education he would not have been able to reach his (international) heights of fame.

Walid also shared how, like his grandfather, his own access to higher education in the West, in the US and the UK and in Pakistan enriched his life. The core belief that he shared is that  higher education transforms lives. And that has been the driving force behind Namal University and its founder, to bring a world class “Center of Excellence” education to an impoverished rural location in Pakistan. Out of the students currently enrolled at Namal University 51 percent are women, added Walid. He ended his speech with a lesser-known poem by his grandfather.

That set the stage for a short video presentation on Namal after which Sajjad Burki took to the stage and presented details on the Namal Scholarship Fund, and the coordination of its funding and accounting here in America. Armed with several slides Burki made a convincing case for why this project deserves the attention and support of Pakistani Americans. He also went into the details of the site and the study programs currently available at Namal University plus those that this institution would like to add in future. He said that as of now 249 students at the university are supported by the generosity of donors in America through Friends of Namal. And he added that almost all the students who study at Namal University live on campus in the housing provided for them.

The last scheduled speaker was also very impressive. To add some star power to the event Pakistani TV Drama actress, talk show host and human rights activist Hina Khwaja Bayat was here in Sacramento, possibly for the first time. She is a familiar face to fans of our Urdu TV dramas and was widely noticed in the series Hamsafar (2011) which launched many stars, and the web series Churails (2020), just to name a few. From her speech one noticed that she was equally comfortable in both English and Urdu. She said that English is our need (to connect with the world) but that Urdu is our identity. She also said that education does not just uplift one individual, it uplifts an entire community. And she stressed the value of higher education specifically. Admiring the beauty of California, she mentioned the Lone Cypress at Pebble Beach, admiring its resolve and strength to stand against the odds. Readers here can guess which famous Pakistani personality she equated it to!

The fundraising segment of the evening followed which included the auctioning of Cricket bats and balls autographed by Imran Khan. This is always a part of any fundraising tied to the projects that Khan Sahib has founded. It started with the Shaukat Khanum Memorial Cancer Hospitals and has extended to Namal. Another addition here this time were “Cornered Tiger” T-Shirts which were auctioned off too. The attendees in Sacramento were generous, and funds raised here will assist in helping students attend Namal University.

Last but not least was the entertainment segment featuring the very versatile Fariha Pervez. Fariha still lives up to the title of her 1996 debut album, Nice & Naughty, but her singing range has increased vastly since then and incorporated the fine art of Ghazal singing. Since then amongst many other platforms, Fariha’s work in the popular Pakistan Television (PTV) musical program "Virsa" produced by Yousuf Salahuddin (who also happens to be Senator Walid Iqbal’s cousin) was also widely appreciated. And it is hard to believe that Pakistan Link covered her first appearance in Northern California almost thirty years ago! At this Namal event, those that stayed till the very end  relayed their appreciation of her performance to this writer the next day.

(One picture used courtesy Azmi Gill)