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ALTHOUGH he is gone, relatives intend to continue the dream of businessman, philanthropist and social activist Inshan Ishmael by opening a hospital at Barakah Grounds, Chaguanas.
Ishmael died at around 10.30 am on August 29, surrounded by family, after battling urothelial carcinoma for the last 18 months. His funeral was held hours later at Barakah Grounds in Endeavour, where hundreds of members from the Muslim community, business people and politicians alike gathered to pay their last respects.
Ishmael's brother, Bobby, told Newsday while he spent the last few weeks of his life in pain, the family rallied around him. Now that he's gone, he said the family wants to continue to build his legacy.
"We want to finish the hospital. That is what he want done and we have to do that for him, to please him."
Work began on the structure in April 2021, and in a May interview with a local news station, he said the ground and first floors could be opened with a $5 million investment.
In April 2024, Ishmael said the women's ward of the hospital would be named after Azizah Mohammed, a Freeport mother of three who was killed when a car lost control, crossed the median and crashed into her pickup.
Delivering brief words during the funeral, Curepe Jamaat's Imam Inshan Hoosaney described Ishmael as a man who helped transform the country, especially giving Muslims a voice, with his Islamic Broadcasting Network (IBN) television station.
Ishmael hosted the Breaking Barriers talk show and used it as a platform for his activism. He cited Ishmael's 2025 role in having the nation's highest award, the Trinity Cross, be replaced with the Order of the Republic of TT (ORTT).
"He believed it wasn't right for such an important national honour to carry out a Christian symbol in a country with many different religions. What he was really fighting for was fairness among communities, respect for all faiths and true unity in our diverse society."
He said Ishmael left a mark in the community and was an exemplar, showing what it was to live your faith through action and to lead with courage and care.
Speaking to reporters at the funeral, Congress of the People leader and attorney Prakash Ramadhar also said he wished people could emulate Ishmael.
[caption id="attachment_1175027" align="alignnone" width="1024"] Members of Inshan Ishmael's family, from left, daughter Zaara, wife Marylyn and daughter Zaariyah near his casket during his funeral at Barakah Ground, Endeavour, on August 29.[/caption]
"A lot people speak, but he not only spoke and highlighted issues, but he took action to fix things for us all.
"So I think we have lost a real patriot. Inshan is Inshan. He may not have pleased everyone, but what he did was always with the interest of all of our country at heart."
Ishmael's daughter, Zaariyah, said while people may have had their views on her father, he was "the most perfect dad to me, who was there for me, any time I needed something."
Ishamel's son, Zaakir, led the congregation in the Janazah prayer before the body was taken for burial.
Ishmael battled for many causes in life
Ishmael was best known for his vocal promotion of Islamic media in TT, launching the Islamic Broadcast Network (IBN) in 2006, where he hosted the talk show Breaking Barriers.
In September 2024, he welcomed the formal establishment of diplomatic ties between TT and Palestine.
He was well known for his fundraising efforts in the communities where he lived and worked.
In 2023, he erected a guard booth at Bamboo No 2, but it was torn down by the Tunapuna/Piarco Regional Corporation.
Ishmael was also well known for his presence in the courts of TT.
In 2024, he sued four-time Calypso Monarch Weston “Cro Crow” Rawlins for defamation and was awarded $250,000, with a stay of execution being granted in June 2025.
Also in 2024, he challenged the National Carnival Commission for its failure to provide its financials for funds received from the government and private sponsors to host the 2022, 2023 and 2024 Carnivals.
He was also awarded $0.83 million owed to him for vehicle maintenance work his company, ROC, did for the police.
In 2022, he won a malicious prosecution lawsuit against the state after his arrest in 2016 for allegedly being involved in a public protest outside the Guardian Media building in Chaguanas.
Ishmael and two others were allegedly part of a demonstration outside the newspaper’s offices over a column which appeared on July 6, the Eid holiday, headlined “How not to be killed by Islamists.”
In October 2017, Ishmael was charged with possession of arms to endanger life, possession of ammunition to endanger life and common assault. He was granted bail of $300,000.
In July 2015, local police wrote the Office of the Attorney General requesting assistance with their probe into businessman Inshan Ishmael and his financial contributions to two charities: Muslim Aid and Human Concern International (HCI). Both charities had been red-flagged in the past for having possible terrorist links or funding terrorist activity.
In June 2006, he challenged the government about the constitutionality of the name of the Trinity Cross, along with then secretary general of the Sanatan Dharma Maha Sabha Satnarayan Maharaj, saying "non-Christians are unable and unwilling to accept (it) because it is perceived to be and/or in fact is a Christian symbol."
The name of the award was later changed to the Order of the Republic of TT in 2008.
In 2007, he was arrested under the Anti-Terrorism Act (2005) on the eve of a shutdown of private businesses he had called for. He was released on bail.
 
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