Faz Husain

Who was Faz Husain?

Faizi Faz Husain was a pizza shop owner, Muslim community leader, and local politician in the Ann Arbor-Ypsilanti area of Michigan.

He was born and grew up in the Patna Museum in Patna, Bihar, India, where his grandfather, Mr. Tajamul Husain, was curator. At age 14, he immigrated to the United States and settled in Ypsilanti, Michigan, where he learned the pizza business. As an adult, he opened his own shop, called "Hello Faz Pizza", first in Ypsilanti, and later on West Liberty Street in nearby Ann Arbor.

In 1979, he was elected to the Ypsilanti City Council, the first Muslim and the first native of India to win elected office in Michigan, and one of the first in the nation. He was also a candidate for mayor in 1993, a delegate to the Democratic National Convention in 1984, and traveled to India with President Bill Clinton on a trade mission in 2000.

Gregarious and cheerful, Husain enjoyed the spotlight; the walls of his shop displayed a selection from thousands of pictures of himself with people in show business, sports, and politics.

He died of pulmonary fibrosis at age 54, and is buried in Highland Cemetery in Ypsilanti.