Victor Ghalib Begg is a retired entrepreneur. He operated a chain of furniture stores in Metro-Detroit, now spends much of his time in community service and as a Muslim activist at the local and national levels.

Over the years, Mr. Begg was a leader in metro-Detroit, often serving as a liaison between the Michigan Muslim community and local, regional, and national public, civic and interfaith groups. He is a co-founder of the Muslim Unity Center Mosque in Bloomfield Hills, an Emeritus Board Member of the Michigan Roundtable for Diversity & Inclusion, and a founding member of the Interfaith Leadership Council of Metro-Detroit. In 2000, Mr. Begg was also elected to a 4-year term on the Bloomfield Hills Board of Education.

Mr. Begg was recognized by Detroit News staff and readers as Michiganian of the Year in 2009, and has been honored with many awards, including Community Peacemaker of the Year by the Peace & Conflict Resolutions Studies Center at Wayne State University, Diversity Champion from the Birmingham- Bloomfield Hills Race Relations & Diversity Task Force. In 1995, he was appointed by the Michigan Governor to the Blue Ribbon Commission on Gaming and the Michigan Community Service Commission.

He has appeared on numerous media outlets, including ABC, FOX, NPR, LA Times, CBS, Voice of America, and USA Today, and is his opinion editorials on Muslim issues frequently appear in Detroit and the Treasure Coast newspapers.

Mr. Begg holds an MBA from the University of Detroit. Originally from India, he is the father of three children, grandfather of four, and now resides with his wife, Shahina Begg (co-founder of the Women's Interfaith Solutions for Dialogue and Outreach in metro-Detroit) on North Hutchinson Island.

He is an active member of the new Mosque, Islamic Center of Treasure Coast. He regularly contributes his guest column to the TC Palm newspapers. He has continued building his interfaith relations on the Treasure Coast and active in the local interfaith circles, along with his wife who volunteers at the local Library.

His latest book is “Our Muslim Neighbors — Achieving the American Dream; An Immigrant’s Memoir.”

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