LANHAM, Md. — Family members and colleagues are sharing their memories of the life and faith of Prince George’s County Cpl. Mujahid Ramzziddin, who lost his life defending a neighbor.
Remembering his fallen brother in faith at his funeral service, Cpl. Mujahid Ramzziddin’s imam recalled how the 14-year police veteran found Islam.
“Brother Mujahid first embraced the religion of Islam in 1997 and had changed his name to Mujahid, which means ‘the one who is constantly struggling against injustice,'” which Imam Talib Shareef noted rightly spoke to the victim’s character.
Ramzziddin, a Marine, was awarded the county’s Medal of Valor in 2006. However, the details of how the honor was earned were not immediately available from the grieving department.
“As for my mother, Tammy, my father loves you. He loves you a lot,” said Ramzziddin’s eldest child, Eric Tyler, during his service.
Tyler said his father would do anything for his family members, whom he loved fiercely, and recalled a funny phone conversation about his love of his wife’s cooking.
“And I said, ‘Dad, what are you eating?’ And he said: ‘Lamb. Tammy cooked lamb.’ And I said, ‘Can I get a plate?’ He said, ‘Nah, you’ve got to get your own Tammy.”
His colleagues said Ramzziddin was killed on his day off, helping a neighbor who had requested he help her as she had concerns about a domestic situation unfolding. Investigators say Ramzziddin was shot and killed assisting her.
“What he did the other day goes beyond measure,” Tyler said. “Without hesitation, my dad went out there to assist that young lady. He didn’t know he was going to get shot five times. He protected that lady and it cost him his life. Today, my dad is a hero.”
The 51-year-old father of four respected the words of Malcom X, according to his son. Ramzziddin’s home was filled with quotes from the influential leader. Before reciting a famous quote, Tyler pointed to the irony that his father was killed in the same manner and on the same day as “one of his heroes,” Malcom X, who was shot and killed Feb. 21, 1965.
