The Muslim Cougar

Dr. Ziad Ali Elnasser, dean of the medical school at Yarmouk University, is a BYU Cougar.  He and his wife went to Provo in 1968, enrolled in school and lived in Y-mount married housing.  Their two children were born there.  He received his phD in microbiology.

Dr. Zohour, our friend from Jordan University of Science and Technology wanted us to meet Dr. Ziad and arranged for the visit.  We were delighted to get the chance to meet him, even though we had to walk up 5 flights of stairs to get to his office.

In our conversation Dr. Ziad entertained us by relating stories about his life at BYU.  We laughed at the story of his wife getting busted for smoking by campus security, and the first experience they had with eating ham.  They thought it was hamburger.  The missionaries came to their apartment every week to try to teach them the gospel.  He knows all about Joseph Smith, but as we know, it would have been impossible for them to leave Islam and join any Christian church.  Nevertheless, he came away with a love for Utah and for the principles he learned while he was there.  He's a very loving man with very similar values to ours.  He can be a big influence for good on all the young people he teaches here in Jordan.

 A big part of our mission here in Jordan is to make friends and build relationships.  We don't know the "big picture" yet and we probably never will, but we know the Lord has a plan for his children and one day they will come to Christ.  It will be fun to look back and see how things work out, especially with people like Dr. Ziad.  We don't believe that he went to BYU by "chance."  There has to be a plan for him.  He's a good man and so is Dr. Zohor.