"He was more a political rather than a religious influence to many people," said Ahmad Yusufi, another son, referring to Afghanistan's conflict with the Soviets. His ultimate goal, he said, was "to bring peace and prosperity to Afghanistan, unite Afghans here and promote education." Indeed, a characteristic that distinguished Yusufi from other more traditional Afghan leaders was his propensity to encourage women to become educated, saying Islamic law did not prohibit it. "It would haunt him," Ahmad said, about the conservative Taliban regime's opposition to women's education. All six of his daughters received higher schooling, including his eldest, Latifa, who became a Fulbright scholar and ultimately a university professor. Through his mosque, Yusufi also set up the Afghan Immigrant Islamic Center, a resettlement service to help immigrants with family counseling, documentation and marriages. "People would call my father at 3 a.m. with questions," Ahmad said. "If he didn't have the answer, he'd look it up. He didn't have a private life. He was dedicated to the public. He was at their service." As a measure of his popularity, the day the Imam died the Afghan community took over all funeral expenses, Ahmad said. But when money was sent to a funeral home in Queens and the Washington Memorial Cemetery in Long Island, both places returned the checks.