Devout Muslim Nadiyah Shakir marked a “double blessing” on Thursday, with her 70th birthday coinciding with the beginning of Ramadan, the holy month of Islam.

Mrs Shakir, who has overcome a lifetime of health difficulties, said she cannot fast for medical reasons.

“I give thanks,” she told The Royal Gazette. “I feel like a walking testament that prayer works.”

Mrs Shakir, raised in New York, battled through acute rheumatic fever as a child, followed by a lengthy stay in a convalescent home.

“People came from all over praying for me, practically all my young life.”

She joked that as a child she was confused by the name of the illness, mishearing it as “cute romantic fever”.

Mrs Shakir frequently found herself in the emergency room for asthma.

“Some people might say I was a miracle baby. Now I’m a miracle baby boomer — I feel like I am a special edition.”

Her 70th birthday comes on the heels of celebrating 50 years of marriage in January.

On a more sombre note, this month marks ten years since she lost her daughter, Ruqayyah, to illness.

But Mrs Shakir said adversity was taken by Muslims in their stride as part of their faith.

She said she took comfort in Surah 29, verse 2 of the Koran: “Do people think once they say ‘we believe’ that they will be left without being put to the test?”