THE 500 MOST INFLUENTIAL MUSLIMS - CESD

Women’s IssuesUNITED KINGDOMjanmohamed, shelina zahraShelina Zahra Janmohamed is a British writer and commentator who gained web-based acclaimfor her blog ‘spirit21’. She has recently become increasingly influential in British media as an authorand commentator on the issues of religion and gender. Her book Love in a Headscarf has been verypopular among Muslims and has also played a great role in demystifying Muslim life to a non-Muslim audience by narrating a Muslim girl’s search for love.North AmericaUNITED STATESal-hibri, dr azizah [new]Chairperson of Karamah Muslim Women Lawyers for Human Rights, Dr al-Hibri Esq. leadsa dynamic organization dedicated to the empowerment of Muslim women by focusing on theegalitarian message of gender-equity in the Qur’an. Al-Hibri is also a professor of law at the T.C.Williams School of Law, University of Richmond.kavakçi, prof. dr merveMerve Kavakçi is a lecturer on culture and international affairs at George Washington University.In 1999, she was barred from a position in the Turkish Parliament for refusing to remove herhijab. She is an important symbolic figure for the headscarf issue in Turkey and promotes Muslimwomen’s rights at events all over the world, criticizing Turkey’s anti-Islamic policies. Kavakçi is alsoa Hafizah of the Qur’an (one who has memorized the entire Qur’an).mogahed, daliaDalia Mogahed is the executive director and a senior analyst at the Gallup Center for MuslimStudies and director of the Muslim-West Facts Initiative. She was appointed by President Obamato serve on the Advisory Council on Faith-Based and Neighborhood Partnerships and is thefirst hijab-wearing Muslim woman to hold a White House position. Mogahed has also held highpositions in the US-Muslim Engagement Project and is co-author of the book Who Speaks forIslam? What a Billion Muslims Really Think.135