01-Contents Page.indd - The Royal Islamic Strategic Studies Centre

Women’s Issues
UNITED KINGDOM
janmohamed, shelina zahra
Shelina Zahra Janmohamed is a British writer and commentator who gained web-based acclaim
for her blog ‘spirit21’. She has recently become increasingly influential in British media as an author
and commentator on the issues of religion and gender. Her book Love in a Headscarf has been very
popular 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 America
UNITED STATES
al-hibri, dr azizah [new]
Chairperson of Karamah Muslim Women Lawyers for Human Rights, Dr al-Hibri Esq. leads
a dynamic organization dedicated to the empowerment of Muslim women by focusing on the
egalitarian 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 merve
Merve 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 her
hijab. She is an important symbolic figure for the headscarf issue in Turkey and promotes Muslim
women’s rights at events all over the world, criticizing Turkey’s anti-Islamic policies. Kavakçi is also
a Hafizah of the Qur’an (one who has memorized the entire Qur’an).
mogahed, dalia
Dalia Mogahed is the executive director and a senior analyst at the Gallup Center for Muslim
Studies and director of the Muslim-West Facts Initiative. She was appointed by President Obama
to serve on the Advisory Council on Faith-Based and Neighborhood Partnerships and is the
first hijab-wearing Muslim woman to hold a White House position. Mogahed has also held high
positions in the US-Muslim Engagement Project and is co-author of the book Who Speaks for
Islam? What a Billion Muslims Really Think.
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