Muslim Women: Past and Present

Recommend a Muslim Woman

Throughout the ages, from the earliest days of Islam to contemporary times today, Muslim women have been and continue to be active leaders in their communities and countries across the world. This directory is a growing archive of leading Muslim women scholars, activists, writers, politicians, artists, religious and spiritual leaders, civil society leaders and more. Please contribute to this archive by suggesting Muslim women to be featured through our recommendation form.

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Afra Jalabi

…nor can we afford as Muslim women, in our communities, to be judged and awarded degrees and ranks of religiosity according to the level of the dress code we abide by.

—Afra Jalabi, “To Veil or Not to Veil, That is the Question,” November 2001

photo of Afra Jalabi

Known For: Columnist for the Saudi daily Al Yaum and WISE Shura Council Member
Dates: Hijri 1389 – Present (AH)
Common Era 1970 – Present (CE)
Country: Canada

About

Afra Jalabi is an Arab-Canadian journalist and peace advocate. She was born in Damascus in 1970 and was raised in Germany and Saudi Arabia. Afra completed high school in Saudi Arabia and then moved to Canada, where she attended McGill University and received a B.A. in Anthropology and Political Science. After graduating from McGill, she earned a M.A. in Journalism from Carleton University. Afra then moved to London, where she worked as a weekly columnist for Al-Jadeedah Magazine and wrote about cultural, social, and literary topics.

Afra is currently a weekly columnist for the Saudi daily newspaper, Al Yaum and a member of the editorial board of the Journal of Law and Religion at Hamline University. Her interests lie in the theory of nonviolence, early Islamic history and texts, Qur’anic exegesis, and feminist theory. She has lectured about these themes in Canada and the United States and has worked with her uncle, Jawdat Said, on several projects related to Islam and non-violence.

Sources

Salam Institute for Peace and Justice, “Fellowships: Afra Jalabi”

Videos

Islam and Non-violence-Radio

More Information

Afra Jalabi, “To Veil or Not to Veil, that is the Question” November 2001

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This search feature will enable you to find Muslim women alphabetically by their first names. Many Muslim names have alternative spellings once rendered into English so if you cannot find the name you are looking for, please try the general search tab where you can enter keywords of your choice.
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This search feature will enable you to find Muslim women chronologically by the Common Era century. We are actively building the archive of Muslim women leaders from the past, as well as from today, and we would welcome your recommendations of women to feature. Please complete our “Recommend Muslim Women” form and check the site again in the near future as we actively expand this section of the portal with your suggestions.
This search feature will enable you to find Muslim women by their Country. We are actively building the archive of Muslim women leaders from the past, as well as from today, and we would welcome your recommendations of women to feature. Please complete our “Recommend Muslim Women” form and check the site again in the near future as we actively expand this section of the portal with your suggestions.
This search feature will enable you to find Muslim women leaders by entering the keyword(s) of your choice. If you cannot find a particular woman that you are looking for, please let us know by completing our “Recommend Muslim Women” form and check the site again in the near future as we actively expand this section of the portal with your suggestions.