Fatima Seedat is an academic, activist and consultant who’s work focuses on gender and Islamic law. Ms. Seedat received her Ph.D. Candidate at McGill University, Canada, where her dissertation investigates how Islamic law conceptualizes “women”. Now, she holds a Senior Lectureship at the school of African and Gender Studies, Anthropology and Linguistics at the University of Cape Town.
Ms. Seedat is the co-founder of Shura Yabafazi, a South African NGO that focuses on women’s rights in Muslim family law. She has also worked as the parliamentary liaison for the South African Commission on Gender Equality. She was part of the research and writing team for Knowing Our Rights, a handbook on Muslim family laws and practices around the world produced by Women Living under Muslim Laws (WLUML). Recently she worked with Equitas (formerly the Canadian Human Rights Foundation) to produce training resources for human rights activists working on women’s rights in Muslim communities.
Ms. Seedat believes that there is much room for growth and development in the study and practice of women’s rights in Muslim family laws, especially in the theoretical frameworks we use to understand our struggles. She looks forward to being a part of this growth.
Nuzhat Jafri has held leadership positions in the public, private and non-profit sectors, including directing diversity initiatives at two of Canada’s largest banks. At the Bank of Montreal, Ms. Jafri designed, developed and delivered a unique diversity education program entitled Business by Inclusion. She has developed numerous anti-discrimination, anti-harassment and anti-oppression workshops for a variety of audiences.
In addition, Ms. Jafri has been volunteering with the Canadian Council of Muslim Women (CCMW) for the past 25 years, where she has led several educational and instructional initiatives. Recently, she developed a toolkit for facilitators on Muslim and Canadian family laws, used for workshops delivered to over 480 participants across Canada. She has developed and facilitated civic engagement workshops for Muslim women and most recently facilitated a workshop on issues facing Muslim youth in the Greater Toronto Area. Currently, she is advising CCMW on two major projects: one focused on Muslim youth and identity and another focused on Muslim girls in the education system and resources for educators.
Ms. Jafri is currently the Executive Director of the Office of the Fairness Commissioner, an arm’s-length agency of the Ontario government with a mandate to ensure that regulated professions have registration practices that are transparent, objective, impartial and fair. Previously, she developed a cultural policy framework at the Ontario Ministry of Culture and oversaw the passage of key legislation and the development and implementation of key regulations. She was also a director at the Employment Equity Commission.
Ms. Jafri continues to be active in the community and has served as chair and member of several non-profit boards. Currently, she is a national board member of the Canadian Council of Muslim Women. She is multilingual and is proficient in both of Canada’s official languages.
Syeda Sultana Razia is an Associate Professor of Bangladesh University of Engineering and Technology (BUET). Dr. Razia is affiliated with a number of local and international organizations dealing with women rights, human rights and social welfare. She is an Executive Committee member and Director of the Advocacy cell for women rights of Masjid Council for Community Advancement (MACCA), a faith based development, humanitarian and campaigning organization operating from Dhaka ). She is the Vice-president of Witness, a study circle established for the purpose of developing a generation of Intellectual Muslim Women with balanced understanding of Islam with particular emphasize on Gender Equity, Social Justice and Methodology of Islamic Jurisprudence. She is also a founding member of witness-pioneer.org, a virtual organization focusing on educating people through virtual school, email list, online library, online magazine etc.
She is the Assistant General Secretary of Bangladesh Chapter of Assembly for Protection of Hijab (http://www.prohijab.net/) an England based organization formed in 2003 to protect Muslim women’s right to wear head scarf and a Member of the Canada based human rights organization International Society for Peace and Human Rights -ISPHR ).
Dr. Razia speaks frequently on social, religious and women rights issues on national television (BTV) and private satellite channels of Bangladesh. She has a PhD in Chemical Engineering from University of Alberta.
Joumanah El Matrah is the Executive Director of the Islamic Women’s Welfare Council of Victoria and has published a number of works on Muslim women in Australia. Trained as a psychologist, Ms. El Matrah is a community development worker and has been active in the community welfare sector for ten years. She was a member of the Ministerial Advisory Council for Cultural and Linguistic Diversity, Department of Human Services, Victorian Government and one of the Directors for the Victorian Women’s Trust. She was also an invited participant to the Ninth Annual Global Women’s Leadership Institute; Realising the Vision of Women’s Human Rights: Understanding the Intersections of Racism, Sexism and Other Oppressions. Ms. El Matrah is also a Churchill Fellow, researching the impact of the human rights movement on Muslim women internationally. She has been a member of numerous committees and boards, and recently she co-chaired the Muslim Reference Group’s subcommittee, Education and Training of Clerics and Lay Teachers and Leaders.
Farkhunda Saamy is a Gender Advisor in the Independent Administrative Reform and Civil Service Commission (IARCSC) for GTZ, where she specializes in capacity development programs and women’s empowerment. Working inside the Afghan government has provided Ms. Saamy with a strong analytical framework for understanding the situation of Afghan women, and in particular the role of Islam in the state and how this affects women’s daily lives.
Ms. Saamy has experience working in the UN, ICRC, and GTZ- Gender Mainstreaming. She has worked for different national and international organizations focusing on women’s rights, including the Shelter Program, the International committee of the Red Cross, and Omar International. Her focus within these organizations has been on education and empowerment programs and providing practical support for vulnerable women. Her recent participation in a conference on The Rights of Women in the Holy Qur’an has confirmed her interest in feminist readings of Islam and her desire to access Islamic scholars and networks.
Ms. Saamy has expert knowledge in issues relating to gender equality, and in advocating for women’s rights and justice. Her goal is to contribute to the economic growth of Afghanistan via business development for women. She holds an Executive Master’s degree in Business Administration, from Preston University, Peshawar, Pakistan.
Suraya Pakzad founded the Voice of Women Organization (VWO) in 1998 in Afghanistan. The organization operates across the country and teaches women and girls how to read in groups. Initially, VWO’s work was conducted in secrecy but after 2001 the organization has been able to operate openly. Ms. Pakzad firmly believes that Afghanistan cannot prosper without the contributions of its women. To this end, VWO now runs a range of projects that support disadvantaged and oppressed women.
Ms. Pakzad was the recipient of the “Women of Courage” award by the US State Department in 2008. That same year she was also awarded the “Malali Medal” by the President of Afghanistan. More recently, in May 2009, she was recognized as one of the 100 most influential people in the world by TIME Magazine. Ms. Pakzad graduated from Kabul University where she later became a faculty member in the literature department. She was married at 14 and is a mother of six.
Sajia Behgam is a Gender and Policy Advisor in the GTZ Gender Mainstreaming Project. Ms. Behgam is responsible for issues as they relate to national gender policy and Islamic perspectives. Her current work includes policy analysis, management, gender equality advocacy and capacity development.
During the Taliban years Ms. Behgam ran an underground school for girls as well as forming a youth network which continued to function in the post Taliban era. In the past eight years Ms. Behgam has worked extensively on both women’s and youth issues. She was part of the organizing committee for the Young Leader’s Forum (YLF) and represented young Afghan women in Kenya, Switzerland, Norway and Germany on issues as diverse as elections, democracy, peace building and youth and women’s rights. The YLF worked to coordinate Afghan youth groups and towards a specific youth directorate under the Ministry of Information and Culture.
Ms. Behgam is experienced in conference organization, public advocacy and lobbying. She has worked with government, the international community and civil society including Medica Mondiale and Radio Good Morning Afghanistan.
Ms. Begham is a devout Muslim women with a strong belief in women’s rights under Islam. She has a Bachelor of Law and Political Science (Women’s Leadership) degree from Kabul University.
Dr. Amina Wadud is a visiting scholar at the Starr King School for the Ministry in California and a visiting consultant on Islam and gender at the International Centre for Islam and Pluralism in Indonesia.
Dr. Wadud achieved full Professor at Virginia Commonwealth University, Richmond, VA. USA, before taking early retirement. She is the author of several books, including Inside the Gender Jihad (Oneworld Publisher, 2006), and Qur’an and Woman (Oxford University Press, 1999), now available in 7 translations. A core member of Sisters in Islam, Malaysia since 1989, Dr. Wadud contributed the theological basis for the organization in its earliest stages of development. She continues to combine academia and activism; progressive Islam and spirituality in her work.
In the fall of 2009, Dr. Wadud will teach Islam, gender and human rights at the Center for Religious and Cross Cultural Studies at Gadjah Mada University, in Yogyakarta. The following spring (2010) she will teach an intensive workshop at University of Melbourne, Australia. She continues to travel extensively providing consultation on areas related to Islam and Pluralism and is an expert on the theology of Islam and gender equality. She is doing research on knowledge production and gender in Islam.
Visit Amina Wadud’s website by clicking here https://www.patreon.com/TheLadyImam.
