The Executive Director at Al-Mujadilah Center & Mosque for Women and is also an Associate Professor of Islamic Studies and Theology at Georgetown University–Qatar. Previously, Dr. Siddiqui taught courses at the University of Saskatchewan, Canada, and has held fellowships at Cambridge University, UK, among various other institutions.  
  
An accomplished author of four books, her latest publication, Islamic Law on Trial: Contesting Colonial Power in British India, was published in March 2025. The book examines how Muslims within the colonial judiciary responded to colonial attempts to displace Islamic law.   
 
Dr. Siddiqui has articles in several journals, such as Islamic Law & Society, Journal of the American Academy of Religion, Journal of Islamic Studies, Journal of the American Oriental Society, and Middle East Law and Governance. Currently, she is editing the forthcoming Cambridge Companion to Islamic Law (2026). She is also a guest editor for Harvard Law School's Islamic Law Blog and Associate Editor for The Journal of Islamic Law and Society. 
 
Dr. Siddiqui holds leadership positions in numerous international Muslim organizations, including Chair of the Board of Trustees of the Cambridge Muslim College from 2018 to 2023.
 
She holds a PhD in Religious Studies from the University of California, Santa Barbara, U.S. Her research interests include classical Islamic legal theory and political thought, Islamic law under colonialism, contemporary Islamic family law, and issues of gender, authority, and participation.

A Clinical Professor of Psychiatry at the Stanford University School of Medicine where she is the Director of the Stanford Muslim Mental Health & Islamic Psychology Lab as well as Stanford University's Affiliate Chaplain and Affiliate Professor of Islamic Studies. In the community, she serves as the President and Co-Founder of Maristan.org, a holistic mental health nonprofit serving Muslim communities, and the co-founder of The Rahmah Foundation, a non-profit organization dedicated to educating Muslim women and girls. In addition, she is faculty of Islamic Psychology at Cambridge Muslim College and The Islamic Seminary of America. Prior to studying medicine, she pursued classical Islamic studies in Damascus, Syria, and holds certifications (ijaza) in the Qur’an,  

including the 10 canonical Quranic recitations (qira’at al-ashar), Islamic Law, and other branches of the Islamic Sciences.  

 Cadar Mohamud is the founder and host of The Digital Sisterhood, a global podcast and digital platform amplifying the voices and lived experiences of Muslim women. Since its launch, The Digital Sisterhood has reached over 2 million streams across more than 100 countries, offering a transnational space where Muslim women’s narratives function as digital counterpublics that challenge dominant representations and media discourse. 

Her work examines storytelling as a site of cultural production and resistance, with a focus on digital counterpublics, intersectionality, and faith-rooted narrative practices. 

Aalaa Abuzaakouk is the deputy director of the Millennium Leadership Program at the Atlantic Council.

A British educator, university lecturer, and community organiser dedicated to the spiritual and intellectual growth of Muslim women and mothers. Founder of MamaMotions and Qur’an Halaqah, she merges Qur’anic principles with educational theory to nurture women as transformative nurturers of the ummah through grassroots, reflective learning.

A scholar of the Gulf whose work bridges archival research, oral history, and emic pedagogy to rethink women’s lived experiences. She received her PhD in Anthropology from UCL. She is a postdoctoral fellow at Al-Mujadilah and she teaches history at Georgetown University in Qatar.

A writer and a specialist in the use of creative writing, employing it to help children explore the self through imagination and to dispel the illusions they have come to believe about themselves and their surroundings.

Soheir works with children most in need in collaboration with several civil society organizations. She also serves as a consultant for international institutions on projects related to creative education. She received her BA in Media from Misr University for Science and Technology in 2007, and an MA in Creative Writing and Education from Goldsmiths, University of London, in 2014. She is currently pursuing her PhD at the same university, focusing on the role of writing and imagination in education, grounded in Islamic traditions. Over the past eleven years, Sohier has developed a methodology that employs imagination as an entry point to writing, enabling children to express themselves and reconstruct their identities and realities. She has worked with many children and adolescents across different contexts. Her published works for children include I Feel Like (Al-Balsam Publishing), a book that helps children articulate their emotions through imagination and metaphor; Yasmeen Keshta (Diwan Publishing); The Ghost Butterfly (ʿAsfoura Publishing); and Zalṭa (Al-Shorouk Publishing).

Sarah Al Derham is Teaching Assistant at the Gulf Studies Centre in Qatar University, 

A researcher and practitioner in international education policy with a focus on gender, digital learning, and women’s leadership. She holds a master’s degree from Harvard University and has worked extensively at the intersection of education, social justice, and digital ethics. Her recent work explores the informal pedagogies of digital platforms and algorithmic governance.

Received her Ph.D. in English Literature from the Indian Institute of Technology Madras. Her research centers on Muslim women in South Asia, with emphasis on spatial studies in religion, digital humanities, and visual/textual cultures. Her doctoral work examined twentieth-century narratives by Muslim women, including oral histories and manuscript 

An independent researcher and editor, working with leading Muslim publishers in Kerala. She is also one of the founding members of Cadence Institute for Excellence and Social Empowerment, a women-led research NGO that engages with alternative academic discourses with a key focus on gender. Her research interests include Religion, Women, Ethics and Food.

Jawaher Al-Shammari is a Professor at Qatar University

Reham Elnory is a doctoral candidate in Philosophy at Boston College. Her research interests lie in ancient Greek philosophy, Islamic philosophy & theology, and contemporary French & German philosophy. She has an MA in History of Philosophy, an MA in Arabic Literature & Islamic Philosophy, and Graduate Diplomas in Modern European philosophy, & in Islamic Studies.

Ravza Altuntaş is an associate professor at Marmara University’s Institute for Middle Eastern and Islamic Studies. She earned her PhD in 2018 from Durham University’s School of Government and International Affairs. Her research spans political theory, modern Islamic thought, women’s studies, democracy, and multiculturalism. She is the author of A Political Theory of Muslim Democracy (Edinburgh University Press, 2022), translated into Arabic and published by Qatar University Press in 2024. Altuntaş is also the co-investigator, with Dr. Shuruq Naguib, of the Al-Mujadilah Center research cluster, “Islamic Perspectives on Women’s Agency: From Text to Context.”

Is currently the Lady Fatima Endowed Chair of Women and Divinity at Habib University Karachi and previously was Professor of Islamic Studies and the academic study of religion at Loyola University Chicago. Dr. Hermansen has published numerous academic articles in the fields of Islamic thought, Sufism, Islam and Muslims in South Asia, Muslims in America, and Women and Gender in Islam. Her authored and co-edited books include Sufism in Western Contexts (2023), Varieties of American Sufism (2020), Muslima Theology: The Voices of Muslim Women Theologians (2013), as well as translations from the works of Shah Wali Allah of Delhi, a prominent 18th century Sufi.

Holds a Ph.D. in Humanities from York University, with a specialization in gender-based trauma, psychoanalysis, motherhood, and the processes of navigating loss and mourning. She is the founder and program director of Maternal Minds, a community-driven organization based in Milton, Ontario, that provides support programs for Muslim mothers while fostering cultural revitalization.

A Sudanese-American Muslim chaplain-in-training pursuing her Master of Divinity in Islamic Chaplaincy. Shaped by her culturally diverse upbringing across the Philippines, Qatar, Kenya, and the United States, her research interests include Islamic theological foundations of spiritual care and decolonial thought in practice across Muslim-majority and minority contexts.

Associate Professor of Arabic and Islamic Studies and Director of the Master of Divinity in Islamic Studies and Muslim Chaplaincy at American Islamic College. Her research explores post-classical Islamic philosophy and theology, interfaith dialogue, and the development of Muslim thought in relation to modernity. She is the author of The Emergence of Early Sufi Piety and Sunnī Scholasticism (Brill, 2016) and Isagoge: A Primer in Classical Logic, which includes her translation and commentary on Athir al-Din al-Abhari’s foundational text. Recognized by CNN as one of the “25 Influential American Muslims” for her contributions to higher education, Dr. Salem also serves on several national professional boards and engages in international scholarly exchange. She received her Ph.D. in Islamic Studies from the University of Chicago.

An associate professor of Islamic Studies & History in the departments of Religious Studies and History at Duke University. She also regularly teaches through invited lectures, classes, workshops, and retreats locally and internationally. Her research and publications analyze the intersections of religion, culture, gender, and politics through the lens of global Islamic history. Her first book Longing for the Lost Caliphate: A Transregional History (Princeton University Press) received the American Academy of Religion's 2017 Award for Excellence in the Study of Religion in the category of Historical Studies. It examines Muslim engagement with the notion of an Islamic caliphate following its loss in the thirteenth and twentieth centuries and explores how poignant memories of the lost caliphate have percolated through Muslim culture, law, and politics across Afro-Eurasia. Her second book The Key to Inner Secrets and the Treasure of Provisions (forthcoming) combines a bilingual critical edition with commentary on a pivotal sixteenth-century treatise written by Shaykh Abu Bakr bin Salim. In preparation for additional monographs, Dr. Mona also continues to research actively and publish on the shifting contours and impact of women’s Islamic scholarship from the emergence of the Muslim community in the seventh century to the secular interventions of modern nation-states in the present.

A third-year undergraduate student in the Department of History at a leading university in Turkiye, Boğaziçi. She was born and raised in Istanbul at the crossroads of East and West, and received both theological and scientific education in an Imam Hatip high school, where she also studied Arabic and foundational Islamic sciences. As a Turkish History Foundation scholar and a top scorer in the national university entrance exam, she pursues a multidisciplinary academic path, taking courses in history, politics, economics, psychology, and literature. Her research interests include Islamic thought, Ottoman poetry, manuscript studies, and comparative civilizations. Zeynep has a strong interest in poetry and has won awards in amateur competitions. Having traveled to 27 countries, she has engaged with diverse cultures and Muslim women globally. She is committed to exploring how Muslim women's voices can challenge Eurocentric narratives and contribute to decolonial futures. If selected, she hopes to contribute to the dialogue by offering a critical perspective on feminist theory through the lens of Islamic epistemology, and to collaboratively explore frameworks that restore dignity and rootedness to Muslim women’s identities.

A senior student at the Faculty of Theology at Marmara University in Istanbul, Turkiye. My program is taught in English, and I also have an advanced command of Arabic. One of the most enriching experiences in my academic journey has been participating in the EDEP (Center for Excellence in Education) Honors Program, founded by Prof. Dr. Recep Şentürk. This program aims to cultivate a multidimensional intellectual formation by integrating the richness of tradition with contemporary social sciences. I also contribute as a content creator at EDEP Medya, the media branch of the same institution, where I produce materials that engage with contemporary social and intellectual topics. Last summer, I worked as a research intern at Institute Social, a think tank where I experienced the joy and responsibility of producing knowledge, analyzing ideas, and contributing to meaningful discussions. In my second year, I studied for a semester in Oman through a student exchange program. Meeting Muslim women from the Gulf region, observing their personal and societal development up close, and being part of an international academic environment deeply expanded my perspective. As a dedicated, passionate, and idealistic young woman of this ummah, contributing to a collaborative project on an international platform and exchanging ideas with Muslim women from diverse backgrounds will be an unforgettable and meaningful experience for me.

A scholarship student funded by the Turkish Maarif Foundation, currently pursuing a Bachelor's degree in English Language Teaching at Marmara University and an Associate's degree in Communication and Media Studies at Anadolu University.

My academic foundation was built at Uluslararası Şehit Mehmet Kara Aslan Girls Anatolian Imam Hatip High School, where I developed a deep interest in the role of Muslim women, education, and the revival of the Ummah as a civilizational project.

Alongside my studies, I work as a research intern at Enstitü Sosyal, focusing on knowledge production around Muslim societies, and as a freelance translator at Au Finja, bridging Arabic, Turkish, French, and English content. I also gained experience as a journalism intern at Fokus+ and served as an English teacher at Istanbul University's language club. My earlier advisory role with the Turkish Maarif Foundation further strengthened my commitment to intercultural dialogue and education. Recognized as Best Delegate by the Organization of Islamic Cooperation and Outstanding Delegate at FSM İmam Hatip, I continue to explore questions of identity, language, and empowerment through research, writing, and teaching. I am fluent in Arabic, French, English, and Turkish, with additional proficiency in Spanish, Russian, and Sign Language.

An associate professor of Islamic Studies & History in the departments of Religious Studies and History at Duke University. She also regularly teaches through invited lectures, classes, workshops, and retreats locally and internationally. Her research and publications analyze the intersections of religion, culture, gender, and politics through the lens of global Islamic history. Her first book Longing for the Lost Caliphate: A Transregional History (Princeton University Press) received the American Academy of Religion's 2017 Award for Excellence in the Study of Religion in the category of Historical Studies. It examines Muslim engagement with the notion of an Islamic caliphate following its loss in the thirteenth and twentieth centuries and explores how poignant memories of the lost caliphate have percolated through Muslim culture, law, and politics across Afro-Eurasia. Her second book The Key to Inner Secrets and the Treasure of Provisions (forthcoming) combines a bilingual critical edition with commentary on a pivotal sixteenth-century treatise written by Shaykh Abu Bakr bin Salim. In preparation for additional monographs, Dr. Mona also continues to research actively and publish on the shifting contours and impact of women’s Islamic scholarship from the emergence of the Muslim community in the seventh century to the secular interventions of modern nation-states in the present.

Master researcher in applied Islamic sciences, at the faculty of Shariah, and a researcher in international trading and business administration

An Egyptian scholar of medieval Islamic philosophy and theology. She earned her PhD in Religions and Philosophies from SOAS, University of London (2024), with a dissertation on Abū l-Barakāt al-Baghdādī’s theory of divine temporality, reflecting her focus on post-Avicennian philosophy and kalām. She holds an MA in Religion from Yale Divinity School (2012), where she studied biblical hermeneutics, systematic theology, and comparative Abrahamic religions, alongside Islamic thought after earning her BA in Islamic and Arabic Studies from Al-Azhar (2004) with a specialization in philosophy, theology, and ethics. She is a tenured Lecturer at Al-Azhar University (Department of Theology and Philosophy, Mansoura) and is currently a Postdoctoral Fellow at the Dominican Institute for Oriental Studies (IDEO) and the Institute of Arabic Manuscripts in Cairo, working on a critical edition of a 12th-century manuscript. Her research interests span post-Avicennian philosophy, kalām, Islamic mysticism, and cross-religious intellectual encounters, with a focus on how medieval Muslim thinkers engaged philosophical and theological questions across traditions.

Dr. Muna Ali, a Somali-American anthropologist with a PhD from Arizona State University

Barakat Adebisi Rji is an associate professor in the Department of Jurisprudence and International Law, Faculty of Law, University of Ilorin, Nigeria. She bagged her higher degree (PhD) from International Islamic University Malaysia, Malaysia, in the year 2017. She is a researcher and prolific writer. Her areas of interest are ADR, women and the law, and protection of the rights of women.

A lecturer at Cyber Islamic University in Cirebon, Indonesia. I am interested in feminist hermeneutics, theology, and social ethics in Southeast Asia. Their work explores how Muslim women reinterpret religious texts and traditions to promote justice, equity, and inclusive community practices.

Public health graduate with interdisciplinary training in sociology and anthropology. My research interests focus on Islamic medical ethics, health, and society. I explore how ethical reasoning in healthcare is shaped by religious values, social norms, and institutional structures through analytical and ethnographic approaches.

Dr. Dina Taha is an Assistant Professor at the Doha Institute for Graduate Studies.

Dr. Islam completed her Ph.D in Near Eastern Studies in 2023 at Princeton under the supervision of Michael Cook, where her area of focus was on the social and intellectual history of Islamic criminal law. Her dissertation won the Middle East Studies Association Best Dissertation Award (Honorable Mention) as well as Princeton's Bayard and Cleveland Dodge Best Dissertation Award in Near Eastern Studies. She has published with Brill, Sage, and Oxford University Presses, and her research has been funded by the Social Science Research Council, Fulbright Program, National Endowment for the Humanities, and Charlotte Newcombe Fellowship Program. She has pursued archival research in Egypt, Jordan, Turkey, and elsewhere. She is currently at postdoctoral fellow with the CORE Project (co-directed by the Institute for Advanced Study, Princeton and University of Bern) and will be completing her law degree at Yale Law School in 2028.

An award-winning British Islamic scholar, broadcaster, and author. With a rich Islamic 'Alimiyyah education she graduated from both the Ebrahim College seminary and Al-Salam Institute and is currently completing Ifta’ training under Sheikh Muhammad Akram Nadwi and other Muftis.
She holds an award-winning MA in Islamic Law from SOAS Law School at the University of London and a Postgraduate Diploma in English Law and Professional Practice (PGDL) from King’s College, London. She has authored two books: 'Khadijah, Islam’s First Lady’, and ‘Aisha, Mother of the Believers (RA)’. Additionally, she serves as the director of Muslim Womanhood, an organization for Muslim women. She has been a key contributor to the discourse surrounding Muslim women in the West, participating in the Westminster Faith Debates, documentaries, and live shows for BBC Radio 4, the World Service, BBC television, Channel 4, and various Islamic channels.

The cofounder of the Quran Literacy Institute and a teacher of Islamic studies and Arabic based in NJ. She pursued formal Islamic studies in Syria, where she spent a number of years at the prestigious Abū Nūr Institute in Damascus, graduating first in her class with a Diploma in Arabic and Islamic studies. While in Damascus she earned the admiration of her teachers and peers and served as the translator for the late Grand Mufti of Syria in the sisters classes. She has memorized the Qur’an and received the coveted Ijāzah of memorization from Shaykh Waleed Edrees al-Meneese. In addition, she holds scholarly licenses (Ijāzah) in the Qurʾānic Readings of Ḥafṣ and Shuʿbah, the Books of Hadith and various classical texts, from Sheikh Waleed al-Meneese, Shaykh Muḥammad Akram Nadwi and others. Sumara Khan is the founder and mentor of Iman Roots, a monthly forum in central NJ for women to educate themselves in Islamic knowledge and strengthen sisterhood. Recently, a 3-year series on Tazkiyah (purification) based upon Ibn al-Qayyim’s classic Madārij al-Sālikeen was concluded, and currently a Travel Back in Time Scholar Series is underway. She is the director of the popular Sisters Ḥifdh Program at the Quran Literacy Institute, the only adult, on-site Quran memorization program in the region.

Managing Director of the Islamic Shariah Council (ISC) in the UK, Europe's first Shariah Council. She has written extensively on Islamic family law mediation in the UK and currently also works as marital counsellor and mediator under the auspices of the ISC. She previously worked as an Intervention Provider for the Home Office UK, working closely with police, prison, and social services dealing with young people being radicalized into violent extremism. She has appeared on radio and television programmes, including Radio 4 and the Doha Debates. She has studied traditionally with Sh. Akram Nadwi, Dr. Ahmed Barouni, Sh. Suhaib Abdul Ghaffar, and many others. She is also a blogger for ImamsOnline.com and for her own website kholahasan.wordpress.com.

Dr. Zainab Alwani is an Associate Professor of Islamic Studies at Howard University School of Divinity (HUSD). 

The Executive Director at Al-Mujadilah Center & Mosque for Women and is also an Associate Professor of Islamic Studies and Theology at Georgetown University–Qatar. Previously, Dr. Siddiqui taught courses at the University of Saskatchewan, Canada, and has held fellowships at Cambridge University, UK, among various other institutions.  
  
An accomplished author of four books, her latest publication, Islamic Law on Trial: Contesting Colonial Power in British India, was published in March 2025. The book examines how Muslims within the colonial judiciary responded to colonial attempts to displace Islamic law.   
 
Dr. Siddiqui has articles in several journals, such as Islamic Law & Society, Journal of the American Academy of Religion, Journal of Islamic Studies, Journal of the American Oriental Society, and Middle East Law and Governance. Currently, she is editing the forthcoming Cambridge Companion to Islamic Law (2026). She is also a guest editor for Harvard Law School's Islamic Law Blog and Associate Editor for The Journal of Islamic Law and Society. 
 
Dr. Siddiqui holds leadership positions in numerous international Muslim organizations, including Chair of the Board of Trustees of the Cambridge Muslim College from 2018 to 2023.
 
She holds a PhD in Religious Studies from the University of California, Santa Barbara, U.S. Her research interests include classical Islamic legal theory and political thought, Islamic law under colonialism, contemporary Islamic family law, and issues of gender, authority, and participation.

Dr. Maryam Alsada is a post-doc academic fellew at Al-Mujadilah Center and Mosque for Women 

A PhD Candidate at the Department of English, University of Calicut, Kerala. My current research specialises in Childhood and Critical Refugee Studies, focusing on the Rohingyan Muslims - the most persecuted minority in the world. My research interests include religion, culture and critical theory. I also have more than two years of experience as an Assistant Professor of English.

An anthropologist, folklorist, oral historian, and former producer, currently pursuing a doctorate in Anthropology at the University of Oxford. She conducted six years of oral history fieldwork in Saudi Arabia, examining how folktale performance was rooted in the daily movement and social life of women and children in Najdi mud architecture during the early twentieth century.

A Doctoral Researcher at University of Helsinki. In her PhD project "Negotiations of Muslimness in Helsinki City Spaces" she studies the spatialization and negotiations of Muslimness in Helsinki neighborhoods. She has recently co-edited a book “Uskonto ja kaupunki”, on the entanglements of religion and the city, published in 2025 by Finnish Theological Literature Society.

An interdisciplinary researcher working at the intersection of anthropology, law, and Islamic sciences, and metaphysics in Islamic thought. She holds an MA in International Law from the School of Oriental and African Studies (SOAS), University of London, as well as a diploma in Anthropology and Sociology from the American University in Cairo. She brings together academic training with her traditional study of the Islamic sciences, grounded in direct transmission from scholars through an unbroken chain of knowledge.

Her work explores the role of spiritual refi nement in shaping social ethics and seeks to develop epistemological readings rooted in the Islamic intellectual tradition as a living source of understanding, analysis, and practice. She is also engaged in examining the metaphysical dimensions of the human being in Islamic thought, through both readings in Gnostic experience and Islamic philosophical thought.

Mena is a member of the Al-Hasan Ibn al-Haytham Forum for Natural Sciences and a student at the Ahl al-Suffa Academy for Traditional Sciences, where she continues her studies in the Islamic sciences under the guidance of recognized scholars.

A graduate of the Dars-e-Nizami Islamic studies program and has been teaching classical Islamic sciences to women and young girls for over a decade. She is currently pursuing a PhD at Coventry University, where her research—funded by an AHRC Midlands4Cities scholarship—focuses on the oral histories of Muslim religious spaces in Coventry and Birmingham.

The Executive Director of the Black Metropolis Research Consortium at the University of Chicago. Previously, she was an assistant professor at the Simmons University School of Library & Information Science and at University College London Qatar. Her research focuses on documentary heritage, archival history, and the politics of cultural heritage preservation in North Africa.

The founder and CEO of the Centre for Education and Research “Nahla,” established in 2000 as a leading faith-based women’s organization in Bosnia and Herzegovina dedicated to education, empowerment, and community development. She holds a degree in Islamic Theology from the University of Jordan (1998) and a Master’s degree in International Relations from the International University of Sarajevo (2011). She has completed additional diplomas in strategic management (MTCP Malaysia), NLP (Sarajevo), and social work (Kuwait).

Dedović is the author, co-author, and editor of numerous publications, research studies, and handbooks addressing women’s rights, socio-cultural status, and the position of women in Muslim communities and mosques. As an active member of several international NGO networks, she frequently speaks at conferences and trainings on women’s rights, human rights, Islamic thought, activism, adult education, interfaith dialogue, and peace-building. Her work focuses on creating inclusive spaces and strengthening women’s participation in society.

Layla El-Wafi is a senior international lawyer specialising in finance,  sustainability and culture. She is also the founder of Actionism Advisory based in Dubai.

A Research Associate in the BILQIS project at the Irish Centre for Human Rights, University of Galway. Previously, she served as an Adviser on Combating Racism, Xenophobia, and Discrimination at the OSCE’s Office for Democratic Institutions and Human Rights in Warsaw, Poland (2016-2021) with her work focusing on policies countering intolerance and discrimination against Muslims across 57 OSCE participating States. As a policy adviser and a researcher she worked with state and non-state actors, national and international bodies, academic institutions, civil society organisations and groups, and religious communities, across Europe. She received her BA in English Language and Literature, University of Sarajevo (2004), MA in Religious Studies from the Center for Interdisciplinary Postgraduate Studies, University of Sarajevo (2009) (in cooperation with Arizona State University, University of Oslo and the University of Copenhagen) and is a PhD candidate in Sociology of Religion with her thesis focusing on Bosnian Muslim Women in Socialist and Post-Socialist Bosnia and Herzegovina, at the Faculty of Political Studies, University of Sarajevo. Her research interests include human rights, religion and secularism; Islam and Muslims in Europe; islamophobia/anti-Muslim racism; and Muslim women’s identity, agency and religion.

 Putri Kirana is the Global Group Head of Consumer Market Foresight at ParagonCorp, where she leads the organization’s strategic capability in decoding consumer behavior and anticipating future emerging & halal market shifts across beauty and personal care categories.  

With 17 years of deep expertise in insight generation, trend intelligence, and brand performance analysis, she plays key role, shaping the critical decisions by translating complex data into actionable growth strategies. She built her foundation in a global research agency and a multinational FMCG environment by handling various research projects in many countries. 

Dr. Zainab Talha is a scholar and Qur'an reciter at Al Mujadilah Center and Mosque for Women 

Dr. Sümeyye Parıldar is an associate Professor at Istanbul University.

A Research Fellow at the Center for Islamic Theology (ZITh) at the University of Tübingen and a tenured faculty member at Al-Azhar University. She holds a Ph.D. in Religious Philosophy from the University of Birmingham. Her research specializes in Qurʾānic studies, with a particular focus on Muslim perceptions of biblical narratives.

An African Studies Ph.D candidate at Howard University. Her research interests are Islamic Studies, West African Transnational Marriage, Migration Remittances, Islamic Chaplaincy, Islam and Black History, Interfaith Chaplaincy, Women and Gender Issues in Islam, and African American Muslims.

A Clinical Professor of Psychiatry at the Stanford University School of Medicine where she is the Director of the Stanford Muslim Mental Health & Islamic Psychology Lab as well as Stanford University's Affiliate Chaplain and Affiliate Professor of Islamic Studies. In the community, she serves as the President and Co-Founder of Maristan.org, a holistic mental health nonprofit serving Muslim communities, and the co-founder of The Rahmah Foundation, a non-profit organization dedicated to educating Muslim women and girls. In addition, she is faculty of Islamic Psychology at Cambridge Muslim College and The Islamic Seminary of America. Prior to studying medicine, she pursued classical Islamic studies in Damascus, Syria, and holds certifications (ijaza) in the Qur’an,  

including the 10 canonical Quranic recitations (qira’at al-ashar), Islamic Law, and other branches of the Islamic Sciences.  

Guzelya Marisova is a French Uyghur author and founder of Luminihsan.

The Academic Chair and Assistant Professor in the College of Education at Niagara University in Ontario, Canada. She serves on the university Senate through the Curriculum and Outcomes Assessment Committee and is a member of the Canadian Society for the Study of Education (CSSE) Equity, Diversity, Inclusion, and Decolonization (EDID) Committee. Her scholarship and leadership focus on teacher education, culturally and religiously responsive pedagogies, and educational equity for Muslim students in K–12 and higher education contexts. Dr. Ahmed is the recipient of the prestigious Canadian federal SSHRC (Social Sciences and Humanities Research Council) grant, ranking first in her category, for research in teacher education. She is  the co-founder of the Journal of Social Justice in Education (JSJE), housed at Thompson Rivers University, and the co-founder of the Islamic Schools Association of Canada (ISAC). In addition to her academic work, Dr. Ahmed is currently working on establishing the first university-accredited Islamic education teacher training program in North America, advancing the professionalization of Islamic education through research-informed, faith-responsive teacher preparation.

Holds a Ph.D. in Education from Western University in Ontario, Canada specializing in Critical Policy, Equity, and Leadership Studies. With over fifteen years of experience as an educator and consultant, she is a Contract Teaching Faculty and Research Fellow at Wilfrid Laurier University and has worked extensively with schools, universities, research centers, and community organizations in Canada and the Middle East. Her work centers on compassionate, resilience-based approaches to supporting diverse learners and communities, particularly newcomer students' holistic well-being, equity, and belonging.

A certified intercultural competence trainer and Ontario Certified Teacher, Dr. Raghad Ebied has contributed to peer-reviewed publications, authored chapters on compassionate educational leadership and refugee student support, and presented her research at national and international conferences. She has also served as a research director, overseeing projects on equity and well-being for Muslims and visible minorities in Canada, and continues to advance scholarship that strengthens inclusive and compassionate educational environments which promote individual and collective well-being. 

A doctoral (PhD) Candidate examining the sociological, political, and cultural aspects of education with a special focus on critical literacy pedagogy for social justice education. Rasha’s PhD research centres on enacting critical literacy pedagogy across the curriculum in a private Islamic school in Canada. Rasha’s previous graduate work focused on language and literacy education using the theory of multiliteracies. She has worked as an educator at both the elementary and secondary school levels across the Canadian public and private school systems, and taught Bachelor of Education Students (pre-service teachers) in her role as a sessional instructor. Her research interests include multiliteracies, critical theory, language acquisition, inclusive and diverse literature, critical literacy, and social justice education. In her free time, Rasha works in multiple leadership positions across her university campus and within Canadian organizations.

Dr. Fella Lahmar is an Assistant Professor at Hamad Bin Khalifa University (HBKU), Qatar.

Holds a Ph.D. in Humanities from York University, with a specialization in gender-based trauma, psychoanalysis, motherhood, and the processes of navigating loss and mourning. She is the founder and program director of Maternal Minds, a community-driven organization based in Milton, Ontario, that provides support programs for Muslim mothers while fostering cultural revitalization.

Imane Ghouzal, PhD researcher at Ibn Zohr University, Morocco, specializing in family research. She has published several articles and participated in international conferences, including one organized by the World Federation of Scholars and the Eritrean Scholars Association, She supervises undergraduate students in ‘‘Ulum al-Qur’an and qawa’id al-istinbat

Holds a Bachelor’s degree in Applied Islamic Sciences in English, university of Ibnou Zohr. *Has over 14 years of experience teaching Qur’anic Studies. *Contributor to the Historical Dictionary of the Arabic Language project in Sharjah.

 Cadar Mohamud is the founder and host of The Digital Sisterhood, a global podcast and digital platform amplifying the voices and lived experiences of Muslim women. Since its launch, The Digital Sisterhood has reached over 2 million streams across more than 100 countries, offering a transnational space where Muslim women’s narratives function as digital counterpublics that challenge dominant representations and media discourse. 

Her work examines storytelling as a site of cultural production and resistance, with a focus on digital counterpublics, intersectionality, and faith-rooted narrative practices. 

Fairouz Ziani is the presenter and supervisor of “The Rest of the Story”, Al Jazeera’s pioneering Arabic program since 2016. 

Several episodes of the program have achieved major journalistic exclusives, most notably the first interview with “Caesar of Syria” following the fall of Al-Assad regime.  

Fairouz, an EMMY® Award winner, has received 26 international awards for her work as the program’s presenter, producer, and supervisor  

Before joining Al Jazeera, she worked as a journalist and media professional and she began her career at Al Jazeera in 2000, presenting news and several programs, including: “Between the Lines”, “Only for Women”, “Revolution Talks”, “Beyond the News”, and “Backstage”.  

She took part in numerous live news coverages from Doha and various locations around the world and has presented and moderated many seminars and discussions at international forums.  

The Executive Director at Al-Mujadilah Center & Mosque for Women and is also an Associate Professor of Islamic Studies and Theology at Georgetown University–Qatar. Previously, Dr. Siddiqui taught courses at the University of Saskatchewan, Canada, and has held fellowships at Cambridge University, UK, among various other institutions.  
  
An accomplished author of four books, her latest publication, Islamic Law on Trial: Contesting Colonial Power in British India, was published in March 2025. The book examines how Muslims within the colonial judiciary responded to colonial attempts to displace Islamic law.   
 
Dr. Siddiqui has articles in several journals, such as Islamic Law & Society, Journal of the American Academy of Religion, Journal of Islamic Studies, Journal of the American Oriental Society, and Middle East Law and Governance. Currently, she is editing the forthcoming Cambridge Companion to Islamic Law (2026). She is also a guest editor for Harvard Law School's Islamic Law Blog and Associate Editor for The Journal of Islamic Law and Society. 
 
Dr. Siddiqui holds leadership positions in numerous international Muslim organizations, including Chair of the Board of Trustees of the Cambridge Muslim College from 2018 to 2023.
 
She holds a PhD in Religious Studies from the University of California, Santa Barbara, U.S. Her research interests include classical Islamic legal theory and political thought, Islamic law under colonialism, contemporary Islamic family law, and issues of gender, authority, and participation.