People in Islam: Week 15 — 5: Amina Wadud; scholar, feminist

Born to a Methodist family descended from Muslim slaves brought to the United States, Sister Amina took the shahada when she was 20 years old and started studying Islam. Eventually after studying tafsir, exegesis (interpretation of the Qur’an) and philosophy at the University of Michigan and Al-Azhar University, she returned to the United States to advocate for women’s rights in Islam and to challenge the norms that exist in the religion, causing controversies along the way.

Her first controversy was giving a sermon in South Africa, defying the conventional role of a man as the imam and bringing the controversy back to the United States by doing the same in 2005.

Her studies have led her to speak openly about the role of women in Islam from the view of Muslim women.

Her controversies have gained her enemies, and people who applaud her efforts. She is showing the West that Islam is not about oppressing women, from the viewpoint of a strong, independent, Muslimah, and inshallah her work changes the hearts and minds of those who refuse to understand this beautiful religion.