Islamic Leader Sister Tahera Ahmad Speaks on Postmodern Muslim Feminism

TACOMA, Wash. – As a scarf-wearing Muslim teenager in Chicago, Tahera Ahmad played a mean game of basketball. As a young woman, she wrestled with interpretations of her own faith and went on to study Islamic law at the prestigious Al-Azhar University in Cairo.

Today, as a respected scholar, speaker, and youth leader, Ahmad has drawn national attention for social justice views that combine her devout Islamic faith with a feminist worldview.

Sister Tahera Ahmad, associate university chaplain and faculty fellow at Northwestern University in Illinois will share some of those viewpoints in a University of Puget Sound lecture that addresses questions that Muslims and non-Muslims may ask they encounter conflicting pictures of the Islamic religion and culture.

The public Swope Lecture, titled Postmodern Muslim Feminism, will be delivered Monday, Feb. 9, starting at 7:30 p.m., in Schneebeck Concert Hall on campus. Entrance is free, but tickets are required. See below for ticket details. Early reservations are recommended. The lecture, including a question and answer session at the end, will address issues including:

• How do commitments to feminism, personal religious practice, and pluralism work together within Islam and pluralistic societies? How are they in tension? 
• How do Muslim women approach traditional interpretations of their roles?
• Can a Muslim woman remain faithful to her tradition while embracing a feminist worldview?

Ahmad is an esteemed speaker who has worked closely with the U.S. Department of State to lead international workshops on Muslims' cultural awareness and religious diversity. President Obama has hosted her at the White House in recognition of her Muslims' interfaith work.

In the Hartford Seminary, graduate became the first woman to deliver a Quran recitation at the opening of the Islamic Society of North America convention. The reaction was predictably mixed, with some observers commenting, according to Huffington Post, that Ahmad had moved gender equality in Islam, a “step forward” and others criticizing her as too “innovative.”

Ahmad wrote about the early developments in her own faith in a 2013 Huffington Post piece about the meaning of Ramadan.

“As a child I use to sit with my calculator and multiply every act of Ibadah by 70 [for her 70 good acts, including fasting, prayers, and verse recitations] and record it happily in my journal of good deeds. Yup … I felt like I was really ‘banking it’ in Ramadan. As I grew older, somehow this zeal … started to fade, and I no longer sat there on my calculator. I desperately searched for the meaning of Ramadan in my life.”

Now a passionate advocate for social justice, Ahmad works with young adults in the interfaith movement on artistic and athletic projects that help them arrive at a balanced faith identity. She has been featured on National Public Radio and in the Chicago Sun-Times and USA Today. She appeared in the 2010 PBS documentary The Calling, which portrayed seven young people's paths as they trained to become clergy in the Jewish, Christian, and Muslim faiths.

Ahmad is on the board of the Association of College and University Religious Affairs and has served as co-president of the Association of College Mus. She has worked with Clergy Beyond Borders and has supported the board's leadership of organizations, including the Islamic Society of North America, Inner-City Muslim Action Network, and the Council of Islamic Organizations of Greater Chicago.

The Jane Hammer Swope Lectureship on Ethics, Religion, Faith, and Values aims to promote discussion, critical thinking, and ethical inquiry about religious matters, including its role in public life and contemporary ethics. The lectureship was established at Puget Sound through a gift from Maj. Ianthe Swope in honor of her mother, Jane Hammer Swope.

FOR TICKETS: Admission is free, but tickets are required. Tickets are available online at tickets.pugetsound.edu or Wheelock Information Center, 253.879.3100. Early reservations are recommended.  

For directions and a map of the campus:pugetsound.edu/directions

For accessibility information, please contact accessibility@pugetsound.edu or 253.879.3236, or visit pugetsound.edu/accessibility.

Press photos of Tahera Ahmad can be downloaded frompugetsound.edu/pressphotos.
Photos on page: Top right: Tahera Ahmad; Above left: Two Muslim women watch the sea in Singapore, by Stougard.

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