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Authors: Noor Zaidi and Mahjabeen Dhala

The authors explore two influential women in Islamic history, Lady Fatima and Lady Zaynab, and demonstrate how they embodied courage, spiritual clarity and resistance against injustice.

In observance of Muslim Heritage Month this conversation between two scholars explores their recently published books on two of the most influential women in Islamic history. Through scholarship that blends history, moral philosophy, and reflection on the contemporary relevance of these women's lives, the authors demonstrate how a mother and daughter, Lady Fatima and Lady Zaynab, embodied courage, spiritual clarity, and principled resistance against injustice across generations. This event invites readers of all backgrounds to discover how their legacies continue to inspire global movements for dignity, truth and social transformation.

In Conversation:

Noor Zaidi is assistant professor of history at UMBC and a scholar of the Middle East and South Asia. She specializes in the history of gender, sectarianism, and Shi’a Islam in national and transnational spaces. Her current book manuscript analyzes how the seventh-century figure, Zaynab bint Ali, granddaughter of the Prophet Muhammed, has been used in 20th-century contexts, tracing the development and evolution of pilgrimage to two female shrines in Syria (the Sayeda Zaynab shrine) and Pakistan (Bibi Pak Daman) and prisons in Iraq as sites of memory and identity construction. Based on oral interviews, fieldwork and archival research in Syria, Pakistan, and Iraq, Prof. Zaidi’s work explores the physical and imaginative spaces in which identity is made and contested and shows how transnational narratives become embedded in local contexts.

Mahjabeen Dhala is associate professor of Islamic studies, director of the Madrasa-Midrasha Program, and chair of the Women’s studies in religion program at the Graduate Theological Union. Dr. Dhala’s work focusses on the contributions and challenges of pre-modern Muslim women viz-a-viz Islamic understandings of faith, philosophy, and justice. Her interdisciplinary research features an integration of Islamic theological texts with feminist theories. She has also demonstrated a commitment to advancing interreligious and intersectional dialogue through her research, teaching, and mentoring, and through her global travels, presenting on topics such as Muslim diversity and leadership, religious and cultural understanding, women’s empowerment, and social justice.

Moderator: 

Debbie Almontaser is an internationally recognized, award-winning educator, entrepreneur, speaker, authority on cross cultural understanding and author of, "Leading While Muslim: The Experiences of American Muslim Principals After 9/11." She is an influential community leader and the Founder and CEO of Bridging Cultures Group Inc., a for-profit business that provides professional development and coaching for companies, nonprofits, universities, firms, and K–12 education personnel. Dr. Almontaser was the founding and former principal of the Khalil Gibran International Academy in Brooklyn, NY. A twenty-five-year veteran of the NYC Public School System, she taught special education, inclusion, trained teachers in literacy, and served as a multicultural specialist and diversity advisor. Dr. Almontaser is an advisor on cultural and religious diversity issues for Public Advocate Jumaani Williams, Borough President Eric Adams, the Mayor’s Office of Immigrant Affairs, the NYC Commission for Human Rights, and New York City Council members. She is also a member of the NYC Department of Education Diversity Advisory Board. Currently, she is the Board President of the Muslim Community Network (www.mcnny.org) and sits on the boards of the Yemeni American Merchants Association (www.yamausa.org), Therapy and Learning Center Preschool, and 21in21 (www.21in21.org).

Public Humanities programs and resources are presented with support from the National Endowment for the Humanities: Any views, findings, conclusions or recommendations expressed in this programming do not necessarily represent those of the National Endowment for the Humanities.

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