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Zainab Al-Suwaij

Zainab Al-Suwaij

Executive Director of the American Islamic Congress

Ms. Al-Suwaij is the co-founder and Executive Director of the American Islamic Congress (AIC).

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Bio

Full Bio

Ms. Al-Suwaij is the co-founder and Executive Director of the American Islamic Congress (AIC), a nonprofit established in the wake of the September 11 attacks to build interfaith understanding; mobilize a moderate voice in the American Muslim community; and promote civil rights in the Muslim world.

Al-Suwaij’s personal mission is to promote a positive Muslim-American voice that strengthens interfaith relations and addresses the many challenges in the Muslim world.  Al-Suwaij was born in Basra, Iraq, in 1971. After participating in the failed 1991 uprising against Saddam Hussein (an experience she recounted in a memoir for The New Republic), she fled to the United States. The granddaughter of Basra’s leading cleric, she is a Hashemite—a direct descendant of the Prophet Muhammad—and characterizes her personal religious beliefs as a hybrid of traditional and progressive.

Al-Suwaij leads interfaith and tolerance programs for mosques, churches, synagogues, colleges and high schools. She has developed classroom curricula; works with the Anti-Defamation League; and serves on Connecticut’s Hate Crimes Advisory Board. She is a board member of George Mason University’s Center for World Religions, Diplomacy, and Conflict Resolution and has been named an Ambassador for Peace by the Interreligious Federation for World Peace.

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Topics

Topics

Interfaith Dialogue Post 9/11

Struggle for Women’s Equality in the Muslim World

The Internet and How It Has Changed the Middle East

Videos

Videos

Zainab Al-Suwaij Full Interview
Worker Discrimination Hearing: Zainab Al-Suwaij

Books

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