Dr. Asma Ahmed Receives Grant to Study Lived Experiences of Muslim Women Leaders

Dr. Asma Ahmed, chair and assistant professor of education at Niagara University in Ontario, was awarded a prestigious grant from the Qatar Foundation's female sector, Al-Mujadilah, to work on the project "Muslim Women Leaders Between Sacred Texts and Social Contexts: Navigating Ethics and Theology Across East and West."

Over the course of the 18-month project, Dr. Ahmed, the principal investigator, and her colleague, Dr. Raghad Ebied of Laurier University, will explore the ethical, theological, and social aspects of Muslim women's leadership in community, organizational, and educational settings. Using qualitative methods, the investigation will examine the lived experiences of Muslim women leaders in both the East and the West as they navigate theology, ethics, and societal roles.

The project was inspired by "the striking absence of Muslim women, particularly those who are visibly Muslim, in leadership roles across educational and organizational spaces," said Dr. Ahmed. "Too often, Muslim women, racialized women, and visible minorities lose aspects of their identity as they ascend in leadership. Studies like this can support them in learning to navigate professional roles while upholding their values and faith commitments."

Through their work, the researchers will document and amplify the lived experiences of Muslim women leaders who navigate both Eastern and Western contexts, with a goal to inspire and empower women of faith and racialized women to claim leadership spaces without compromising who they are.

Al-Mujadilah, a center and mosque that offers religious, developmental, and social programming to Muslim women of all ages and backgrounds, awards grants to support innovative research on Muslim women's lives and contemporary debates that is contextually relevant and grounded in Islamic teachings, while offering new frameworks, paradigms, and solutions.

Dr. Ahmed is co-founder the Islamic Schools Association of Canada and of the Journal of Social Justice in Education. She holds a Ph.D. in critical policy and educational leadership from Western University.