Talk

The Lady Imam

Carla Power and Shahed Ezaydi

Date and Time:: Wednesday 5 Aug, 6–8pm
Location:: Minassa

In The Lady Imam: How amina wadud’s Life and Work Changed the World, biographer Carla Power chronicles the life and legacy of feminist scholar-activist amina wadud, vanguard of progressive Islamic movements.

Drawing on archival materials, Power will discuss wadud’s journey, from her childhood as a Methodist preacher’s daughter from an economically disadvantaged background, to her adolescence spent living with white families in Massachusetts, through to her decades spearheading civil rights movements on four continents.

Critical to understanding wadud is her experience and ever-changing relationship to Islam. Now recognised as a leading theologian, changing hearts, minds and laws in Muslim-majority countries, wadud’s story and work have resulted in countless Muslim women and queer people seeing their faith anew. Continuing to honour her impact, Power will be joined in conversation by Shahed Ezaydi, discussing how othering impacts our identities, the role of marginality in building bolder futures, and exploring faith through intersectional perspectives.

Doors open at 5.30pm; event starts at 6pm and ends at 8pm.

Image courtesy of a. wadud.

Carla Power is a journalist and two-time Pulitzer Prize finalist who spent her childhood between the Midwest and the Mideast. As a Newsweek foreign correspondent in the 1990s and naughts, she wrote on Muslim societies, global social issues and culture, reporting from Europe, the Middle East and Asia. She has also written for Time, Vogue, The New York Times Magazine, The Guardian, Foreign Policy and other periodicals. Power’s first book, If the Oceans Were Ink, an account of studying the Qur'an with a traditional Islamic scholar, was shortlisted for the National Book Award as well as the Pulitzer. Her second book, Home, Land, Security looked at why people get drawn into extremist groups – and why they leave.

Shahed Ezaydi is an award-winning writer, specialising in features and reporting on culture, social issues and feminism. She was formerly a staff writer at Stylist Magazine but now freelances for a range of publications, including Glamour, Dazed and Service95. Shahed is also the author of The Othered Woman: How White Feminism Harms Muslim Women, which is her debut book.