Samina Ali

Samina Ali is recognized as one of the most influential voices in Muslim America, a powerful advocate for Muslim women’s rights and interfaith understanding, with an international profile: featured speaker at the International Conference of the Nobel Women’s Initiative; curator of the groundbreaking exhibition Muslima: Muslim Women’s Art & Voices; and Cultural Ambassador for the U.S State Department abroad. Her TEDx talk “What Does the Qu’ran Really Say about a Muslim Woman’s Hijab?” has more than eight million views. Ali’s award-winning novel Madras on Rainy Days was the winner of France’s prestigious Prix Premier Roman Étranger Award and a finalist for the PEN/Hemingway Award. Samina is currently at work on a memoir about her recovery from a fatal illness, which led to rediscovering and redefining her own identity as a mother, daughter, wife, and Muslim woman.