Summer Updates from AMMWEC
In 2011, AMMWEC was hailed as the “first American Muslim women’s civil rights movement” by the Los Angeles Times. Today, we are much more than that. Not only are we the pioneers in standing up for Muslim women’s rights in America, but we are also the leading Muslim women peacemakers in America. In recent years, AMMWEC has evolved and so has our mission. Not only do we empower, educate, and engage Muslim women in civic and interfaith leadership, we elevate responsible Muslim voices for religious freedom and interfaith harmony.
Religious freedom is a human right and one that particularly impacts women. Women tend to fare better in countries that enjoy religious freedom. Religious freedom is an individual’s or group’s right to practice their religion freely just as we as Muslims do in America.
Recently, American Muslim women have been victims of gender-based violence. Yet, we do not see vociferous condemnation from Muslim male leadership. Muslim leadership has a responsibility to call out these atrocities against women and to help change the oppressive mindset hiding behind the veil of religion that allows men to abuse women in the name of Islam.
We hope to bring strong male and female voices that will speak up for women who are silently suffering. If you want to join us to help raise these issues, sign our manifesto and let us know.
Moving on, in the past year and a half, AMMWEC has been working closely with the International Religious Freedom (IRF) Roundtable to elevate the voices of women in the religious space and advocate for religious freedom in Pakistan and other Muslim countries. So far, we have held multifaith summits, IRF women’s meetings, internship trainings, and roundtables in Pakistan to help elevate Muslim voices for religious freedom and interfaith harmony.
These events have often included leaders representing religious minorities in Pakistan, multiple political parties, civil society, and activists for human rights and women’s rights. Since the desire for such conversations is great, we continue to engage our Roundtable members in various ways. Since our peacemaking trip to Israel and UAE, we have had tremendous engagement with our Muslim youth who are ready to adapt to a modern inclusive mindset. This is the positive outcome of our trip and we hope to maintain the momentum.
On the home front, AMMWEC, partnered with IRF Roundtable and sponsored several side sessions at the IRF Summit in Washington, DC, during the week of June 27th, 2022. Faith leaders, civil society, community leaders, women leaders, survivors, and practitioners of religious freedom from around the world attended the conference. AMMWEC’s delegates to Israel and the UAE, Aisha Bajwa, and Sami Khan joined me in sharing their experience at the Combatting Antisemitism session with Rabbi Yaakov of the IRF AntiSemitism Working Group. Moreover, I spoke on a panel emphasizing the importance of Muslims joining the fight against antisemitism .
In a dedicated session, the AMMWEC delegation to Israel shared their transformative experience in Israel and UAE. Seeing the energy and the challenges up close – and meeting people face-to-face – opened our hearts in ways we could never have anticipated, and we felt it is our responsibility to share this message of Muslim-Jewish reconciliation and peacebuilding with the world.
We would like to thank our partners, IRF, and IRF’s leadership, especially Greg Mitchell, Annie McKinney, and IRF Combatting Antisemitism Working Group, Rabbi Yaakov Menkin. We want to thank Shirin Taber ( Empower Women Media ) for her advocacy for religious freedom and her untiring efforts to support Muslim women's voices. Through her amazing advocacy, we will be co-hosting a second IRF Global Women’s Summit in October. Stay tuned.
Wishing you all a wonderful rest of the summer!
Warmest regards,
Anila Ali
President, AMMWEC
