Profiles

Zainah Anwar
Co-Founder and Board Member Sisters in Islam (SIS Forum Malaysia) No. 25 Jalan 5/31 46000 Petaling Jaya Selangor Malaysia Phone: 603-7960-6121 Fax: 603-7960-4737 Email: sistersinislam@pd.jaring.my Web: www.sistersinislam.org.my Nationality: Malaysia Profession: Activist, Scholar/Writer Languages Spoken: English, Malay Area(s) of Expertise: Advocacy, Religion & Culture, Women's Human Rights Country/Region of Expertise: Malaysia, East Asia & Pacific

Zainah Anwar, a women's rights activist and well-published freelance writer, is Co-Founder of Sisters in Islam (SIS) and Project Director of Musawah: For Equality in the Family. An advocate for women's rights under Islam and the possibilities for alternative interpretation of the Qur'an, she was formerly a member of the Human Rights Commission of Malaysia, a Chief Programme Officer for the Political Division at the Commonwealth Secretariat in London, and a Senior Analyst at the Institute of Strategic and International Studies. She was also a political and diplomatic writer for the The New Straits Times in Kuala Lumpur. Her book Islamic Revivalism in Malaysia: Dakwah Among the Students is a standard reference in the study of Islam in Malaysia.

Ms. Anwar was educated at the Fletcher School of Law and Diplomacy at Tufts University, Boston University, and the MARA Institute of Technology in the fields of international relations and journalism.