Amina Wadud (1952-), a professor of Islamic Studies, African American Muslim activist, feminist, scholar, khatibah (reader/lecturer), imamah (leader), and mother of five children, began her transition to Islam in 1972. For the past three decades, Wadud has led, instructed, and helped form the intellectual backbone of the Muslim feminist movement that works toward greater gender parity in Islam and woman-inclusive readings of the sacred text of Islam, al-Qur'an, and the hadith literature (sayings of the Prophet Muhammad).

Amina Wadud earned a Ph.D. in Islamic Studies from the University of Michigan in 1988. After completing her Ph.D., she taught at Qar Younis University in Libya, the International Islamic University in Malaysia, and the Virginia Commonwealth University in the United States. She is currently a ...