Raheel Raza Salon
On Sunday, January 13, 2019, Fieldstead and Company welcomed Pakistan-born Canadian author, documentary film maker, and interfaith activist Raheel Raza for the discussion on Islam from a contemporary moderate Muslim’s perspective. Mrs. Raza touches on many controversial issues currently facing the Muslim world, and how both Muslims and non-Muslims can face these challenges together in constructive ways. Among the most pressing issues addressed by Raza are the egregious human rights violations of scores of Muslim women, not only in Muslim majority countries, but all over the Western world, as well as the propagation of extremist variants of the faith used to indoctrinate Muslim youth, perpetuating a cycle of violence and intolerance.
An adherent of the Sufi tradition of Islam, Mrs. Raza has made it her life’s work to speak out against extremism specifically as it pertains to Islam, and to challenge the status quo of many communities throughout the world which practice brutal and inhumane variants of the faith.
Raheel Raza is a member of the Clarion Project Advisory Board and President of the Council for Muslims Facing Tomorrow. She is also an award-winning journalist, public speaker and an activist for human rights and gender equality. She is the author of “Their Jihad … Not My Jihad”, and she was one of the nine courageous women’s rights advocates featured in “Honor Diaries”, a film about women’s rights.
Traveling extensively throughout the world as a freelance journalist and documentary filmmaker, she brings a fresh global perspective to her mandate that “there is unity in diversity.”
A fervent advocate for gender equality, Raheel is the first Muslim woman in Canada to lead mixed gender prayers. In her pursuit for human rights, she speaks regularly at the United Nations Human Rights Council in Geneva.
Raheel has received many awards for her work building bridges of understanding, including the City of Toronto’s Constance Hamilton award. In a presentation to Members of Parliament and international diplomats at the House of Commons in Canada, Raheel received a standing ovation for her speech called “Celebrating our Differences.”