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Person

Asra Nomani

Nationality:

American
Born:

1965
Occupation:

Author, Report, and Activist

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Asra Nomani is a Muslim-American writer, author, and activist who has advocated for a more liberal understanding of Islam and supported government surveillance and profiling of Muslims. In 2016 she voted for Donald Trump and has been very involved in controversies surrounding the use of critical race theory and gender ideology in American schools. 1  2  3  4

Career

Asra Nomani was born in Mumbai (then Bombay), India, and immigrated to the United States when she was four. She spent most of her childhood in Morgantown, West Virginia, and attended West Virginia University. 5  6

Upon graduation, Nomani began to work as a journalist, writing at several outlets including Reuters, Salon, The Hill, the Daily Beast, and the Federalist. She was a staff reporter at The Wall Street Journal for 15 years from 1988 to 2003. 5

Nomani is also the author of two books. Standing Alone in Mecca: An American Woman’s Struggle for the Soul of Islam, detailing her personal hajj to Mecca from her perspective as a liberal Muslim and criticizing non-liberal Islam. 7

Political Views

Islamic Activism

Nomani characterizes herself as a liberal feminist, and in the mid-2000s began to criticize what she considered to be radical and misogynistic strains of Islam. She was briefly profiled in 2004 in the New York Times due to her insistence on praying in the main hall of her mosque, rather than in the room designated for women. 1 In 2004 she also authored an “Islamic Bill of Rights for Women” that stated that Muslim women have, among other things, the right to enter the main door of the mosque, the right to address any other members of the congregation, and the right to hold leadership positions, including as imams. 8

As part of this activism, she has defended government surveillance of Muslims and mosques to monitor for potential extremism. 2 She has also advocated profiling Muslims at airports. 9

Nomani is a participant in the Muslim Reform Movement that advocates for gender equality in Islam and calls for secular governance. 10

Support for Donald Trump

In November 2016, Asra Nomani revealed that she had voted for Donald Trump in the presidential election, citing concerns about radical Islam, Hillary Clinton’s involvement with the governments of Qatar and Saudi Arabia, and the state of the economy. 11 This admission led to a row with left-wing Georgetown professor Christine Fair, who teaches in the School of Foreign Service, after Fair attacked Nomani on social media with vulgarity and harsh invective for her decision to vote for Trump. Nomani had taught for one semester at Georgetown from 2007-2008, co-teaching a journalism class on the kidnapping and murder of her former Wall Street Journal colleague Daniel Pearl. Nomani requested that Georgetown discipline Fair and make her undergo sensitivity training. 5  12

Education Activism

In February 2021, Nomani was hired as the vice president of strategy and investigations at Parents Defending Education, a right-of-center activist group that is opposed to critical race theory and gender activism in schools around the country. 5 However, she left position in March of 2022 after a confrontation with the Fairfax County School Board at which she accused the board of being racist and pointed out that all of the Board’s members were white. According to her account of events, Nomani was fired for bringing racial identity into her activist efforts, though she claims that she was doing so ironically. She was fired eight days after her speech to the school board. 4

References

  1. Goodstein, Laurie. “Muslim Women Seeking a Place in the Mosque.” The New York Times, July 22, 2004. Accessed June 10, 2022. https://www.nytimes.com/2004/07/22/us/muslim-women-seeking-a-place-in-the-mosque.html.
  2. Herridge, Catherine. “Muslim Journalist Defends Surveillance by NYPD, Says Some Muslims ‘Use Religion as Cover.’” Fox News. Fox News, March 26, 2015. Accessed June 10, 2022. https://www.foxnews.com/us/muslim-journalist-defends-surveillance-by-nypd-says-some-muslims-use-religion-as-cover.
  3. Nomani, Asra. “Airport Security: Let’s Profile Muslims – The Daily Beast.” The Daily Beast, February 4, 2017. Archived from the original February 4, 2017. Accessed June 10, 2022. https://web.archive.org/web/20170204220151/http://www.thedailybeast.com/articles/2010/11/29/airport-security-lets-profile-muslims.html.
  4. Nomani, Asra. “How Shaming My School Board’s Racism Cost Me My Job.” The Federalist, May 18, 2022. Accessed June 11, 2022. https://thefederalist.com/2022/05/18/how-shaming-my-school-boards-racism-cost-me-my-job-but-not-my-stand/.
  5. “Asra Nomani | LinkedIn.” LinkedIn.com. Accessed June 10, 2022. https://www.linkedin.com/in/asranomani/.
  6. Dias, Isabela. “The Parents’ Revolution Will Be Televised and It’s Asra Nomani on Fox & Friends.” Mother Jones, May 20, 2022. Accessed June 10, 2022. https://www.motherjones.com/politics/2022/05/the-parents-revolution-will-be-televised-and-its-asra-nomani-on-fox-friends/.
  7. Nomani, Asra. “Standing Alone: An American Woman’s Struggle for the Soul of Islam,” February 28, 2006.
  8. Nomani, Asra. “ISLAMIC BILL OF RIGHTS FOR WOMEN.” Peprimer.com. Accessed June 11, 2022. https://peprimer.com/islam-women-rights.html.
  9. Nomani, Asra. “Airport Security: Let’s Profile Muslims – The Daily Beast.” The Daily Beast, November 28, 2010. Archived from the original February 4, 2017. Accessed June 10, 2022. https://web.archive.org/web/20170204220151/http://www.thedailybeast.com/articles/2010/11/29/airport-security-lets-profile-muslims.html.
  10. “Muslim Reform Movement.” Gatestone Institute. December 6, 2015. Archived from the original December 12, 2015. Accessed June 11, 2022. https://web.archive.org/web/20151212144409/http://www.gatestoneinstitute.org/7009/muslim-reform-movement.
  11. Washington Post. “Opinion | I’m a Muslim, a Woman and an Immigrant. I Voted for Trump.,” November 10, 2016. Accessed June 11, 2022. https://www.washingtonpost.com/news/global-opinions/wp/2016/11/10/im-a-muslim-a-woman-and-an-immigrant-i-voted-for-trump/.
  12. Moyer, Justin Wm. “Muslim Woman Who Voted for Trump Asks Georgetown to Intervene over Professor’s ‘Hateful, Vulgar’ Messages.” Washington Post, January 13, 2017. Archived from the original January 13, 2017. Accessed June 11, 2022. https://web.archive.org/web/20170113171535/https://www.washingtonpost.com/news/education/wp/2017/01/06/muslim-woman-who-voted-for-trump-asks-georgetown-to-intervene-over-professors-hateful-vulgar-messages/?utm_term=.95319d458c3b.
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