In modern usage, hijab generally refers to various head coverings conventionally worn by many Muslim women. It is similar to the tichel or snood worn by Orthodox Jewish women, certain headcoverings worn by some Christian women, such as the mantilla, apostolnik and wimple, and the dupatta worn by many Hindu and Sikh women. Whilst a hijab can come in many forms, it often specifically refers to a scarf wrapped around the head, covering the hair, neck and ears but leaving the face visible. The use of the hijab has been on the rise worldwide since the 1970s and is viewed by many Muslims as expressing modesty and faith; it has also been worn for purposes of adornment. There is a consensus among Islamic religious scholars that covering the head is either required or preferred, though some Muslim scholars and activists point out that it is not mandated.
Asra Quratulain Nomani is an Indian American author. Born in India to Muslim parents, she earned a BA from West Virginia University in liberal arts in 1986 and an MA from the American University in international communications in 1990. She subsequently worked as a correspondent for The Wall Street Journal with her colleague Daniel Pearl in Pakistan post-9/11. Pearl was kidnapped and murdered by Islamist terrorists while following an investigative lead. Nomani later became the co-director of the Pearl Project, a faculty-student investigative-reporting project which has looked into Pearl's murder.
Nalin Pekgul is a Swedish Social Democratic politician, nurse and former parliamentarian. She was the first Muslim woman to sit in the Swedish Parliament.
Rābiʼa al-ʼAdawiyya al-Qaysiyya was an Arab Muslim saint, one of the earliest Sufi mystics and an influential religious figure. She is known in some parts of the world as Hazrat Rabia Basri, Rabia Al Basri or simply Rabia Basri. She is considered by many Muslims to be an example of piety and is a part of the complicated early history of Islam.
Brigitte Gabriel is a Lebanese-American conservative activist, author and lecturer, and critic of Islam. She is the founder of ACT for America, which has been described as "the largest grassroots anti-Muslim group" in the United States.
The Islamic State (IS), also known as the Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant (ISIL), the Islamic State of Iraq and Syria (ISIS) and by its Arabic acronym Daesh, is a transnational Salafi jihadist group and a former unrecognised quasi-state. Its origins were in the Jai'sh al-Taifa al-Mansurah organization founded by Abu Omar al-Baghdadi in 2004, which fought alongside al-Qaeda during the Iraqi insurgency. The group gained global prominence in 2014, when its militants successfully captured large territories in northwestern Iraq and eastern Syria, taking advantage of the ongoing Syrian civil war. By the end of 2015, it ruled an area with an estimated population of twelve million people, where it enforced its extremist interpretation of Islamic law, managed an annual budget exceeding US$1 billion, and commanded more than 30,000 fighters.
Maajid Usman Nawaz is a British activist and former radio presenter. He was the founding chairman of the think tank Quilliam. Until January 2022, he was the host of an LBC radio show on Saturdays and Sundays. Born in Southend-on-Sea, Essex, to a British Pakistani family, Nawaz is a former member of the Islamist group Hizb ut-Tahrir. His membership led to his December 2001 arrest in Egypt, where he remained imprisoned until 2006. While there, he read books about human rights and made contact with Amnesty International who adopted him as a prisoner of conscience. He left Hizb-ut-Tahrir in 2007, renounced his Islamist past, and called for a secular Islam. Later, Nawaz co-founded Quilliam with former Islamists, including Ed Husain.
The Anti-Defamation League (ADL), formerly known as the Anti-Defamation League of B'nai B'rith, is a New York–based international Jewish non-governmental organization and advocacy group that specializes in civil rights law and combatting antisemitism and extremism.
Raheel Raza is a Pakistani-Canadian journalist, author, public speaker, media consultant, anti-racism activist, and interfaith discussion leader. She is among the most prominent Muslim supporters of Israel. She lives in Toronto, Ontario, Canada.
American Muslims often face Islamophobia and racialization due to stereotypes and generalizations ascribed to them. Due to this, Islamophobia is both a product of and a contributor to the United States' racial ideology, which is founded on socially constructed categories of profiled features, or how people seem.
Anne Azza Aly is an Australian politician who has been a Labor member of the House of Representatives since the 2016 election, representing the electorate of Cowan in Western Australia. Aly is currently the Minister for Early Childhood Education and Minister for Youth in the Albanese ministry.
Dame Sara Khan is a British human rights activist and the chief executive officer of Inspire, an independent non-governmental organisation working to counter extremism and gender inequality. Khan is a contributor to The Guardian and The Independent newspapers, as well as The Huffington Post and has made appearances on British television and radio. She has been interviewed for the BBC's HARDtalk and Desert Island Discs.
Linda Sarsour is an American political activist. She was co-chair of the 2017 Women's March, the 2017 Day Without a Woman, and the 2019 Women's March. She is also a former executive director of the Arab American Association of New York. She and her Women's March co-chairs were profiled in Time magazine's "100 Most Influential People" in 2017.
Hamza Andreas Tzortzis is a British writer, philosopher, public speaker, researcher on Islam, and Muslim apologist. He is a British Muslim convert of Greek descent. He wrote The Divine Reality: God, Islam and The Mirage of Atheism.
Rita Panahi is an Australian right-wing news anchor and columnist. She works for The Herald and Weekly Times (HWT), a subsidiary of News Corp Australia, and is the host of The Rita Panahi Show, Lefties Losing It and The Friday Show on Sky News Australia and is a contributor to Sunrise on the Seven Network. She is on the radio at 3AW and 2GB.
Laura Elizabeth Loomer is an American far-right and anti-Muslim conservative political activist, white nationalist, conspiracy theorist and internet personality. She was the Republican nominee to represent Florida's 21st congressional district in the 2020 United States House of Representatives elections, losing to Democrat Lois Frankel. She also ran in the Republican primary for Florida's 11th congressional district in 2022, narrowly losing to incumbent Daniel Webster.
The National Diversity Coalition for Trump (NDCTRUMP) was formed in April 2016 to provide support specifically from ethnic minorities for presidential candidate Donald Trump.
Alice Butler-Short was the founder of Virginia Women for Trump, an American advocacy group supportive of former American president Donald Trump.
The International Civil Liberties Alliance (ICLA) is an international counter-jihad organization that was originally founded in 2006, and which has spanned over twenty countries. Central to the organization has been Edward S. May of the Gates of Vienna blog, Alain Wagner and Christine Brim.
Clare M. Lopez is an American former CIA officer and Vice President for Research and Analysis at the Center for Security Policy. She has been described as an anti-Muslim conspiracy theorist.
