Fareena Alam

Last updated

Fareena Alam
Born1978
London, England
Occupation Editor, journalist
Spouse
Abdul-Rehman Malik
(m. 2002)

Fareena Alam (born 1978) is a British journalist and program designer. She was formerly the editor of Q News .

Contents

Background and career

Alam was born in London, England to Bangladeshi Chittagonian parents. She spent her childhood and formative years in Singapore where her father was a civil servant. [1] During this time she was elected as the vice-president and then president of the United Nations Students' Association, National University of Singapore, for which she organised a six-month awareness campaign called ‘The Children of Bangladesh.’ The campaign highlighted the plight of the street children and she then took the campaign a stage further by leading a student delegation of 20 to carry out relief work in Bangladesh for three weeks in 1998.

After graduating from university and returning to England, [2] from 2003 [3] to 2007, [4] she was editor of Q News . [5] She was a freelance contributor to British and international media outlets until 2017. Her major works include a cover story for Newsweek International. [6]

She was a co-founder of the Radical Middle Way Project [7] which is a revolutionary grassroots initiative aimed at articulating a relevant mainstream understanding of Islam that is dynamic, proactive and relevant to young British Muslims. The project was funded by the British government under the early years of its Prevent scheme and by 2009 is said to have received approximately £1.2 million. The RMW's partnership with the government ended in 2010 after the changes made to the Prevent scheme by the newly elected Conservative government.

Awards

In 2005, Alam was named Media Professional of the Year by Islamic Relief. In 2006, she was named Media Professional of the Year at the Asian Women of Achievement Awards. [8]

Personal life

She was raised as a Muslim. [9] In June 2002, she married Abdul-Rehman, a Canadian-born teacher of Punjabi-Pakistani heritage. They met in June 2001 whilst attending a conference organised by the Zaytuna Institute in San Francisco. [10]

See also

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References

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  2. Amghar, Samir; Boubekeur, Amel; Emerson, Michael (2007). European Islam: Challenges for Public Policy and Society. Centre for European Policy Studies. p. 120. ISBN   978-9290797104.
  3. Poole, Elizabeth; Richardson, John E. (2012). Muslims and the News Media. I.B. Tauris. p. 91. ISBN   978-1845111724.
  4. Dewanand (2011). Koran: Forbid or Rewrite? A Guide for Peaceful De-Islamicization. Eloquent Books. p. 432. ISBN   9781609760656.
  5. Ahmad, Waqar; Sardar, Ziauddin (2012). Muslims in Britain: Making Social and Political Space. Open University Press. p. 165. ISBN   978-0415594721.
  6. "Beyond the Veil". Newsweek International . 27 November 2006. Retrieved 30 September 2007.
  7. "Radical Middle Way Project (RMW)". Archived from the original on 7 February 2009. Retrieved 10 December 2008.
  8. "Senior Asian policewoman honoured". BBC News . 25 May 2006. Retrieved 30 September 2007.
  9. Nielsen, Jørgen S.; Akgönül, Samim; Alibašić, Ahmet; Maréchal, Brigitte; Moe, Christian (2009). Yearbook of Muslims in Europe, Volume 1. Brill Publishers. p. 432. ISBN   978-9004175051.
  10. "Abdul Rehman & Fareena". Emel . September–October 2004. Retrieved 1 August 2015.