Islamophobic rhetoric is currently rampant across the American political system. In the face of acts of violence that are claimed to be done in the name of Islam, such as the San Bernardino shooting and the terrorist attacks in Paris, fear surroundingMuslims is at an all-time high. Candidates like Donald Trump play into this fear…
Malala Yousafzai, Pakistan
Yousafzai was born in 1997 in Pakistan. She is the youngest ever winner of the Nobel Peace Prize. Her work mainly involves human and women’s rights in her home in Northwestern Pakistan. The Taliban in that area used to forbid women/girls from going to school, which was something that she fought vividly. Yousafzai’s actions has…
Aref Dostyar, Afghanistan
Aref Dostyar is 26 years old, from Afghanistan. At age 21, he founded his own non-profit organization, called Afghans for Progressive Thinking. Afghans for Progressive Thinking (APT) works with university students to promote a culture of tolerance, openness, and respect in the Afghan society by providing students with opportunities to critically engage with contemporary sociopolitical…
Ramzi Zaindeen, Sri Lanka
Sri Lanka is nation recovering after three decades of war. The brutal civil war devastated the nation and stunted the Island’s economic, political and social potential. The onus of building peace had fallen upon a new generation of Sri Lankan youth. A generation that was born in to war and were all too familiar with…
Malala Yousafzai, Pakistan
Malala Yousafzai is perhaps the best known young Muslim peacebuilder in the world today. Malala, who turns 18 in June is from Mingora, Pakistan. The world learned of Malala in 2012 after she was attacked by the Taliban on her way home from school. She was shot in the head, but managed to survive. The…
Abdul Rahman, Syria
A Voice for the Fallen Since his youth, growing up on the coast of Syria, Osama Suleiman has been better known by his pseudonym, Rami Abdul Rahman. This came from necessity, brought on by his ardent dedication to political change, embodied by his secret writing of pamphlets denouncing unfair privileges and championing the plight of…
Mamalou Ndala, Congo
Introduction Islam arrived in the Democratic Republic of Congo in the 18th century, when Arab traders moved deep in the interior searching for ivory and for slave trade purposes. The Muslim community today represents about 10% of the Congolese population, majority of them being Sunnis. In this profile of a Muslim Peace builder I will…
Gulalai Ismail, Pakistan
Gulalai Ismail: The Intersectionality of Women’s Rights and Radicalization In 2002, Gulalai Ismail was just 16 years old when she, her sister, and some of their friends established Aware Girls, an organization to help change the lives of young men and women in Pakistan. Growing up in the Swabi District of Northern Pakistan, she experienced…
Dr. Akmal Samsor, Afghanistan
I am pleased to introduce Dr. Akmal Samsor, one of my close friends and a 35-year old Muslim peacebuilder in Afghanistan. I have known Samsor since 2010 when he and I took a one-year course on leadership development in Kabul. Dr. Akmal Samsor is a Fulbright and IDB Science and Technology Scholar who has worked…
Hassan Ole Naado, Kenya
Islam has a direct impact on how peace is conceptualized and resolved within the framework of morals, ethics and ideal social harmony. Understanding some of the young Muslim peacebuilding actors and what they do is fundamental to understanding communities potential for peacebuilding. This journal celebrates Hassan Ole Naado a young Muslim peace builder from Kenya….
Tawakkol Karman, Yemen
Tawakkol Karman is a Yemeni journalist and a 2011 recipient of the Nobel Peace Prize. Karman was born in Yemen, and studied commerce and political science at university in Sana’a. After graduation, she began work as a journalist, and tried to expose the human rights abuses of the Yemeni government after unification. In 2005, she…
Shamsia Hassani, Afghanistan
Shamsia Hassani is a 26-year-old Afghani woman who is actively working to bring peace to her country through art – specifically with graffiti. Born in Tehran, Iran in 1988, she moved to Kabul, Afghanistan in 2005 with her family to study art at Kabul University. In 2009, Hassani was named in the Top 10 of…
MUSLIM YOUTH PEACEBUILDERS 