| Catherine Heseltine | |
|---|---|
| Born | c. 1979 (age 32–33) Chelsea, London, United Kingdom |
| Nationality | British |
| Religion | Islam |
| Spouse | Muhammad Ali (2010-)[1] |
Catherine Heseltine was elected as the CEO of MPACUK.[2] She has appeared regularly in newspapers and on TV discussing issues impacting the British Muslim community as well as encouraging British Muslims to get involved in mainstream politics and to engage with the community.
Catherine was 20 when she got married to Syed[3] she knew from sixth form. The marriage broke down and resulted in a divorce after 7 years.[1]
On GMTV, while discussing the controversy around comments made by Archbishop of Canterbury about Shariah law and its implications on divorce, she said "I wanted the divorce, and it was a very simple process. It was actually a lot easier for me to get an Islamic divorce than the expensive, and somewhat time-consuming process through the English courts".[4]
Believing that marriage is an important aspect in the life of a Muslim, on the 9th August 2010 she subsequently remarried to Muhammad Ali, a Bangladeshi who moved to Manchester with his family when he was three years old, and whom she found via the matrimonial website SingleMuslim.com.[1]
With her work at MPACUK, Catherine was ranked at position 17 in [5] London's 100 top movers and shakers 2006.
Catherine used to be a nursery teacher[1] until elected as the CEO of MPACUK in 2010.[2]
Catherine joined MPACUK because she believed it would help in "empowering Muslims in mainstream politics and media, dealing with Islamophobia"[1] and lead campaign against "discrimination against women in mosques, poverty and the situation in Palestine". [3]
During her time with MPACUK, Catherine Heseltine started Stop Islamophobia Week[6] . The timing of the campaign was linked to the 1995 Srebrenica massacre.