Sharifa Alkhateeb

Sharifa Alkhateeb (1946 – 2004) was a writer, researcher, teacher, educational consultant, intercultural trainer of trainers, television producer, youth advisor, and international speaker. She received her B.A. in English Literature from the University of Pennsylvania, and her M.A. in Comparative Religion from Norwich University. For 40 years she worked within and outside the Muslim community on issues concerning cultural communication and cultural competency, Islam and Muslims, Muslim women, Muslims and domestic violence, religion and the workplace, and religious diversity. Her community building work was among Bosnian/Albanians, Arabs, Pakistani/Indian, and African-American communities.

Alkhateeb served as the Managing Editor of the American Journal of Islamic Social Sciences (AJISS), an international social science journal; as co-editor of the Arab World Notebook, a social studies text used throughout public school systems in the U.S.; and as a television producer of a program called Middle Eastern Parenting for Fairfax County Public Schools, Fairfax, VA.

Alkhateeb was the founder and vice-president of the North American Council for Muslim Women, a national organization that served the educational, training, public affairs, legislative, and networking needs of Muslim women from 1992 to 2004. She was also president of the Muslim Education Council, a regional organization that educated school educators and administrators about Islam, Muslims and Muslim culture from 1989 to 2004.

In 1995 Alkhateeb served as Chair of the Muslim Caucus at the Fourth World Conference on Women convened by the United Nations in Beijing, China. As a representative of American's Muslim leadership she lectured overseas on behalf of USAID. On several occasions she participated in national dialogues aimed at finding common ground on the role of religion in American public life, including at the Aspen Institute, and the American Assembly.

Alkhateeb was the Middle Eastern/Muslim Team Leader for the Community Resilience Project, a post-9/11 crisis counseling and referral program in Northern Virginia funded by the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA). She was also the founder and Director of the Peaceful Families Project, a nationwide family dynamics and violence awareness program within the Muslim community, funded by the U.S. Department of Justice, Office on Violence Against Women.

As an independent researcher, Alkhateeb conducted the first nationwide survey of domestic violence in the Muslim community from 1998-2000. She was a member of the Bi-National Advisory Committee of FaithTrust Institute (formerly the CPSDV) in Seattle, WA, was a member of the Editorial Board of the Journal of Religion and Abuse, and was an expert consultant with the Office for Victims of Crime (USDOJ) and the Maryland Crime Victims' Resource Center, Inc.

Since her death, several efforts continue to honor her legacy. Among these are the Peaceful Families Project,^[1] the Sharifa Alkhateeb Community Service Award given annually by the MAS Freedom Foundation, and the Sharifa Alkhateeb Memorial Scholarship of Fairfax County Public Schools.^[2]

References

External links

• Washington Post Obituary
• New York Times Obituary
• Middle East Affairs Obituary