Women are the Future of Islam

Sherin Khankan

Sherin Khankan founded the first mosque for women in Europe and is one of the very few female imams in the world. Awarded an MA in the Sociology of Religion and Philosophy from the University of Copenhagen, she is a lecturer, published author, columnist, activist, and former television commentator on religion and society. In addition she is an expert in contemporary Islamic activism and Sufism in the Middle East. In August 2001 she founded the Association of Critical Muslims and, in 2014, the Exit Circle, Denmark's first self-help group against psychological abuse. In 2016 she founded the Mariam Mosque in Copenhagen, as well as Femimam, an international group of female and male scholars who advocate for the need for female imams. Also in 2016, she was chosen as one of the BBC's 100 Women, representing the world's most pioneering women. Sherin has a Syrian father and a Finnish mother. She spent a year in Damascus before the war, studying Islam. Today she lives in Copenhagen and is the mother of four children.