Sara Shah (left) says her parents listened to her efforts with patience and praise, never giving her harsh criticism. Ibtihaj Muhammad (right) explains, “I want to set an example that anything is possible with perseverance.”

 

SPECIAL REPORT VOLUME. 6 ISSUE. 4

13 Under 30
by Mariam Aziz, Kelly Crosby, Tayyaba Syed & Tayyibah Taylor

Meet the next wave of Muslim female leaders. These young women are already breaking records, winning awards and accomplishing remarkable feats in academics, athletics, arts and beyond. Some have made national headlines and others are making waves in their local communities. While most people take years to find what they really want to do in life, these young women are focused, talented and driven enough to become successful at an early age.
Their early success affords them the advantages of developing careers and gaining considerable experience at a young age, as well as opportunities to be role models for others, showing that all things are possible. Sometimes, however, success brings a feeling of great responsibility and pressure to perform.
Through the pros and cons of early success, one benefit stands out. Young Muslimahs enjoy the pleasure of knowing that Allah has blessed them to contribute greatly to the world around them. Here are 13 such women.

 

ALIA SABUR. The Youngest Professor in History

In the summer of 2010, when scientists were searching for a way to stop oil from gushing into the Gulf of Mexico, Alia Sabur presented her solution to a surprised BP official who said her idea was promising. This 22 year-old engineer enjoys numerous achievements, the most intriguing of which is her status in the Guinness Book of World Record as the World’s Youngest Professor.
Her academic career began early. Just eight months old when she began to read, later, after finishing the fourth grade this prodigy went straight to Stony Brook University where, at the age of 14, she completed her bachelor of science degree in applied mathematics, graduating summa cum laude. This earned her another record, – the youngest woman to graduate from university in America. She was 18 years old when she began to teach on the faculty of Konkuk University in Seoul, Korea, breaking a record that had stood since 1717.
In an effort to help in post-Hurricane Katrina relief, Ms. Sabur taught math and physics at Southern University of New Orleans after earning her PhD at Drexel University. She has also received honors and awards from NASA, the Golden Key International Honor Society, and the National Science Foundation. She says she feels a responsibility to use her intelligence for good.
Along with being a world-class genius and having the ability to deliver lectures on topics like “multifunctional carbon nanotubes with embedded nanoparticles,” Ms. Sabur is also an accomplished clarinet player who has performed with the New York Youth Symphony and Stony Brook University Orchestra, and she has earned a black belt in Tae Kwon Do. Residing in New York, she works as a materials scientist.

 

SARA SHAH. The Qur'an Reciter

Sara Shah was born and raised in San Diego, California by parents originally from Afghanistan. With two older brothers who studied the Qur’an for several years, she was immersed in an environment conducive to learning the sacred text, which she began at age six. “My brothers had been engaged in the learning process several years prior and my father was fond of playing tapes of the great (reciters), so I had exposure to the mechanics of Arabic long before I began to recite for myself,” she said.
Although Qur’an study and recitation is considered a male discipline in some Asian cultures, her father was determined to teach her. He began with the Arabic alphabet before sending her to train with her brothers’ Qur’an teacher, Qari Homayoon Najeed. Within a year’s time, she read in fluent Arabic with the proper recitation of tajweed. At eight years old, she was reciting stylistically, after learning murattal and tarteel elocution.
She credits her parents for her development because they collected copies of the Qur’an written in various calligraphic scripts, listened to her efforts with patience and praise, never giving her harsh criticism for reciting too loud or having the wrong pitch, and they spared no expense in finding tapes and CDs so she could listen to a variety of Qur’an recitations.
Traditionally, Qur’an studies are geared toward those aspiring to become hafidh, (hafidhah for females), denoting a person who has memorized the entire Qur’an. However, despite having memorized a number of surahs, Ms. Shah says her primary goal is to learn and preserve the art of proper recitation of the Qur’an. One way of sharing and perfecting this art has been through her public recitations at community events.

 

IBTIHAJ MUHAMMAD. The Champion Fencer

“From the first time I held a sabre in my hand, I knew I had found something I would grow to love,” says Ibtihaj Muhammad. A young teenager when she chose fencing, she says it was a sport that accommodated both her athletic spirit and religious practice. Now 25, ranked second in the United States in women’s sabre and 13th in the world, she is the first African-American female fencer to make a national or world championship team in the sabre discipline for the United States, and she is in line to be the first hijabi to represent the US in the Olympics.
When she chose fencing, often viewed as an elite sport, Ms. Muhammad knew the sport’s lack of diversity would present challenges for her. “I still find it mind-boggling that I am often the only black fencer among 150 competitors, especially when I am competing on the international stage,” she said.
Seeing a fencer in hijabi, some spectators may react with curiosity, others with apprehension. “At international competitions most people assume I’m Arab and have a hard time comprehending the idea of an African-American Muslim. However, I think overall they’re excited to see a Muslimah representing the United States at an elite level,” she says.

 

LENA KHAN. The Award-winning Filmmaker

At 27, filmmaker Lena Khan already has established a production company and won awards and accolades for her work. Her 2007 film “A Land Called Paradise” won the $20,000 grand prize in the first “One Nation, Many Voices” film contest while her short, “Bassem is Trying”, won the prize in the Under 60 Second category. After years of making commercials, short films and music videos Ms. Khan is working on her first feature film.
She reflects on her challenges, accomplishments and aspirations. “My art is a product of all of the creative influences that go into it, from my script or concept to ideas from the cinematographer, talent or crew. On my end, it is the product of things that have influenced me, thrown back to the audience in a way that I hope is less ill-informed, apathetic or boring. The intent of my work is to educate or provide some sort of value; it has to be entertaining, otherwise nobody benefits.”
“The greatest challenge has been figuring out what my first feature would be, how to make it exceptional in a competitive environment, and how to get it funded,” she continued. “It has been a big challenge to gain respect as a Muslim filmmaker. Not only are religious people seen as inherently less artistic and artistically fettered, but I also was not able to network properly in the alcohol and sometimes drug filled world that is the independent film industry.”

 

To read the full article, subscribe to Azizah.

Share