Shehnaz HaqqaniVisiting Faculty Fellow

Shehnaz Haqqani is an Islamic studies scholar whose areas of expertise include religious authority, Islam and feminism, and contemporary engagements with the Qur’an.

She is the author of Feminism, Tradition and Change in Contemporary Islam: Negotiating Islamic Law and Gender (Oneworld, 2024), runs a YouTube channel called “What the Patriarchy?!" on Islam and gender, and co-hosts the New Books in Islamic Studies podcast on the New Books Network. During her Fox Fellowship year, she will work on completing her second book, which explores how Muslim American women in interfaith marriages challenge traditional interpretations of Islamic law and authority. Drawing on ethnographic interviews and textual analysis, the project examines how women’s personal stories—often shaped by tensions between religious teachings and lived reality—become powerful narratives of agency, resistance, and reinterpretations of religious norms and doctrines. By centering these narratives, Shehnaz shows how individual life stories can transform religious understanding and contribute to broader conversations about gender justice, faith, and belonging.