Faculty Bios

Dr. Zainab Alwani Assistant Professor of Islamic Studies

Dr. Zainab Alwani is an Assistant Professor of Islamic Studies at the Howard University School of Divinity. She is an Islamic scholar, researcher, and community activist. In addition to being the first female jurist to serve on the board for the Fiqh Council of North America (FCNA), Dr. Alwani currently serves as the Vice President of the FCNA. Her research focuses on Quranic studies, Islamic jurisprudence, the relationship between civil and religious law in the area of family and gender, comparative religions, and inter-religious dialogue. Prior to joining the School of Divinity, Dr. Alwani was the Program Director and Adjunct Professor of Arabic and Islamic Studies at the Northern Virginia Community College. She was also an Adjunct Professor of Arabic Studies at the School of Advanced International Studies at Johns Hopkins University. She developed courses in Arabic Studies that focused on the link between Islamic philosophy, language, and culture. She also taught Islamic history, inter-religious dialogue, and comparative religion at Wesley Theological Seminary and the Washington National Cathedral. Dr. Alwani has authored and co-authored a wide variety of scholarly articles and chapter books including: "The Qur'anic Model to Harmony in Family Relations"; "What Islam Says about Domestic Violence"; "Perspectives: Arabic Language and Culture in Films"; and "The development of Maqasid/objectives of al Shariah in the contemporary context". "Her forthcoming publications include scholarly books, chapter books, and articles. Dr. Alwani received her Ph.D. in Islamic Sciences (Usul Al-Fiqh) and Islamic Jurisprudence from the International Islamic University of Malaysia. Her Ph.D dissertation focused on Islamic jurisprudence: the implementation of the Maqasid/objectives of al Shariah in the American Muslim family. Dr. Alwani is a mother of four, and a grandmother of two. Her hobbies include spending time with her family, teaching, reading, and traveling.