Student presentation profiles Riffat Hassan and her work in interreligious dialogue and women’s empowerment

Anne Marie, a student presenter at the University of Montana conference session on Islam and the West, summarized the life and work of Riffat Hassan, a theologian and scholar who has spent much of her career promoting interreligious dialogue and women’s empowerment.

Anne Marie said Hassan sought to counter reductive views of Islam — “The face of Islam doesn't have to be the Taliban or the Ayatollahs,” she told the audience — by emphasizing scholarship, teaching and exchange programs. The presenter described Hassan’s early life in Lahore, Pakistan; her education in England where she earned degrees in English and philosophy; and her doctorate focused on the Muslim philosopher Muhammad Iqbal.

The nut graf: Anne Marie said Hassan built programs bringing scholars, community members and religious leaders from Islam, Judaism and Christianity together for dialogue and exchange, and that Hassan worked on grassroots women’s empowerment projects in Pakistan and Afghanistan, emphasizing religious arguments for women’s education and safety.

Anne Marie outlined Hassan’s academic career in Pakistan and the United States, including teaching posts at Villanova, Oklahoma State and a long tenure at the University of Louisville. The presenter said Hassan developed programs the U.S. State Department later noted as useful models for exchange. Anne Marie also described Hassan’s work to reduce honor killings in Pakistan and to create networks supporting female victims of violence.

Anne Marie concluded by arguing that teachers who foster understanding can be powerful agents against ignorance and conflict. The presenter closed her talk and the session moved on to the next student presentation.