Dr. Sohaira Siddiqui is a scholar, strategist, and institutional leader working at the intersection of knowledge, community, and transformation. For over two decades, she has built and strengthened educational and religious institutions that reimagine how Muslims learn, lead, and engage with the world. She was recently named to the list of the 500 Most Influential Muslims in the World in 2026.

As the founding Executive Director of Al-Mujadilah: Center and Mosque for Women, an initiative of Her Highness Sheikha Moza bint Nasser, Dr. Siddiqui has led the Center from concept to global recognition. Under her direction, Al-Mujadilah has launched more than 250 programs, established a global research network of over 100 Muslim female scholars and practitioners, and built local and international partnerships that advance accessible scholarship, capacity building and social transformation.

Through her leadership, Al-Mujadilah has become a pioneering institution shaping contemporary conversations on Muslim women’s religious education, authority, and participation. In parallel, Dr. Siddiqui serves is a Professor of Islamic Studies and Theology at Georgetown University in Qatar, where she researches and teaches on Islamic law, political thought, and their intersections with gender and modernity.

She is the author of three books: Islamic Law on Trial (2025), Locating the Sharia (2009), and Law and Politics Under the Abbasids (2009). She is currently editing The Cambridge Companion to Islamic Law and writing her fifth book on the development of legal guardianship in Islam and her sixth book on the mosque as an institution of transformation. Dr. Siddiqui has also written over three dozen academic and public pieces of scholarship, advancing nuanced understandings of Islamic law, colonialism, and Muslim societies.

Beyond Al-Mujadilah and academia, she plays a leading role in institutional development and governance, serving on numerous boards and advising Muslim organizations globally. Her work is driven by a vision to build institutions that embody intellectual excellence, ethical leadership, and transform the communities they serve.