Irshad Manji (born 1968) is a Ugandan-born Canadian educator. She is the author of ''
The Trouble with Islam Today
''The Trouble with Islam Today'', originally titled ''The Trouble with Islam'', is a 2004 book critical of Islam written by Irshad Manji, styled as an open letter to concerned citizens worldwide, Muslim or not.
Contents
In the book the author ...
'' (2004) and ''Allah, Liberty and Love'' (2011), both of which have been banned in several Muslim countries.
She also produced a
PBS
The Public Broadcasting Service (PBS) is an American public broadcasting, public broadcaster and Non-commercial activity, non-commercial, Terrestrial television, free-to-air television network based in Arlington, Virginia. PBS is a publicly fu ...
documentary in the ''
America at a Crossroads
The United States of America (U.S.A. or USA), commonly known as the United States (U.S. or US) or America, is a country primarily located in North America. It consists of 50 states, a federal district, five major unincorporated territori ...
'' series, titled ''Faith Without Fear'', which was nominated for an
Emmy Award
The Emmy Awards, or Emmys, are an extensive range of awards for artistic and technical merit for the American and international television industry. A number of annual Emmy Award ceremonies are held throughout the calendar year, each with the ...
in 2008.
A former journalist and television presenter, Manji is an advocate of a
reformist interpretation of Islam and a critic of
literalist interpretations of the
Qur'an
The Quran (, ; Standard Arabic: , Quranic Arabic: , , 'the recitation'), also romanized Qur'an or Koran, is the central religious text of Islam, believed by Muslims to be a revelation from God. It is organized in 114 chapters (pl.: , sing. ...
.
Her latest book, ''Don't Label Me'' (2019), proposes methods on how to heal political, racial, and cultural divides. The ideas in the book are related to the Moral Courage Project, which Manji founded at
New York University
New York University (NYU) is a private research university in New York City. Chartered in 1831 by the New York State Legislature, NYU was founded by a group of New Yorkers led by then-Secretary of the Treasury Albert Gallatin.
In 1832, the ...
in 2008 and expanded to the
University of Southern California
The University of Southern California (USC, SC, or Southern Cal) is a Private university, private research university in Los Angeles, California, United States. Founded in 1880 by Robert M. Widney, it is the oldest private research university in C ...
(USC) in 2016, when she was a senior fellow at the
Annenberg Center on Communication Leadership & Policy.
After leaving USC, she founded Moral Courage College with the goal of teaching "young people how to engage honestly about polarizing issues rather than shaming or canceling each other". Manji lectures on these themes as a senior research fellow with the Oxford Initiative for Global Ethics and Human Rights.
Early life and education
Manji was born in 1968 near
Kampala
Kampala (, ) is the capital and largest city of Uganda. The city proper has a population of 1,680,000 and is divided into the five political divisions of Kampala Central Division, Kawempe Division, Makindye Division, Nakawa Division, and Ruba ...
,
Uganda
}), is a landlocked country in East Africa
East Africa, Eastern Africa, or East of Africa, is the eastern subregion of the African continent. In the United Nations Statistics Division scheme of geographic regions, 10-11-(16*) territor ...
. Her mother is of
Egyptian
Egyptian describes something of, from, or related to Egypt.
Egyptian or Egyptians may refer to:
Nations and ethnic groups
* Egyptians, a national group in North Africa
** Egyptian culture, a complex and stable culture with thousands of years of ...
descent and her father of
India
India, officially the Republic of India (Hindi: ), is a country in South Asia. It is the seventh-largest country by area, the second-most populous country, and the most populous democracy in the world. Bounded by the Indian Ocean on the so ...
n heritage.
When
Idi Amin
Idi Amin Dada Oumee (, ; 16 August 2003) was a Ugandan military officer and politician who served as the third president of Uganda from 1971 to 1979. He ruled as a military dictator and is considered one of the most brutal despots in modern w ...
ordered the
expulsion of Asians and other non-Africans from Uganda in the early 1970s, Manji and her family came to
Canada
Canada is a country in North America. Its ten provinces and three territories extend from the Atlantic Ocean to the Pacific Ocean and northward into the Arctic Ocean, covering over , making it the world's second-largest country by tot ...
as refugees when she was four years old.
They settled in
Richmond, British Columbia
Richmond is a coastal city in the Lower Mainland region of British Columbia, Canada. It occupies almost the entirety of Lulu Island (excluding Queensborough), between the two estuarine distributaries of the Fraser River. Encompassing the ad ...
, near
Vancouver
Vancouver ( ) is a major city in western Canada, located in the Lower Mainland region of British Columbia. As the List of cities in British Columbia, most populous city in the province, the 2021 Canadian census recorded 662,248 people in the ...
.
Manji attended secular public schools and, every Saturday, a religious school (
madrasa
Madrasa (, also , ; Arabic: مدرسة , pl. , ) is the Arabic word for any type of educational institution, secular or religious (of any religion), whether for elementary instruction or higher learning. The word is variously transliterated '' ...
). Manji says that, at 14 years old, she was expelled from the madrasa for asking too many questions.
In 1990, Manji earned a
bachelor's degree with honours in the
history of ideas
Intellectual history (also the history of ideas) is the study of the history of human thought and of intellectuals, people who conceptualize, discuss, write about, and concern themselves with ideas. The investigative premise of intellectual his ...
from the
University of British Columbia
The University of British Columbia (UBC) is a public university, public research university with campuses near Vancouver and in Kelowna, British Columbia. Established in 1908, it is British Columbia's oldest university. The university ranks a ...
, and won the
Governor General's Academic Medal
The Governor General's Academic Medal is awarded to the student graduating with the highest grade point average from a Canadian high school, college or university program. They are presented by the educational institution on behalf of the Governor ...
for top humanities graduate. In 2002, Manji became writer-in-residence at the
University of Toronto
The University of Toronto (UToronto or U of T) is a public research university in Toronto, Ontario, Canada, located on the grounds that surround Queen's Park. It was founded by royal charter in 1827 as King's College, the first institution ...
's
Hart House, from where she began writing ''
The Trouble with Islam Today
''The Trouble with Islam Today'', originally titled ''The Trouble with Islam'', is a 2004 book critical of Islam written by Irshad Manji, styled as an open letter to concerned citizens worldwide, Muslim or not.
Contents
In the book the author ...
''. She was a visiting fellow with the International Security Studies program at
Yale University
Yale University is a private research university in New Haven, Connecticut. Established in 1701 as the Collegiate School, it is the third-oldest institution of higher education in the United States and among the most prestigious in the wo ...
in 2006 and was a senior fellow with the Brussels-based
European Foundation for Democracy
The European Foundation for Democracy (EFD) is a policy centre and a registered EU lobbyist organization based in Brussels, Belgium. Its activities focus on counter-radicalisation, security and the promotion of the European values of democracy ...
from 2006 to 2012.
Career
Manji began her career working in politics in the 1990s. She was a
legislative aide in the
Canadian parliament
The Parliament of Canada (french: Parlement du Canada) is the federal legislature of Canada, seated at Parliament Hill in Ottawa, and is composed of three parts: the King, the Senate, and the House of Commons. By constitutional convention, the ...
for
New Democratic Party
The New Democratic Party (NDP; french: Nouveau Parti démocratique, NPD) is a federal political party in Canada. Widely described as social democratic,The party is widely described as social democratic:
*
*
*
*
*
*
*
*
*
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member of parliament
Dawn Black
Dawn Black (born April 1, 1943) is a politician in British Columbia, Canada.
Born ''Dawn Whitty'', Black became involved in politics from a young age, she became an assistant to New Democratic Party Member of Parliament Pauline Jewett.
Member ...
, then
press secretary
A press secretary or press officer is a senior advisor who provides advice on how to deal with the news media and, using news management techniques, helps their employer to maintain a positive public image and avoid negative media coverage.
Dut ...
in the
Ontario government
The government of Ontario (french: Gouvernement de l'Ontario) is the body responsible for the administration of the Canadian province of Ontario. A constitutional monarchy, the Crown—represented in the province by the lieutenant governor— ...
for
Ontario New Democratic Party
The Ontario New Democratic Party (french: link=no, Nouveau Parti démocratique de l'Ontario; abbr. ONDP or NDP) is a social-democratic political party in Ontario, Canada. The party currently forms the Official Opposition in Ontario following th ...
cabinet minister
Marion Boyd
Phyllis Marion Boyd ( Watt; March 26, 1946 – October 11, 2022) was a Canadian politician in Ontario. She was a New Democratic member of the Legislative Assembly of Ontario from 1990 to 1999 who represented the riding of London Centre. She ...
, and later speechwriter for federal NDP leader
Audrey McLaughlin
Audrey Marlene McLaughlin (née Brown; born November 8, 1936) is a Canadian politician and former leader of the New Democratic Party from 1989 to 1995. She was the first female leader of a political party with representation in the House of Co ...
. At the age of 24, she became the national affairs editorialist for the ''
Ottawa Citizen
The ''Ottawa Citizen'' is an English-language daily newspaper owned by Postmedia Network in Ottawa, Ontario, Canada.
History
Established as ''The Bytown Packet'' in 1845 by William Harris (journalist), William Harris, it was renamed the '' ...
''
and the youngest member of an
editorial board
The editorial board is a group of experts, usually at a publication, who dictate the tone and direction the publication's editorial policy will take.
Mass media
At a newspaper, the editorial board usually consists of the editorial page editor, a ...
for any Canadian daily. She was also a columnist for Ottawa's new
LGBT newspaper ''
Capital Xtra!
''Xtra Ottawa'' (formerly ''Capital Xtra'') was a lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender community newspaper published in Ottawa, Ontario, Canada. It was launched in 1993. Unlike its biweekly sister publications ''Xtra'' in Toronto and '' Xtra Van ...
'' She participated in a regular "Friendly Fire" segment on
TVOntario
TVO Media Education Group (often abbreviated as TVO and stylized on-air as tvo) is a publicly funded English-language educational television network and media organization serving the Canadian province of Ontario. It is operated by the Ontario ...
's ''
Studio 2
''Studio 2'' was a daily (weeknights) current affairs newsmagazine on TVOntario in Ontario, Canada. The show won several Gemini Awards, and was hosted by Steve Paikin and Paula Todd (who replaced original co-host Mary Hynes in the show's thir ...
'' from 1992 to 1994, head-to-head against right-wing writer
Michael Coren
Michael Coren (born 15 January 1959) is a British-Canadian writer and clergyman. A long-time television personality, Coren hosted '' The Michael Coren Show'' on the Crossroads Television System from 1999 to 2011 before moving to the Sun News Ne ...
.
Manji hosted and produced several
public affairs programs on television, including ''Q-Files'' for
Pulse24 and its successor ''
QT: QueerTelevision'' for the Toronto-based
Citytv
Citytv is a Canadian television network owned by the Rogers Sports & Media subsidiary of Rogers Communications. The licence of the original Citytv station, granted the callsign of CITY-TV by the CRTC on November 25, 1971 to Cable Television Ass ...
in the late 1990s. When she left the show, Manji donated the television set's "big Q" to the
Pride Library
Western Libraries is the library system of the University of Western Ontario in London, Ontario. In 1898, the university Senate appointed James Waddell Tupper as the University of Western Ontario's first University Librarian. In 1918, John Davis ...
at the
University of Western Ontario
The University of Western Ontario (UWO), also known as Western University or Western, is a Public university, public research university in London, Ontario, London, Ontario, Canada. The main campus is located on of land, surrounded by resident ...
.
She has also appeared on television networks around the world, including
Al Jazeera
Al Jazeera ( ar, الجزيرة, translit-std=DIN, translit=al-jazīrah, , "The Island") is a state-owned Arabic-language international radio and TV broadcaster of Qatar. It is based in Doha and operated by the media conglomerate Al Jazeera ...
, the
CBC,
BBC #REDIRECT BBC #REDIRECT BBC
Here i going to introduce about the best teacher of my life b BALAJI sir. He is the precious gift that I got befor 2yrs . How has helped and thought all the concept and made my success in the 10th board exam. ...
...
(NYU) from 2008 to 2015. Manji joined NYU's
to create the Moral Courage Project, an initiative to teach young people how to speak truth to power within their own communities. Her courses focused on how "to make values-driven decisions for the sake of their integrity – professional and personal". In April 2013, Moral Courage TV (on
, a professor and activist. West spoke of Manji's work as a "powerful force for good." In 2015, Manji developed "the West Coast presence of Moral Courage" at the
.
Manji's book ''The Trouble with Islam Today'' (originally titled ''The Trouble with Islam'') was published by
in 2004. The book was first released in Canada under the previous title in September 2003. It has since been translated into more than 30 languages.