Mishkat Al-Moumin ( ''Mishkāt al-Mū‘min'', also Romanized ''al-Mumin'') is an Iraqi lawyer and lecturer. She served as the Minister of Environment in the

Iraqi Interim Government The Iraqi Interim Government was created by the United States and its coalition allies as a caretaker government to govern Iraq until the drafting of the new constitution following the National Assembly election conducted on January 30, 2005. T ...

under

Iyad Allawi Ayad Allawi ( ar, إيَاد عَلَّاوِي ; born 31 May 1944) is an Iraqi politician. He served as the vice president of Iraq from 2014 to 2015 and 2016 to 2018. Previously he was interim prime minister of Iraq from 2004 to 2005 and the ...

(2004–05). After surviving several assassination attempts due to her advocacy for

women's rights Women's rights are the rights and entitlements claimed for women and girls worldwide. They formed the basis for the women's rights movement in the 19th century and the feminist movements during the 20th and 21st centuries. In some countries, ...

, she moved to the United States.

Biography

Mishkat al-Moumin was born in

Beirut Beirut, french: Beyrouth is the capital and largest city of Lebanon. , Greater Beirut has a population of 2.5 million, which makes it the third-largest city in the Levant region. The city is situated on a peninsula at the midpoint o ...

, Lebanon but moved with her family to Iraq. Her father was a lecturer at the Institute of Fine Arts in Baghdad. She received her

Master of Arts A Master of Arts ( la, Magister Artium or ''Artium Magister''; abbreviated MA, M.A., AM, or A.M.) is the holder of a master's degree awarded by universities in many countries. The degree is usually contrasted with that of Master of Science. Tho ...

and Ph.D. degrees from the

University of Baghdad The University of Baghdad (UOB) ( ar, جامعة بغداد ''Jāmi'at Baghdād'') is the largest university in Iraq, tenth largest in the Arab world, and the largest university in the Arab world outside Egypt. Nomenclature Both University ...

. Al-Moumin began her career as a lawyer, serving as a member and supervisor of Head's Office for Iraqi Bar Association. In 2001, she joined the Baghdad University's College of Law as a lecturer, a post she held until 2004. Al-Moumin established and became the director of Women and Environment Organisation. She has also been the Women's Issues director at the Free Iraq Foundation. In June 2004, Al-Moumin joined the Iraqi Interim Government as an Iraqi Independent Democrats (IID) member. She was the country's first Environment Minister and planned its structure. With her at the helm, the ministry released Iraq's first report on environmental status. Al-Moumin's advocacy for women's rights angered

jihadist Jihadism is a neologism which is used in reference to "militant Islamic movements that are perceived as existentially threatening to the West" and "rooted in political Islam."Compare: Appearing earlier in the Pakistani and Indian media, Wes ...

Abu Musab al-Zarqawi Abu Musab al-Zarqawi ( ar, أَبُو مُصْعَبٍ ٱلزَّرْقَاوِيُّ, ', ''Father of Musab, from Zarqa''; ; October 30, 1966 – June 7, 2006), born Ahmad Fadeel al-Nazal al-Khalayleh (, '), was a Jordanian jihadist who ran a t ...

. He called her "the leader of infidels" and sent

death threats A death threat is a threat, often made anonymously, by one person or a group of people to kill another person or group of people. These threats are often designed to intimidate victims in order to manipulate their behaviour, in which case a deat ...

to Al-Moumin we'll get her next time" She survived an assassination attempt in August 2004. While moving through Qadisia, a car bomb struck her convoy, instantly killing four of her bodyguards. Following further attempts on her life, she relocated to the United States in 2005.

George Mason University George Mason University (George Mason, Mason, or GMU) is a public research university in Fairfax County, Virginia with an independent City of Fairfax, Virginia postal address in the Washington, D.C. Metropolitan Area. The university was origin ...

appointed her as an adjunct professor of

environmental studies Environmental studies is a multidisciplinary academic field which systematically studies human interaction with the environment. Environmental studies connects principles from the physical sciences, commerce/economics, the humanities, and social ...

in 2006. She is also a fellow of

Environmental Law Institute The Environmental Law Institute (ELI) is a non-profit, non-partisan organization, headquartered in Washington, D.C., that seeks to "make law work for people, places, and the planet" through its work as an environmental law educator, convener, publ ...

. She holds an M.A. in

public administration Public Administration (a form of governance) or Public Policy and Administration (an academic discipline) is the implementation of public policy, administration of government establishment (public governance), management of non-profit establ ...

from

Harvard University Harvard University is a private Ivy League research university in Cambridge, Massachusetts. Founded in 1636 as Harvard College and named for its first benefactor, the Puritan clergyman John Harvard, it is the oldest institution of higher le ...

(2006).

References

Bibliography

External links

The Communication of Success

Al-Moumin Award
{{DEFAULTSORT:Mumin, Mishkat 1960 births George Mason University faculty Harvard Kennedy School alumni Iraqi human rights activists Iraqi women lawyers Iraqi people of Lebanese descent Women government ministers of Iraq Living people Politicians from Beirut University of Baghdad alumni Academic staff of the University of Baghdad 20th-century Iraqi lawyers 21st-century Iraqi lawyers 21st-century Iraqi women politicians 21st-century Iraqi politicians 20th-century women lawyers 21st-century women lawyers