#radaman

Merhezia Labidi-Maiza: Why she kicks ass

She is the official translator (Arabic-French) of the International Union of Islamic Scholars and a member of the European Council of Religious Leaders. She is also a coordinator of Women of Faith Global Network (WFGN), co-president of Religions for Peace (RfP), a co-author of school manuals on religious education in multicultural societies, and a lecturer on Islamic topics.  

She graduated from Tunis High College for Teachers with a degree in English Language and Literature in 1986. In 1991, she received a post-graduate diploma of DEA in English literature from La Sorbonne Nouvelle, Paris.

In 1996, Ms. Labidi-Maiza received a post-graduate diploma of specialized studies of translation at La Sorbonne. She teaches translation of religious texts at the European Institute for Humanities, France’s first academy of Islamic theology. 

Yassmin Abdel-Magied: Why she kicks ass

She is an Australian mechanical engineer and founder of the non government organisation based in Australia named Youth Without Borders.

Youth without Borders is an advocacy group designed to empower youth in their communities. It provides a structured journey into volunteering and global citizenship for young Australians aged 13 to 20. It takes the idea of a gap year and turned it on its head to create an extended volunteering placement in Australia or Asia-Pacific. "Young People Without Borders will transform a generation, embedding the notion of contribution and giving back to society into the DNA of all young Australians."

Her achievements bear this out: she was presented with the ‘Young Queenslander of the Year’ award in 2010 for her contribution to the community, In 2007 she was named Young Australian Muslim of the Year,  In 2012 she was named Young Leader in the Australian Financial Review  and she also won the inaugural 100 Women of Influence Awards. 

She also coaches a football team for Muslim girls called ‘Shinpads and Hijabs’.

She also aims to use her degree to go into the field of motorsport, and perhaps become the first female Muslim Formula 1 driver. In the more distant future, her friends see a political career beckoning, and something she sees as a very real possibility.

Hend Al-Mansour: Why she kicks ass

She is an installation artist who works often with silk screen prints, and uses art to achieve social change, exploring belief systems, especially those dealing with women, while cultivating the independence of Arab art from Western art and its distinction from other Middle Eastern and Islamic identities.

'My work is often a portrait of a woman,' Al-Mansour writes on her website. 'I make drawings of stylized figures and faces representing those women and integrate them with Islamic ornamentation. I then silk screen them onto fabrics, often using henna and dye and often repetitively. I use large sheets of silk, wool, canvas, or other cottons. Then I build shrines and tents with these fabrics, creating spaces in which the viewer walks barefoot.'

In a similar way Al-Mansour has also produced two large books, one of which was the 5 by 4 foot Autobiography of a Human Body (2000).

At age 16, Hend Al-Mansour joined the Medical School in Cairo University, Egypt. Although, she knew that she would make art all her life, she chose to pursue a career as a doctor which allowed personal freedom and self worth that might not be accessible otherwise. 

In 2002 she obtained a Master of Fine Art from Minneapolis College of Art and Design. She has participated in local and national shows, lectures about Arab women and art and her personal journey, and has curated exhibitions for other Arab and Muslim artists. Al Mansour’s work makes references to the identity and gender politics in Arab society and in Islamic teaching.

Col. Latifa Nabizada: why she kicks ass

"My name is Latifa. I am Colonel. I am an active helicopter pilot in the Afghan Air Force.

I wish to become a very good pilot and train other women to become pilots.

I have a five-year-old daughter who has been flying with me since she was two months of age. This is because there is nobody to look after her in the Air Force. I am trying to convince them to have a kindergarten, so women can be calm and do their job very well.

My message to other women in the world is that they should work hard to achieve their goals. They should be ambitious and have confidence in themselves. They should stand by Afghan women and share their experiences with Afghan women."

She was the one of the two first female pilots in the history of Afghan aviation, who travels to some of the most remote and dangerous corners of her country with a devoted partner next to her in the cockpit — her daughter, Malalai.

When she and her sister joined the airforce they were repeatedly denied admission to the Afghan military school on medical grounds, but they eventually joined in 1989 after being certified fit by a civilian doctor. No women’s uniforms existed, so they made their own. They were the first two women pilots in Afghan air force history.

In 1996, when the Taliban secured Kabul, she and her sister were supported by general Dostum who gave them a secure place to live while they flew missions and fought the Taliban.

Since there was no kindergarten in the military at the time, she took her 2 month old daughter Malalai with her in the helicopter. "She has grown up in a helicopter - sometimes I think she’s not my daughter, but the helicopter’s daughter!"

They have flown together on more than 300 missions over the past few years, and she acknowledged the risks of having her daughter onboard.

Sabrina Jalees: Why she kicks ass

She is a female Canadian comedian, dancer, actor, host and writer from Toronto, Ontario, now based in New York, who writes a weekly column in the Toronto Star's ID section. Most recently, she was a writer for Canada's Got Talent.

Since stepping onto the stage of (Toronto’s) Yuk Yuk’s amateur night at 16, she’s become one of the most recognizable faces in the Canadian media. her bio states, "Lovers of comedy were immediately intrigued by the ½ -Pakistani, ½ -Swiss teen’s humor (…mostly because she was so damned clever (and admittedly, partially due to her moustache at the time)."

She was soon skipping class to tour the country. Going on to record a CTV Comedy Now special, perform at the famed Just For Laughs Festival and break Mike Myers’ record as the youngest improviser ever hired by Second City.

She has made many Canadian media appearances, including as a commentator on MuchMusic's Video on Trial, Stars On Trial and LOL!, as well as a role in Canadian Series Flashpoint and Jian Ghomeshi's Monday correspondent on CBC Radio One's Sounds Like Canada in the Summer. She also previously filed a regular segment on Go. She currently hosts Laugh Out Loud on CBC Radio One and a reality TV show for children, In Real Life, airing on YTV. She made a cameo in the video for Break This by Hunter Valentine.

Maria Bashir: Why she kicks ass

She is a prosecutor based in Afghanistan, who is the only woman to ever hold such a position in the country as of 2009. With more than fifteen years of experience with Afghan civil service - the Taliban, corrupt policemen, death threats, failed assassination attempts - she has seen them all.

She was banned from working during the Taliban period, when she spent her time schooling girls illegally at her residence, when it was illegal for women to be seen unescorted by men on the streets.

The Taliban made it illegal for girls to read or work, ensuring that they remained dependent on men. Bashir started schooling them underground, at her residence, with students smuggling books and other items necessary for their studies inside shopping bags. She believed that the Taliban regime would fall, and wanted women to be ready to join the workforce when this happened. The Taliban were aware of her activities, and they summoned her husband twice to explain what she was doing

In the post-Taliban era, she was called back into service, and was made the Chief Prosecutor General of Herat Province in 2006. With her main focus on eradicating corruption and oppression of women, she has handled around 87 cases in 2010 alone.

Recognising her work, the United States Department of State, presented her The International Women of Courage Award which is awarded annually to women around the world who have shown leadership, courage, resourcefulness and willingness to sacrifice for others, especially for better promotion of women's rights, often at risk to their own lives.

Bashir also featured in the 2011 Time 100, an annual list of the 100 most influential people in the world composed by Time.

She remains critical of the new government, stating that though the new constitution provided equal rights to women, many judges still subscribed to the old Islamic Sharia Law. After stating that the lack of freedom women have to choose their partners, she noted that while men are not tried for adultery, women were still being stoned to death for similar charges. Commenting on the biased divorce process and the way husbands win custody of children, she said women preferred suicide to the latter.