Dr. Zainab Alwani

Dr. Zainab Alwani is the Vice Chair of Fiqh Council of North America (FCNA) and the Founding Director of the Islamic Studies at the Howard University School of Divinity (HUSD). She is Associate Professor of Islamic Studies and the chair of Master of Arts (Religious Studies) program at HUSD. She is an Islamic scholar, researcher, and community activist. Dr. Alwani is the first female jurist to serve on the board of the Fiqh Council of North America. Her most recent publication is Socioeconomic and Gender Justice in the Qur’ān: Modern Challenges in Poverty and Wealth in Judaism, Christianity, and Islam (Palgrave Macmillan US, July 2016). She received her Ph.D. in Islamic Sciences from the International Islamic University in Malaysia.

The Fairfax Institute is a religious institution exempt from state regulation and oversight in the
Commonwealth of Virginia.

Pursuant to 8 VAC 40-21-50 of the Virginia Administrative Code, The Fairfax Institute is exempt from regulations of the State Council for Higher Education for Virginia for a period of five years, beginning June 8, 2016, and ending June 8, 2021, as long as the institution's primary purpose remains to provide religious training or theological education.