Female CEO of Liberal Muslim Organization Challenges Tradition

October 16, 2004

Source: Toronto Star

http://www.thestar.com/NASApp/cs/ContentServer?pagename=thestar/Layout/Article_PrintFriendly&c=Article&cid=1097878212492&call_pageid=968332188492

On October 16, 2004 the Toronto Star reported, "Roshan Jamal has never seen herself as a traditional Muslim woman. The Toronto chartered accountant wears business suits to work and doesn't cover her hair in public. And for a long time, she felt she didn't fit in at Islamic centres where men and women were segregated, used separate entrances and women were covered up. 'I belonged nowhere,' says Jamal, who heads the new Noor Cultural Centre in North York, a liberal-minded Muslim organization... And not surprisingly, there are a lot of men like her, too. Jamal, who is CEO of the centre, is part of a growing North American movement of progressive Muslims creating alternatives to more traditional, conservative organizations. The movement is largely being driven by North American-educated Muslims from diverse cultural backgrounds, many of whom are in their 30s and 40s, who are beginning to step back and take a critical look at traditional practices."