DALIA MOGAHED

• Co-authored, with Professor John Esposito, the 2008 book Who Speaks for Islam?: What a Billion Muslims Really Think
• Was appointed in 2009 by President Barack Obama to serve on his Advisory Council on Faith-Based and Neighborhood Partnerships
• Stated that the Western view of Sharia is "oversimplified," and that the majority of Muslim women around the world associate Islamic Law with "gender justice"
• Views the United States as a nation rife with discrimination against Muslims

Dalia Mogahed was born in Egypt. When she was five years old, her family immigrated to the United States, where she later became a naturalized citizen. She earned an undergraduate degree in chemical engineering, and then a master's degree in business administration from the University of Pittsburgh. After completing her schooling, she took a job as a marketing products researcher for Procter & Gamble. Today Mogahed is a senior analyst and executive director of the Gallup Center for Muslim Studies, a self-described “nonpartisan” research center that collects and analyzes data on the views of Muslim populations around the world. She also directs the Muslim-West Facts Initiative, through which Gallup and the Coexist Foundation disseminate (to key opinion leaders in Muslim nations and the West) the findings of the Gallup World Poll.

In her role with Gallup, Mogahed led a large-scale survey of Muslims worldwide. Mogahed reported that according to her research, most of the world's Muslims support democracy; a large majority support freedom of speech; only 7 percent are political radicals; and Muslims across the globe are just as likely as Americans to reject attacks on civilians as morally unjustifiable. Such findings of which served as the basis for Who Speaks for Islam? What a Billion Muslims Really Think -- a 2008 book which Mogahed co-authored with professor John Esposito. In addition, Mogahed's Gallup survey provided key data for Imam Feisal Abdul Rauf's "Shariah Index Project" -- whose stated goal was to "define, interpret and implement the concept of the Islamic State in modern times."

Mogahed has spoken frequently on on the subject of Muslim attitudes and opinions to audiences affiliated with such entities as the High-Level Group of the United Nations Alliance of Civilizations, the World Economic Forum's Community of West and Islam Dialogue group, and the Brookings Institution's U.S.-Islamic World Forum. She also has discussed Islamic affairs with British parliamentarians, American senators, and religious leaders from various faiths.

Together with such luminaries as Feisal Abdul Rauf, former Secretary of State Madeleine Albright, and diplomat Dennis Ross, Mogahed was a leading voice in the Leadership Group on U.S.-Muslim Engagement, which in September 2008 issued a 154-page recommendation paper -- a number of whose suggestions (on how to improve America's relationship with Muslims globally) were eventually adopted by President Barack Obama's administration. The paper specifically called on the U.S. to engage opposition parties (including the Muslim Brotherhood) in Egypt, and to use intermediaries to immediately engage Hamas -- in hopes of moderating the terror group.

In April 2009, Mogahed was appointed by President Barack Obama to serve on his Advisory Council on Faith-Based and Neighborhood Partnerships, making Mogahed the first veiled Muslim woman to serve in the White House. Mogahed explained that her duty in this post would be "to convey... to the President and other public officials what it is Muslims want."

Mogahed was also assigned to the Department of Homeland Security's advisory council, and she testified before the Senate on how the government could effectively engage with the Muslim community.

Shortly after Mogahed's appointment to the Obama administration, an interviewer asked her “what kind of advice” she would be giving the President “to improve relations with U.S. Muslims and the Muslim world.” She replied:

“I would advise him to listen first and foremost. Many have claimed that terrorists have 'hijacked Islam.' I disagree. I think Islam is safe and thriving in the lives of Muslims around the world. What the terrorists have been allowed to take over are Muslim grievances. Muslim concerns over injustice have been largely dismissed by the previous [Bush]administration, leaving a vacuum exploited by extremists.”

Mogahed also recommended that “a senior member of the [Obama] administration go on a ‘listening tour’ of the U.S. and hear what Muslim Americans are concerned over” -- most notably, issues like “racial profiling, discriminatory immigration policy, and the erosion of civil liberties.”

In early October 2009, Mogahed was interviewed on a British television program hosted by Ibtihal Bsis, a member of the extremist Hizb ut Tahrir party, which seeks to facilitate the non-violent destruction of Western democracy and the creation of a worldwide Islamic state governed by Sharia Law. Bsis and another guest (also a member of Hizb ut Tahrir) stated that Sharia should be “the source of legislation” for all nations in the world; they also repeatedly condemned the “man-made law” and the “lethal cocktail of liberty and capitalism” that existed in Western societies. Mogahed did not dispute any of their assertions.

Instead, Mogahed stated that the Western view of Sharia was "oversimplified," and that the majority of Muslim women around the world associate Islamic Law with "gender justice." "I think the reason so many women support Sharia is because they have a very different understanding of Sharia than the common perception in Western media,” she said.

Mogahed views the United States as a nation rife with discrimination against Muslims. She said in 2009:

“Islamophobia in America is very real. Gallup finds that Muslims are among the most unfavorably viewed groups in the U.S. and only a little over a third of Americans say they have no prejudice against Muslims. This presents a grave danger to America as a whole. The disease of racism, by definition, is a bias in judgment. This means that racism clouds sound judgment and leads people to make irrational decisions. It also divides a nation and prevents the full utilization of its intellectual and cultural resources. Racism is wasteful. Racism is a strategic disadvantage.”

In addition to her aforementioned affiliations, Mogahed is also a member of Women in International Security, and of the Brookings Institution's Crisis in the Middle East Task Force.