Irshad Manji

Irshad Manji (born 1969) is a Canadian author, journalist, and activist. A Muslim by birth and faith, she is also an outspoken lesbian, feminist, and critic of Islamic fundamentalism. She was once described by The New York Times as "Osama bin Laden's worst nightmare". She is the author of the bestselling book The Trouble with Islam.

Biography

Manji was born in Uganda, but moved to Canada at age three, when Idi Amin exiled all South Asians from Uganda; she is of Pakistani origin. In her book, Manji describes her turbulent youth, including an incident when her father chased her around the house holding a knife. She studied history at the University of British Columbia, and became the first humanities student to win the Governor-General's Gold Medal for the top graduate.

Related Topics:
Uganda - Canada - Idi Amin - South Asia - Pakistani - University of British Columbia - Governor-General

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Between 1998 and 2001, she was the host and senior producer of Q Files on Citytv. She was also the host and producer of In The Public Interest on Vision TV, and was involved in the televised debate series Friendly Fire.

Related Topics:
1998 - 2001 - Q Files - Citytv - Vision TV

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Manji is the current President of VERB, a Canadian channel aimed at young people and specializing in diversity. She hosts the Big Ideas program on TVOntario, and is a writer-in-residence at the University of Toronto Hart House.

Related Topics:
TVOntario - University of Toronto - Hart House

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Manji was awarded Oprah Winfrey's first annual Chutzpah Award for "audacity, nerve, boldness and conviction". She is also a recipient of the Simon Wiesenthal Award of Valor. Manji has spoken at a number of forums, including the International Women?s Forum Leadership Conference, the Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation Conference on Technology, Learning and Culture and the Los Angeles Committee on Foreign Relations. She is also involved in the international public speaking circuit.

Related Topics:
Oprah Winfrey - Chutzpah - Simon Wiesenthal

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Manji's partner is Michelle Douglas, a Canadian activist.

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Since May 2005 she's been a contributing blogger at The Huffington Post.

Related Topics:
2005 - The Huffington Post

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