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Diversity and gender: Muslim youths in Spain

May 11, 20226:00 p.m.
MADRID
Casa Árabe Auditorium (at Calle Alcalá, 62) and our YouTube channel. 6:00 p.m. Free entry until the event’s capacity is reached.
In Spanish.

With the participation of Laura Mijares (UCM), Noha El-Haddad (ACHIME) and Mohamed el Amrani (Red de Convivencia and Azahara), this round table discussion marks the ending of the course "Islam and Muslims Today," organized in conjunction with Spain's Diplomatic School. It will be held in Madrid on Wednesday, May 11, and you can watch it live on our YouTube channel.

The round table discussion "Diversity and gender: young Muslims in Spain" has been proposed as a debate on the most important dilemmas determining the reality of Muslim youths in Spain. Focusing on their experiences in associations and as activists, the debate will include such issues as Islam’s place in the configuration of social and political capital among these young people.

Taking part will be Laura Mijares, a professor of Arab and Islamic Studies at the Universidad Complutense de Madrid (UCM), who will provide an introduction on Muslim youth in Spain and then begin a dialogue on the role of associations among youths and, in particular, young Muslim women in our country, along with Noha El-Haddad, a doctor and co-founder of ACHIME (Association of Muslim Girls in Spain) and Mohamed el Amrani, president of the associations Red de Convivencia and Azahara.

This marks the end of the tenth edition of the course "Islam and Muslims Today: Foundations, diversity and dynamics of change," organized by Spain's Diplomatic School and Casa Árabe from April 25 to May 11. The series will be closed by Alberto Antón Cortes, Ambassador-Director of the Diplomatic School, and Cristina Juarranz, Casa Árabe's Assistant Director and Programming Coordinator.

Laura Mijares
A professor of Arab and Islamic Studies at the Universidad Complutense de Madrid (UCM), Mijares directs the GRAIS Research Group (Analysis Group on Islam in Europe), through which she has designed and directed the Master's degree program in Advanced Studies on Islam in Contemporary European Society. She is the director of the research project "Family and educational socialization of Muslim youth: transfer of social and political capital."

An Arabist who graduated from the same university with a PhD in International Mediterranean Studies from the Universidad Autónoma de Madrid (UAM), her lines of research revolve around studies of Moroccan immigration and the situation of students from that country with regard to linguistic and religious diversity. Her current work focuses on the sociology of Muslim communities, addressing issues of youth, gender, Islamophobia and discrimination among these populations in Europe and Spain.

She has authored many publications in the field of Muslim community sociology, including writings on gender, youth and Islamophobia. Some of her most notable recent works include: Los feminismos ante el islam. El velo y los cuerpos de las mujeres (Feminisms Face to Face with Islam: The veil and women's bodies), with Ángeles Ramírez (Catarata, 2021) and Movilizaciones populares, regresión autoritaria y horizonte postpandemia en el Magreb y Oriente Próximo (Popular uprisings, authoritarian regression and the post-pandemic outlook in the Maghreb), with Ignacio Álvarez-Ossorio and Isaías Barreñada (Catarata, 2021), as well as coordinating a special issue on "Islamophobia and Anti-Muslim Racism: A multidisciplinary analysis of practices," in the journal Revista de Estudios Internacionales Mediterráneos (REIM), 2018.

Noha El-Haddad
With a PhD in Medicine, El-Haddad specializes in Family and Community Medicine and has a Master's degree in Urgent Care, Emergencies and Catastrophes (CEU San Pablo), a Master's degree in Integration and Clinical Problem Solving (University of Alcalá) and a Master's degree in Advanced Studies on Islam in Contemporary Europe (UCM). She currently works at the emergency medical service of the Hospital del Henares.

She co-founded and is a former president of ACHIME (Association of Muslim Girls of Spain). She is involved in youth activism and women's empowerment. Inspired by spirituality and religious values, she works mainly to develop a strong Spanish-Muslim identity among young Muslim girls. She has written articles for various newspapers and magazines in Spain, including Contexto y acción and El Diario.

Mohamed el Amrani
Founder of the Co-existence Network in Roses, Spain, a social platform that promotes cohesion and co-existence, el Amranii currently combines his work as president of the Azahara Association in Salt with the contributions he makes to various media. He is the coordinator of social innovation projects for Suara Cooperativa. He received the Young Social Entrepreneur Award as a member of the International Youth Foundation in 2013 (given by the European University of Madrid), the Civic Performance Award from the Carulla Foundation and the social award bestowed by the Princess of Girona Foundation.

His activity mainly involves work on co-existence and social cohesion, and he is committed to generating new role-models for Muslim youths while promoting a large network of cities, companies and individuals for global social transformation. His writings include: "Example of multiculturalism in Catalonia's mass media," in Mundo Diario and "We must do away with linguistic and psychological barriers," in Revista Núvol.

Course program
Diversity and gender: Muslim youths in Spain
Photo: Achime