Sheeba Aslam Fehmi

Sheeba Aslam Fehmi has edited a political monthly Headline Plus and has been the managing editor of a daily newspaper and a magazine. She has also written in major dailies and magazines.[1] She has a regular column titled Gender Jihad since February 2009. This column is published monthly in "Hans"; a Hindi literary magazine.[2]

"My reading of the Quran leads me to believe that Islam stands for justice, that God (Allah), as described in the Quran, is 'Perfect Justice'. I can find no verse in the Quran that is anti-women. From this I conclude that Islam cannot be anti-women". Sheeba believes that women's lack of knowledge about Islam places them at a disadvantage against men.[2]

Sheeba Aslam Fehmi was born in a middle-class family in North India. Her parents had keen interest in Indian politics. Her father served in Ministry of Defense while her mother was a teacher by profession and both her parents were staunch communists. As a child, Sheeba was more inclined towards documentaries rather than regular entertainment. At a young age, she used to watch documentaries about people like Ho Chi Minh, Fidel Castro, Che Guevara and Vietnam War.[2][1]

Her parents' divorce and her "lack of knowledge about rights that Muslim women have in Islam" aspired her to be an activist. She now feels that the divorce between her parents could have been prevented, if her mother and father both had fully-known her rights as a woman under Islamic law – her rights to have her own career, to earn a living for herself.[2][1]

Sheeba Fehmi was greatly inspired by her mother’s life experiences. She believed that her mother's story was similar to that of many women in male dominated societies in the Middle East and South Asia. She also believed that many religious leaders deform the teachings of Islam to suit themselves.[2] She feels that secular feminists are wrong in denouncing all religions as being anti-women's rights.[2][1]

Sheeba Fehmi did her Master of Philosophy from the Centre for Political Studies at Jawaharlal Nehru University, New Delhi. Her thesis was on "Human Rights And Multiculturalism: A Study of Legal Cases Involving Muslim Women".[1]

Sheeba Fehmi is studying to be a Doctor of Philosophy at Jawaharlal Nehru University.[2]