Sumaiya Zama

Sumaiya Zama

Sumaiya Zama is an MA candidate for the Columbia and Aga Khan University dual degree in Islamic Studies and Muslim Cultures. She holds a BA from the University of Massachusetts in Boston in Political Science with minors in Africana Studies and Human Rights. As the youngest board member of the Praxis Project, a support intermediary organization serving communities of color, Sumaiya has dedicated both her free time and professional work to improving the material conditions of her community. Her interests include reading Islamic texts as liberation theology and learning from scholars in the field so that she may further develop its theory and praxis. Her academic interests are sparked by her background in youth work, civil rights, and community organizing, through which she explores how Muslim Americans, particularly young Muslim women, deploy the Islamic tradition to respond to life under a surveillance state.