The Muslim Next Door

Sumbul Ali-Karamali is a lawyer, scholar and frequent spokesperson on matters of interest to Muslim Americans. Her first book, The Muslim Next Door: the Qur’an, the Media, and that Veil Thing, was published in 2008 and was a Bronze Medal Winner of the 2009 Independent Book Awards. The book appeared on the American Academy of Religion’s Islam section list as a recommended text for teaching Islam in classrooms, and on the Huffington Post’s Eleven Must-Read Books by Muslim Authors. Her second book, Growing Up Muslim: Understanding the Beliefs and Practices of Islam, is directed at broadening the understanding of middle- and high-schoolers.

Sumbul is a regular contributor to the Huffington Post and a frequent speaker and writer on Islam-related topics. She’s given hundreds of interviews in a variety of venues and media. She has been on the steering committee of Women in Islamic Spirituality and Equality and on the Muslim Women’s Global Shura Council, both of which aim to promote women’s rights and human rights from an Islamic perspective.

In her free time, Sumbul enjoys opera, white-water rafting, reading fantasy literature, and watching Star Trek reruns with her family. 

Irwin has served as spiritual leader of Congregation Ner Shalom in Sonoma County since 2008, a post he took while still writing and performing with the San Francisco-based Kinsey Sicks, known as America’s Favorite Dragapella Beautyshop Quartet. His legal advocacy work included authoring the City of Chicago’s first comprehensive human rights law, in effect since 1989, and serving as the Executive Director of the AIDS Legal Referral Panel of the San Francisco Bay Area. Photo: Adam Shemper.