The Islamophobia Research Hub at York University is a collaborative space cultivated by expert researchers, community organizers, and dedicated advocates. Our team brings together a wealth of academic expertise and lived experience to tackle the multifaceted challenges of Islamophobia. By fostering partnerships between scholars, grassroots organizations, and policymakers, we strive to create research that is both rigorous and deeply rooted in the realities of impacted communities. Together, we work to advance understanding, drive systemic change, and build a more equitable society.
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Director, Islamophobia Research Hub
Nadia Z. Hasan is Assistant Professor in the School of Gender, Sexuality and Women’s Studies and the Director of the Islamophobia Research Hub at York University. Her research and community work focus on systemic racism and Islamophobia in legal, administrative and discursive regimes and their relation to Muslim life. She has led major public advocacy campaigns against Islamophobia in Canada and directed research initiatives that are grounded in community organizing against racism, hate and discrimination.
Postdoctoral Researcher, Islamophobia Research Hub
Salmaan Khan is a postdoctoral researcher at the Islamophobia Research Hub at York University, with a focus on economic integration of Muslims in Canada. Prior to this role he was an Assistant Professor (Limiter Term Faculty) in the Department of Criminology at Toronto Metropolitan University (TMU), and Research Program Manager in the Office of the Chair in Social Justice and Democracy at TMU. He completed his PhD in 2022 in the Graduate Program in Social and Political Thought at York University. His research interests are interdisciplinary and can be framed along four avenues: 1.) the systemic racial and gendered dimensions of capitalist production with a focus on the experiences of racialized workers in the Canadian labour market; 2.) the intergenerational impacts of precarious working conditions; 3.) critical epistemologies and methodologies of the social sciences with a focus on community-based research methods and practices; 4.) critical pedagogies and engaged learning practices. His community, academic and teaching work is underpinned by a political commitment to intersectional, anti-oppressive politics and a desire for social justice.
Postdoctoral Researcher, Islamophobia Research Hub
Maira Hassan is a Postdoctoral Research Fellow at the Institute for Gender, Race, Sexuality and Social Justice, University of British Columbia, and the Islamophobia Research Hub at York University. She recently completed her PhD in Law at the Peter A. Allard School of Law as a recipient of the Social Sciences and Humanities Research Council (SSHRC) Joseph-Armand Bombardier Canada Graduate Scholarship. Her doctoral research was a first of its kind study investigating the gendered racialization of Muslim women complainants in sexual assault cases in Canada. Dr. Hassan also completed her LLM at the Allard School of Law, University of British Columbia as a recipient of the Allard Scholar Graduate Fellowship. She obtained her law degree from Queen Mary University of London and completed her undergraduate degree in Media, Information and Technoculture (MIT) and French literature from the University of Western Ontario. Her previous research work and publications include topics such as, women in Canadian peacekeeping and legal perspectives on extraterritorial policing.
Under the supervision of Directors Dr. Ayesha Chaudhry (UBC) and Dr. Nadia Hasan (York University), Dr. Hassan leads a joint research project examining anti-racist policies, laws and practices and how they relate to experiences of racialization. Through a combination of academic and community-based perspectives, the project investigates anti-racism policies in organizational structures to unearth processes of systemic racism in its manifold and intersectional manifestations with the aim of providing new pathways and effective strategies for equity and inclusion.
Postdoctoral Researcher, Islamophobia Research Hub
Khalidah Ali is a Postdoctoral Fellow at York University’s Islamophobia Research Hub. She earned her PhD in Religion from the University of Toronto, where her dissertation explored the program of tarbiyah (education and training) in the Egyptian Muslim Brotherhood through the writings and activism of its founder, Hasan al-Banna. Her broader research interests include modern Islamic history, political Islam, colonialism, and the history of racism and Islamophobia. At the University of Toronto Mississauga, she served as a Postdoctoral Fellow in 2022 and as an Assistant Professor (Limited-Term Appointment) from 2023 to 2024 in the Department of Historical Studies. More recently, her research has turned to the study of Muslim philanthropy in Canada, focusing on how Muslim communities support a wide range of charitable endeavours shaped both by religious obligations and by broader understandings of giving.
At York, Dr. Ali leads a research initiative investigating how Islamophobia influences the distribution and governance of humanitarian aid and international development funding. As part of the Hub’s research team, she is conducting analysis of trends in aid distribution with the aim of identifying systemic barriers and potential evidence of bias in Canada’s foreign aid practices.
Research Assistant, Islamophobia Research Hub
Sarah Abou-Bakr is a PhD student in Communication Studies at Concordia University, specializing in the intersectional oppression of Muslim women and the dynamics of Islamophobia in Quebec and across Canada. Her academic work reflects a deep commitment to social justice, with a focus on challenging systemic inequities through both research and action. She holds a Master of Arts in Islamic Studies and Gender and Women’s Studies from McGill University, and a Bachelor of Arts in Political Science with a minor in Human Rights from Concordia University.
Sarah brings a wealth of experience in public affairs, advocacy, and policy analysis. As Quebec Public Affairs Lead for the National Council of Canadian Muslims (NCCM), she worked closely with government stakeholders to combat Islamophobia and advocate for equitable policies. She also served as a Research and Policy Analyst at the Office of the Special Representative on Combatting Islamophobia, where she contributed to national-level research and policy development aimed at addressing anti-Muslim racism in Canada. Her background includes additional roles in community relations, research, and media engagement, highlighting her ability to navigate complex policy environments while supporting marginalized voices.
Bridging academia and advocacy, Sarah is passionate about empowering communities, promoting justice, and dismantling systemic oppression—turning critical research into meaningful change.
Research Assistant, Islamophobia Research Hub
Lina El Bakir, LL.L., J.D. is a legal researcher and advocate with a deep commitment to human rights, anti-discrimination, and the empowerment of marginalized communities. As a Research Assistant at the Islamophobia Research Hub, Lina supports community-engaged research focused on the lived experiences of Muslim youth in Canada.
Lina brings a rich background in legal and policy work, having held roles with the National Council of Canadian Muslims (NCCM), where she co-authored impactful research on the effects of Quebec’s Bill 21 on visibly Muslim women. She has also worked internationally as a Research and Policy Advisor in Jordan with Oxfam-Québec, developing participatory action research frameworks on political and economic justice in the MENA region.
A member of the Quebec Bar, Lina holds a Licentiate in Law (LL.L.) and a Bachelor of Social Sciences in International Development and Globalization from the University of Ottawa as well as a Juris Doctor in Common Law from the University of Montréal. She is fluent in French, English and conversational in Arabic and Spanish. Outside of her professional work, Lina is passionate about Arabic calligraphy and is an experienced henna artist.
Research Assistant, Islamophobia Research Hub
Mohamed Ahmed has over 10 years of hands-on experience in supporting refugee survivors of torture and gender-based violence in East Africa. His work has focused on community mobilization and awareness initiatives aimed at preventing gender-based violence, particularly among vulnerable populations. He has conducted in-depth research on the impacts of forced relocation on urban refugee women and girls as well as unaccompanied minors facing violence. Mohamed's expertise extends to promoting economic empowerment through innovative programming that includes micro-lending and financial literacy education, creating safe spaces for women and girls to discuss critical issues related to gender violence. He holds a Bachelor of Arts in Gender and Women’s Studies from York University, further solidifying his commitment to fostering gender equality and addressing the complexities of gender-based violence in refugee contexts.
In addition to his research, Mohamed is committed to engaging with marginalized communities to challenge oppressive norms and redefine masculinity. He approaches his work with a reflexive mindset, critically examining his own positionality and biases to avoid perpetuating systems of oppression. By balancing the sharing of his narrative with amplifying the voices of those he serves, Ahmed aims to contribute to social justice and community empowerment. His research interests encompass a wide range of topics, including Islamophobia, masculinities, violence against women, and anti-racist and anti-colonial feminisms, reflecting his dedication to fostering healthier expressions of masculinity and promoting gender equality within the complexities of race and class.
Research Assistant, Islamophobia Research Hub
Will Edwards is a student in the pure mathematics program at York with a background in data science. Will has professional experience in diverse areas such as improving the performance of AI in university-level math, data analysis for clinical trials, with a tech-stack focused on R, and teaching classes on data analytics (Python, SQL, Tableau tech stack). Will also has tech startup experience and experience tutoring math, statistics, and data science.
Research Assistant, Islamophobia Research Hub
Hiba Yassin is an MA student in Political Science at York University. She holds a BA in Law and Society, with a specialization in Refugee and Migration Studies from York University. Her research interests lie at the intersections of racialization, surveillance and the economic security of racialized women navigating social welfare systems in Ontario.
Her interests lie in examining how policy frameworks inherently shape the everyday movements of racialized communities, focusing on access to resources, structural inequalities, and state surveillance. Through her work, she is committed to advancing critical, community-engaged work that prioritizes the lives of racialized women.
As a Research Assistant, she is especially passionate about bridging the gap between student engagement and academic research. She brings a strong commitment to knowledge mobilization, collaborative learning, and creating accessible pathways for students to participate in research that is both socially relevant and justice-oriented.
Steering Committee
Sanober Umar
Associate Professor, Politics, York University
Dr. Umar is Associate Professor in the Department of Politics at York University. She is currently working on a book on Islamophobia, caste and racial hierarchies in Indian and global politics. Dr. Umar has worked with organizations such as the International Organization of Migration (UN), World Vision (Geneva), and the Hub for Migration Policy and Society (COMPAS) at the University of Oxford.
Amélie Barras
Associate Professor, Socio-legal Studies, York University
Dr. Barras is Associate Professor in Socio-legal Studies at York University. Her research examines the intersection of law, religion, and politics in and beyond Canada. She has extensively published on the politics of secularism in Canada, Europe and Turkey, including Refashioning Secularisms in France and Turkey: The Case of the Headscarf Ban. She has also written on the question of reasonable accommodation in Canada and Muslim minorities, including her co-authored book, Beyond Accommodation, and a co-edited volume: Producing Islam(s) in Canada.
Monia Mazigh
Author; Human Rights Activist; Adjunct and Research Professor, Carleton University
Monia Mazigh is an academic, award-winning Canadian author and human rights activist. She writes in French and English and has authored so far, a memoir, three novels, an essay and a collection of short stories, celebrated by the critique. Her latest novel, Farida, won the Ottawa Book Award for French fiction. She is an Adjunct and Research Professor at Carleton University in the Department of English and Literature. Learn more
Faisal Kutty
Lawyer; Civil Rights Advocate; Law Professor, Southwestern Law School
Faisal Kutty, a lawyer, law professor, writer and public speaker, teaches at Southwestern Law School and is an Associate Professor of Law Emeritus at Valparaiso University Law School. He is also affiliated with the Rutgers University Center for Security, Race and Rights. As a co-founder and former legal counsel of the Canadian Muslim Civil Liberties Association and CAIR-CAN (now the National Council of Canadian Muslims), he has long been an advocate for civil rights. Kutty contributes regularly to The Toronto Star, Al Jazeera, and Middle East Eye and was the Canadian correspondent for the Washington Report on Middle East Affairs for over a decade. Learn more
Nadiya Nur Ali
Assistant Professor, Sociology, Trent University
Dr. Nadiya Nur Ali is Assistant Professor of Sociology at Trent University. She has pursued a multidisciplinary international social science career, with a focus on race, racialization, cultural production and community-action research, with particular attention to Anti-Black Islamophobia/Anti-Muslim Racism. Her community work has focused on Islamophobia and anti-Black Islamophobia in educational spaces. Her most recent publications examine the intersections of race and religion in the lived experiences of Muslim women in Canada. Learn more
Noor Al-Henedy
Community Organizer; Chair of the Al-Rashid Mosque, Edmonton
Noor Al-Henedy is a seasoned communications professional and an influential advocate with over a decade of strategic communications and public engagement experience.
Her advocacy efforts are focused on creating meaningful change and advocating for marginalized communities, making her a vital asset to any initiative aiming to address and dismantle racism and discrimination. Her leadership extends to her historic role as the first female Chair of the Al Rashid Mosque board, where she drives significant community initiatives and fosters inclusivity.