Mafaz Al-Suwaidan

Mafaz Al-Suwaidan
Born
Tulsa, Oklahoma, United States
EducationHarvard University (PhD candidate)
Harvard Divinity School (MTS)
Emerson College (MFA)
Toronto Metropolitan University (BJourn)
FatherTareq Al-Suwaidan
Websitemafazalsuwaidan.com

Mafaz Al-Suwaidan (Arabic: مفاز السويدان) is a Kuwaiti American scholar and doctoral candidate at Harvard University. She is a producer and writer for American Muslims (2024),[1][2] a Webby-nominated PBS film series of documentary films exploring the history of Muslims in the United States.[3][4]

Early and personal life

Al-Suwaidan was born in Oklahoma and spent some of her youth in Kuwait and Canada.[5][6] Her father is Tareq Al-Suwaidan, a Kuwaiti Islamic author and speaker, and business professional listed among the 500 Most Influential Muslims.[7][8]

In 2010, she married Kuwaiti singer-songwriter Humood Alkhudher,[9] but they later separated.[10]

Education

Al-Suwaidan received her undergraduate degree in journalism from Toronto Metropolitan University in 2011.[11] She then worked briefly as a journalist in Kuwait.[12][13] In 2016, she received her Master of Fine Arts (MFA) degree from Emerson College, in Boston, Massachusetts.[14][6]

She earned a Master of Theological Study (MTS) degree from Harvard Divinity School in 2018.[15] She is currently a PhD candidate at Harvard University in Philosophy of Religion, focused on Islam and Modern Thought, with a secondary degree in African and African American Studies. She is a member of the Harvard's Committee on the Study of Religion.[16]

She was the Dorothy Porter & Charles Harris Wesley Fellow for 2024–2025 at the Hutchins Center for African and African American Research at Harvard University.[17] As of the fall 2025, she holds a fellowship at the Abdallah S. Kamel Center for the Study of Islamic Law and Civilization at Yale Law School.[18]

Activism

Al-Suwaidan is a lifelong supporter of social justice, human rights, and particularly, Palestinian liberation.[19]

She participated in conversations and writings about racism in the Arab world in context of the Black Lives Matter movement.[20][21] She started the #ArabsForBlackLives campaign with Egyptian-American community organizer, Rana Abdel Hamid, about how Arabs can and should work to fight anti-Black racism.[22][23]

In 2021, when philosopher Cornel West had threatened to (and eventually did) leave Harvard after his request for tenure was denied; Al-Suwaidan, who had trained with West as a master's student, organized a letter of support for him, which was signed by more than 60 other doctoral candidates.[24]

She was one of the representatives of HGSU-UAW who wrote a letter in February 2024 to Shawn Fain, president of the United Auto Workers (UAW), on behalf of the UAW Arab Caucus, demanding the union divest from Israel.[25]

In March 2024, Al-Suwaidan, Rabbi Professor Shaul Magid, and Madeline J. Levy (a PhD candidate) were chosen for a Lowell House panel discussion on Islamophobia and antisemitism. Following criticism of the range of political views offered by the Jewish and Muslim panelists, Lowell House Faculty Deans and the Edmond and Lily Safra Center for Ethics removed themselves as co-sponsors. The event was cancelled when Al-Suwaidan also withdrew.[26][27]

In July 2025, Al-Suwaidan was chosen to moderate at a book event at Brookline Booksmith in Brookline. Journalist Aymann Ismail was discussing his memoir "Becoming Baba", which is about Muslim parenting in the United States.[18] Heckling protesters showed up to the event to protest the book, which contains several pages about the genocide in Gaza.[28][29] Protesters stated that Al-Suwaidan was the target of the heckling for her anti-Zionist activism at Harvard University.[30]

References

  1. ^ "Documentary: "American Muslims: A History Revealed"". Islamic Research & Information Center. 2025-01-10. Archived from the original on 2025-01-21.
  2. ^ "Creative Team". American Muslims. Retrieved 2024-05-05.
  3. ^ "The Project". American Muslims. Retrieved 2024-05-05.
  4. ^ "American Muslims: A History Revealed". winners.webbyawards.com. Retrieved 2025-08-24.
  5. ^ "HDS Viewbook by Harvard Divinity School". issuu.com. 2017-08-01. Retrieved 2024-11-10.
  6. ^ a b Adams, Heather; Al-Suwaidan, Mafaz; Bains, Chamandeep; Mann, Sharon Cairns; Campbell, Catherine; Domenicucci, Julia; Fritz, M. Leanne; Fulton, Christina; Hausler, Kat (2015-08-04). Rozlyn: Short Fiction by Women Writers. Rozlyn Press. ISBN 978-0-9833260-2-1.
  7. ^ Elqabbany, Moustafa (2018-05-29). "Sheikh Dr Tareq Al-Suwaidan - The Muslim 500". Retrieved 2025-11-02.
  8. ^ "TV preacher fired for Brotherhood links". Al Jazeera. 2013-08-18. Retrieved 2025-04-13.
  9. ^ Mahmoud, Rowaida (2023). "من هي زوجة حمود الخضر". موقع نواعم (in Arabic). Retrieved 2025-08-09.
  10. ^ Salah, Shaima (2022-09-20). "أعمال حمود الخضر وسيرته الذاتية - مشاهير الفن". mashaheeralfann.com (in Arabic). Retrieved 2025-08-09.
  11. ^ Vandezande, Luke (2011-02-09). "Egypt hits close to home". archive.ryersonian.ca. Retrieved 2024-05-05.
  12. ^ Al-Suwaidan, Mafaz (2011-07-14). "Poetry as a reflection of life". Kuwait Times. p. 2. Retrieved 2024-05-05 – via Issuu.
  13. ^ Al-Suwaidan, Mafaz (2011-07-15). "SPEAK up to be heard: 'People would rather suffer in "psy-lence" than get treatment'". Friday Times. Retrieved 2024-05-05 – via Issuu.
  14. ^ "Emersonian 2016". issuu.com. 2017-05-15. p. 104. Retrieved 2024-05-05.
  15. ^ "2018 HDS Dean's Report by Harvard Divinity School". issuu.com. 2018-12-10. p. 33. Retrieved 2024-05-12.
  16. ^ "Mafaz Al-Suwaidan". studyofreligion.fas.harvard.edu. Retrieved 2024-05-05.
  17. ^ "Mafaz Al-Suwaidan". hutchinscenter.fas.harvard.edu. Retrieved 2024-11-10.
  18. ^ a b "SOLD OUT! Aymann Ismail with Mafaz Al-Suwaidan: Becoming Baba | Brookline Booksmith". brooklinebooksmith.com. Retrieved 2025-08-08.
  19. ^ Al-Suwaidan, Mafaz (2008-05-30). "More than just a chic checkered scarf". Toronto Star. Retrieved 2024-05-05.
  20. ^ Daoudi, Safae. "Understanding Racism in the Arab World". The Daily Q. Retrieved 2024-05-05.
  21. ^ Biskup, Holly-Rose (2020-08-21). "Black Lives Matter in the Middle East and North Africa". YDS. Retrieved 2024-05-05.
  22. ^ "Missing in Plain Sight: Who Are the Afro-Arabs and Where Are They in the World?". Amaliah. 2020-06-10. Retrieved 2024-06-22.
  23. ^ Hsieh, Eileen (2020-07-03). "Arab-Americans tackling anti-Blackness in the Middle East". Middle East Eye. Retrieved 2024-06-22.
  24. ^ Krantz, Laura (2021-03-08). "Cornel West leaving Harvard teaching post after tenure dispute". The Boston Globe. Retrieved 2024-05-05.
  25. ^ MLToday (2024-03-04). "UAW Arab Caucus Demands Stronger UAW Action on Palestine". Marxism-Leninism Today. Retrieved 2024-05-05.
  26. ^ Montgomery, Asher J. (2024-03-21). "Lowell Panel on Islamophobia and Antisemitism Canceled After Panelists Withdraw". The Harvard Crimson. Retrieved 2024-05-05.
  27. ^ Amponsah, Michelle N.; Kim, Joyce E. (2024-02-20). "As Harvard Warns of Disciplinary Action, Pro-Palestine Groups Apologize for Antisemitic Image". The Harvard Crimson. Retrieved 2024-11-10.
  28. ^ Mintz, Sam (2025-08-03). "A beloved bookstore becomes a flashpoint as differing views on Middle East conflict collide in Brookline". Brookline.News. Retrieved 2025-08-26.
  29. ^ Ismail, Aymann (2025-07-23). "I Wrote a Book About Being a Dad. Pro-Israel Protesters Showed Up to Object. I Asked Them Why". Slate. ISSN 1091-2339. Archived from the original on 2025-07-23. Retrieved 2025-08-24. The protest outside my event at Brookline Booksmith didn't come out of nowhere. It was the culmination of a yearlong campaign that store leadership had watched unfold in real time.

    According to Lisa Gozashti-Riddle, Brookline's longtime co-owner and manager, the shift began in January 2024, after the store had hosted a virtual poetry fundraiser for Mosab Abu Toha, a celebrated Palestinian poet whose English-language library in Gaza had just been destroyed by Israel. "We had 20 poets from around the world, including Mosab, who joined us from Egypt," she told me. They raised more than $30,000 to purchase and ship books to a new library in Gaza upon reconstruction.

    After that, the threats started. "I was trying to protect my staff while fielding all the calls myself," she said. One caller asked to speak to "Hitler." Someone else, in a message, said that Gazans "don't read books. They only want guns." To avoid another flare-up, the store moved pro-Palestinian programming online.
  30. ^ Ismail, Aymann (2025-07-23). "I Wrote a Book About Being a Dad. Pro-Israel Protesters Showed Up to Object. I Asked Them Why". Slate. ISSN 1091-2339. Archived from the original on 2025-07-23. Retrieved 2025-08-24. He told me the protest was in response to my book, as well as my moderator, Mafaz Al-Suwaidan: "She's crossed the line into antisemitism." When pressed, he pointed to her anti-Zionist activism at Harvard University, where she is a Ph.D. candidate. "Anti-Zionism," he said, "is just a shield for antisemitism."
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