Qatar
HH Sheikha Moza attends Jadal 2026 multidisciplinary research summit
Her Highness Sheikha Moza bint Nasser, chairperson of Qatar Foundation, attended the opening day of Jadal -- Al-Mujadilah Centre and Mosque for Women’s annual research summit -- designed to build and extend research networks on topics related to the contemporary challenges and lived realities of Muslim women around the world.
Jadal was also attended by Her Excellency Buthaina bint Ali al-Jabr al-Nuaimi, Minister of Social Development and Family, and other distinguished guests and dignitaries. Held at Al-Mujadilah, Jadal has welcomed over 100 delegates from North America, Europe, Asia, Africa, and the Middle East, bringing together Muslim women scholars, researchers, and practitioners from across the globe and providing a home for international female Muslim scholarship. They will explore the summit’s 2026 strategic theme, ‘Muslim Women Navigating Theology, Ethics, and Society’.
The summit will explore the role of Muslim women within the Islamic intellectual tradition and examines how they draw from this living heritage to navigate and respond to contemporary challenges. Through dialogue, research, and public engagement, Jadal continues to advance scholarship rooted in faith, lived experience, and global perspectives.
The opening remarks were delivered by Dr Sohaira Siddiqui, executive director of Al-Mujadilah, who emphasised the importance of bridging scholarly knowledge and community life. She spoke on the need for research that is both rigourous and accessible, and for institutions that place Muslim women at the centre of knowledge production, ethical inquiry, and public engagement.
She said, "Al-Mujadilah was founded on a simple but demanding premise: that religious knowledge is a form of stewardship. It carries responsibility to history, to ethics, and to the community it serves. It must be rigourous yet accessible, principled yet responsive, rooted in tradition while attentive to context.
"Jadal was conceived not simply as a conference, but as a conversation, one that unfolds over time, across disciplines, and within our Muslim community.”
During the summit, a new partnership between the Ministry of Social Development and Family and Al-Mujadilah was launched, marking a shared commitment to highlighting women’s contributions in Islam across history and in contemporary life. Rooted in awareness and renewed impact, the partnership will deliver a series of public initiatives aimed at deepening understanding of women’s roles in shaping knowledge, community, and society, grounded in faith, values, and lived experience.
The collaboration was announced in the presence of HE al-Nuaimi, who shared reflections on women, community, and social development. ‘More Muslim’, a new narrative audio documentary podcast exploring the Muslim experience in all its complexity and depth, was also launched during Jadal.
Blending storytelling and historical reflection, the series takes listeners on transhistorical journeys into themes that have shaped, and continue to shape, Muslim life in the modern world. This first season, produced by Al-Mujadilah, examines the lived experiences of Muslim women, sharing thoughtful, layered stories that illuminate faith, culture, and belonging beyond simplified narratives.
Across the three days of Jadal 2026, panels and sessions are exploring themes including women’s agency and ethical leadership in Islamic history and civilization, as well as their normative authority and intellectual contributions from the inception of Islam to the present day.