Hassan has lived most of her life in two places: the U.S. and Pakistan. She previously taught at University of Oklahoma, where she was appointed faculty advisor to the Muslim Student Association. “The association consisted entirely of males,” said Hassan. “But I was the only Muslim faculty that year and so I was the advisor. Many of these male students believed that hearing the voice of a woman would put their souls in jeopardy.”

With a smile, she added, “I thought that was a good thing.”

There are hundreds of books written about what good Muslims should do regarding women’s issues, acknowledged Hassan. But when she turned directly to the Koran, she found a different story. “The first time I read the Koran related to woman-related issues, I started to feel very angry. I saw a great discrepancy about what the Koran says about women and what Muslim women face.”

She dedicated her life’s work to investigating this issue. “I wanted to make sense of my own life as a Muslim woman. In the case of the Koran - as in the case of other sacred texts - one has to distinguish between the text and the interpretation of the text.”

Even well-intentioned people tend to oversimplify the Muslim faith, she added. “It takes a long time for a Christian to understand Judaism. But people assume it’s easy to learn about Islam by reading a brochure over the weekend.”

Hassan has what she describes as a “life commitment to dialogue” between faith groups. “That is the only way we are going to solve the problems of this world.”

Religion communicators can do two things to help advance this worldwide dialogue, she added:

1) “The basis of dialogue is knowledge. Get a more accurate knowledge of Islam,” she said. “Read a good translation of the Koran.”

2) “Continue to meet each other in your communities on a frequent basis, not just once a year. Share your experiences between people, not between governments.”