Yassmin Abdel Magied

Education

After attending the Islamic College of Brisbane for primary school, Abdel-Magied moved to John Paul College (Brisbane) for secondary school in 2003. In her memoir, Abdel-Magied stated that her father chose John Paul College "following the principal's positive response to my request to wear the hijab. Unlike other schools, which took weeks to send lukewarm responses to the idea of altering the uniform to fit my requirements, JPC quickly got back to say they were happy for me to wear a hijab as long as it was in school colours". In her final year, she was elected as Senior School Vice Captain and graduated first in her class.

Abdel-Magied obtained her Bachelor of Engineering (Mechanical) from the University of Queensland in 2011, receiving First Class Honours.

Political and religious views

In her memoir, Yassmin’s Story, Abdel-Magied has said that it is a, "religious imperative in the scripture to wear the hijab".

In June 2016 on the ABC The Drum program, Abdel-Magied said Sharia law, "allows for multiple interpretations... it's about mercy, it's about kindness".

In February 2017 Abdel-Magied was a panelist on the ABC Q&A program where she defended Sharia law. She said "Islam to me is the most feminist religion. We got equal rights well before the Europeans. We don't take our husbands' last names because we ain't their property." On the same program, Abdel-Magied stated in response to another panelist, Jacqui Lambie, that Sharia law is as simple as "me praying five times day," and that it says in Islam, "you follow the law of the land on which you are on". Some Islamic scholars have disputed this saying, "they must comply with the laws of their country of residence without, at the same time, disobeying Islamic law."

The comments about feminism and sharia law were controversial. Following her appearance on ABC Q&A Abdel-Magied asked Hizb ut-Tahrir spokesman Wassim Doureihi, "how can I do better in the future inshallah?" Abdel-Magied has travelled to sharia law countries such as Saudi Arabia, Sudan and Qatar "to promote Australia". Asked about mistreatment of women in those nations, Abdel-Magied said “I’m not going to deny, some countries run by Muslims are violent and sexist, but that’s not down to sharia. That’s down to the culture and the patriarchy and the politics of those … countries.” The ex-Muslim momen's rights campaigner Ayaan Hirsi Ali called the comments "absurd".

Roles

Abdel-Magied was a member of the board of Queensland Museum from 2008 - 2012 and is currently an ambassador for the museum. In August 2011, she was appointed to the Council for Multicultural Australia. She was part of the organising committee for the 2014 G20 Summit in Brisbane, Australia. In November 2014, she became a board member of ChildFund Australia.

In November 2015, she was appointed to the board of directors of OurWatch, an organisation for the prevention of domestic violence. In October 2016 the ABC program Australia Wide was recommissioned and is now presented by Abdel-Magied. In 2016, she was named an academic fellow of Trinity College in the University of Melbourne. She is currently a member of the board of the Council for Australian-Arab Relations. and a director of Youth Without Borders.

In 2016 the Australian Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade (DFAT), sent Abdel-Magied to the Middle East to promote Australia. Abdel-Magied visited Riyadh Saudi Arabia, Abu Dhabi UAE, Dubai UAE, Doha Qatar, Kuwait, Jordan, Ramallah Palestine, Israel, Cairo Egypt and Sudan. On her return from those countries Abdel-Magied extolled the rights and freedoms of Muslim women.

Achievements

Abdel-Magied was named as one of the Australian Financial Review's 100 Women of Influence 2012. She was awarded Young Australian of the Year for Queensland in 2015. She was named in the top 100 most influential engineers in Australia by Engineers Australia in 2015.

Appearances in Media

Personal life

Abdel-Magied was born in Khartoum in 1991. Abdel-Magied’s mother is an architect with part Egyptian, part Sudanese heritage. Her father is an engineer of Egyptian descent. She holds dual Australian and Sudanese citizenship.

Abdel-Magied is a Sunni Muslim and wears a hijab.