The New York Times describes Irshad Manji as “Osama bin Laden’s worst nightmare.” A faithful Muslim who openly advocates for dissidents, Irshad practices moral courage: doing the right thing in the face of one’s fears. 

As founder of the Moral Courage Project, Irshad teaches at New York University and the University of Southern California. She launched Moral Courage after publishing her first international bestseller, The Trouble with Islam Today: A Muslim’s Call for Reform in Her Faith. In 2011, Irshad released Allah, Liberty and Love: The Courage to Reconcile Faith and Freedom. 

In-between books, she created the Emmy-nominated PBS documentary, Faith Without Fear. After it aired, The Jakarta Post in Indonesia, the world’s largest Muslim country, named Irshad one of three women making a positive difference in contemporary Islam.

Irshad is currently writing her next book – about why offense is the price of true diversity. No wonder Oprah Winfrey has given her the first annual Chutzpah Award for "audacity, nerve, boldness and conviction.”