Maryam Amir

Maryam Amir (full name Maryam Amirebrahimi) is an American educator, lecturer and hafiza, the creator of Qariah: The Women Quran Reciters App, which gathers recitations by women from around the world. Her lectures circulate through her own YouTube channel, @themaryamamir. ^{1 2 3}

Amir received her master's in Education from UCLA, where her research concerned mentorship rooted in Critical Race Theory for urban high school students of colour; she also holds a bachelor's in Child and Adolescent Development from San Jose State University and a second bachelor's in Islamic Studies from Al-Azhar University. She memorised the Quran and spent some fifteen years studying in Egypt and researching Quranic exegesis, Islamic jurisprudence, Prophetic narrations and women's rights within Islamic law. ²

She created Qariah, a free app on Google Play and the Apple stores that collects women Quran reciters, whose absence from the usual platforms she had felt in her own memorisation; the QARIAH trademark is registered under her full name. She hosts the Quran Champions series on Islam Channel, has taught with institutes including SWISS, Hikmah and AlMaghrib, and has been interviewed by the BBC, NPR and CBS. She lectures internationally — including Jerusalem, Mecca, Medina, Stockholm, London and Toronto — on spiritual connection, identity and women's studies, and holds a second-degree black belt in Tae Kwon Do. ^{2 3}