Sheikha Moza attends Jadal 2026 multidisciplinary research summit

 Doha, Qatar: Her Highness Sheikha Moza bint Nasser, Chairperson of Qatar Foundation, attended the opening day of Jadal, Al-Mujadilah Center and Mosque for Women’s annual research summit which is 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.

Muslim women scholars, researchers, and practitioners have gathered in Doha to explore the summit’s 2026 strategic theme, ‘Muslim Women Navigating Theology, Ethics, and Society’. The summit centers 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.

Opening remarks were delivered by Dr. Sohaira Siddiqui, Executive Director of Al-Mujadilah, who emphasized the importance of bridging scholarly knowledge and community life. She spoke to the need for research that is both rigorous and accessible, and for institutions that place Muslim women at the center of knowledge production, ethical inquiry, and public engagement.

Dr. Siddiqui underscored Jadal’s role as a space for dialogue, debate, and collective reflection, where theology, ethics, and lived experience come together to address the realities shaping Muslim women’s lives today.

“Al-Mujadilah was founded on a simple but demanding premise: that religious knowledge is a form of stewardship,” she said. “It carries responsibility: to history, to ethics, and to the community it serves. It must be rigorous 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 officially 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 Her Excellency Buthaina bint Ali Al Jabr 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, centers 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. Discussions span a wide range of fields, including ethical business, urban belonging, media, spiritual wellbeing, post-colonial legal reforms, classical Islamic legal theology, and bioethics.

Jadal runs from 31 January to 2 February 2026. For more information, a full agenda, and the list of summit speakers, click here.