Mariam Abou Zahab (February 1952—November 2017) was a French political scientist, sociologist, and scholar of Islamic studies.
She was also a researcher at the Centre de recherches internationales (Fr), and worked with the Cahiers d'études sur la Méditerranée orientale et le Monde Turco-Iranien on subjects relating to contemporary Afghanistan and Pakistan.
[4] These included time spent in Bangladesh during André Malraux's involvement with the liberation movement there, and she was in Beirut during the 1975 advent of the Lebanese Civil War, around which time she converted to Shia Islam.
[4] Abou Zahab spent several years in Pakistan and Palestine as a militant, first taking the side of Bengali nationalists in East Pakistan, and then aligned with Yasser Arafat in the Palestine Liberation Organization.
[4] Abou Zahab also worked with the non-governmental organization Afrane (Fr), and was involved in several aid missions during the Soviet–Afghan War.