Raheel Raza (born 1949–50) is a Pakistani-Canadian journalist, author, public speaker, media consultant, anti-racism activist, and interfaith discussion leader.
[20][21] After female imam Amina Wadud received death threats for leading mixed-gender prayers in New York City,[10][22] Raza was invited by Taj Hargey in 2008 to go to Oxford and become the first Muslim-born woman to lead a mixed-gender British congregation in Friday prayers.
She called the prayers "discrimination and harassment" for requiring girls to pray at the back of the room and for disclosing their "private personal female condition".
[27] Raza writes and records videos for the media websites Rebel News and True North Centre for Public Policy.
[31] In 2006, the National Muslim Christian Liaison Committee honoured her for promoting Muslim-Christian dialogue in the wake of the Pope Benedict controversy.
After the 2014 Saint-Jean-sur-Richelieu ramming attack, she stated in her blog that there needs to be a suspension of Muslim immigrants to Canada and that all mosques should be closed for three months and claimed that this action would not be an abuse of religious freedom.
She has been criticized as being "far from the "reformist" and "progressive" individual she claims to be, Raza's extensive history of anti-Muslim statements and open ties to hate groups make her fundamentally undemocratic.
"[38] Raza participated, together with eight other women's rights activists, in the documentary film Honor Diaries[42] which explores the issues of gender-based violence and inequality in Muslim-majority societies.
Her personal story was featured alongside those of the other activists, all of whom are working to combat gender prejudice that is embedded in honor-based societies.