This is the first in an occasional series about the lives of Muslims in the state. Today, we profile a UM professor who excels in male-dominated science fields and stresses the importance of women’s rights.
(Photo by: Cady Herring)
Hunain Alkhateb poses with her husband, Mohamed Jihan, on UM hijab day. The Muslim Student Association invited anyone interested to try on a headscarf to facilitate intercultural understanding.
(Photo by: Cady Herring)
Engineering students Amanda Gurley, Briana Myles and Omar Yassin laugh with Alkhateb during an Ole Miss American Society of Civil Engineers meeting.
If you were to spot Hunain Alkhateb on one of her weekly walks around campus, you would notice an animated woman stepping confidently under a brightly colored hijab and pushing her son in a stroller. What most people don’t know is that she is a modern pioneer. She’s been published in dozens of academic journals, but she is also an advocate for Islam and interfaith education, and she scuba dives when she has time.
Born in the United States, Alkhateb is an American citizen. She moved to her family’s home country of Jordan until she finished her bachelor’s degree in civil engineering. In 2006, she was the first of seven children in her family to pursue graduate studies in the United States. Ten years and a master’s degree in micromechanics and Ph.D. in nanomechanics later, Alkhateb said she feels she accomplished her goals.
Alkhateb is one of an estimated 5,000 Muslims in Mississippi. Although the number of Muslims in the state is increasing, Muslims comprise only about 1 percent of the state’s population, according to statistics compiled by the U.S. Religion Census and U.S. Census Bureau. The nation’s first international museum of Muslim cultures is located in Jackson.
At the University of Mississippi, Alkhateb teaches civil engineering and engineering science courses and serves as faculty adviser for the Ole Miss American Society of Civil Engineers and the Muslim Student Association.
“Dr. Hunain has the ability to make her students feel as if they are her family,” Norah Daghestani, student and Muslim Student Association member, said. “She doesn’t just consider them on her class list, but they have a place in her heart. Dr. Alkhaleb makes her students feel as if they matter and they can make a difference.”
Coming back to America as an adult broadened Alkhateb’s perspective on what Islam is today.
“’This is my new world,’ I thought when I got here,” she said. “I started to realize what practices were not actually religious, but just cultural. I get to do whatever I feel.”
(Photo by: Cady Herring)
Engineering students Amanda Gurley, Briana Myles and Omar Yassin laugh with Alkhateb during an Ole Miss American Society of Civil Engineers meeting.
Alkhateb said it is important to educate women about their rights. She believes that to bring peace, there must be an intercultural religious awareness and understanding. For her, one of the first steps toward that is to educate against prejudice toward Muslims for practices that aren’t religious at all.
Alkhateb met her husband, Mohamed Jihan, a research assistant in medicinal chemistry, at the University. Contrary to the norm in Jordan, she believes women are able to initiate a relationship for marriage if they have an interest, instead of relying on a male guardian or father to choose for her.
“A lot of our women in our communities are not aware of their rights,” Alkhateb said. “It’s the only way they can be liberated from cultural restrictions.”
Many women in Muslim countries mostly stay in their homes and don’t participate outside of female or family culture. Alkhateb says that practice is strictly cultural and chosen by the leaders of those specific communities.
“Muslim women are not obligated to only do house chores,” she said. “They can hire someone to do that for them if they decide to. A Muslim woman can write any condition in the marriage contract and the spouse is obligated to follow it. If he doesn’t follow the contract, then it can be considered separation and she can have a court case.”
Living in Oxford, she said she has been able to put her ideas and drive into action. Alkhateb enjoys the welcoming atmosphere and conservative Christian values because they coincide with her beliefs. The three Abrahamic religions — Christianity, Judaism and Islam — have similar origins and core values. She said she has never experienced any microaggressions toward her, which she considers fortunate because she knows many women who wear a hijab or more modest Muslim garb, such as a niqab or burka, who have felt aggressive bias.
“There’s so much more that people have in common that they don’t realize,” she said. “When I talk about [my beliefs], people say, ‘Oh, I didn’t know you do that. It’s very close to what we do.’”
Alkhateb’s drive carries over from her professional life into everything she does. One of her students thought she would enjoy scuba diving and encouraged her to try the course offered by the University.
(Photo by: Cady Herring)
Alkhateb adjusts her hijab while on a walk around campus. She says that she feels empowered by following this Muslim tradition of wearing a hijab. To her, it’s an important outward symbol of what she believes and makes it easier to connect with the Muslim community anywhere in the world.
“I can’t even swim,” Alkhateb said. “But [the student] left scuba gear in my office, and finally, I gave it a try. It was a wonderful experience and the instructor was accommodating to all of my religious beliefs and even brought in a woman instructor for me.”
(Photo by: Cady Herring)
Hunain Alkhateb walks around campus with a friend, Sundus Omari, who is also from Jordan. Omari is hoping to continue her education at the University like Alkhaleb.
She loved scuba diving so much that she is now certified and is encouraging her husband to learn too.
The Muslim Student Association hosts public events every semester for students, families and anyone interested in knowing more about Islam. Their events range from “Pink Hijab Day” in the spring, when anyone can try on the traditional headscarf, to movie screenings. Alkhateb loves giving back to the community and speaks at churches about Islam and interfaith communication. She gives talks about the so-called STEM fields (science, engineering, technology) and encourages minority students to take advantage of the many opportunities at Ole Miss.
Alkhateb said she sees her status as a Muslim-American woman in the South not as a hardship, but as an opportunity to educate and communicate about the similarities among the different religions and cultures at the University.
