Understanding Islam

Ingrid Mattson is the first woman elected president of the Islamic Society of North America, the largest Muslim organization in North America. She is also Director of Islamic Chaplaincy and a professor at the Macdonald Center for Islamic Studies and Christian-Muslim Relations at the Hartford Seminary in Hartford, CT. Mattson's research is focused on Islamic law and society; among her articles are studies on slavery, poverty, and Islamic legal theory. In 1987-88 she lived in Pakistan, where she worked with Afghan refugee women.