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Zinnira Shaikh is a scholar of Islam, ethics, and animal studies whose research examines Islamic perspectives on veganism and animal agriculture through the lenses of theology, fiqh, Sufism, and ethics. This year as a Visiting Fellow, she will be jointly appointed by the Animal Law & Policy Program and the Program in Law and Society in the Muslim World.

Zinnira’s first peer-reviewed paper, “Heresy or Moral Imperative? Islamic Perspectives on Veganism,” was published in the Routledge Handbook of Islamic Ritual and Practice. Her latest article explores the application of maqasid al Shari’ah to animal agriculture in the context of food security, and her upcoming work focuses on rahmah as a core value for Muslim vegans.

She has worked as a research assistant on projects spanning the sociolinguistics of Twitter and Urdu poetry, the theory of khilafa, and food security in Qatar. She holds an MA in Islamic Studies, with a concentration in Islamic Thought and Applied Ethics, from Hamad Bin Khalifa University in Qatar, where her master’s thesis, “Islamic Perspectives on Veganism,” examines the most pertinent questions regarding Islam and veganism within discourses of theology, fiqh, Sufism, and ethics, as well as hierarchical discussions of environmentalism, speciesism, feminism, and slavery. She spent a month at the Middle East Centre at the University of Oxford to develop and present her thesis. Previously, she graduated with a BA in English Literature and Linguistics from Qatar University.

In her free time, Zinnira is often found writing poetry and baking vegan cakes with elaborate (but sometimes wonky) frosting.