Amani al-Khatahtbeh


Amani al-Khatahtbeh is an American author, activist and tech entrepreneur. She is the founder of MuslimGirl.com, a blog for Muslim women. In 2016, she was included in Forbes 30 Under 30 in Media for her work with MuslimGirl. She was named one of the 25 most influential Muslim Americans by CNN. She unsuccessfully ran in the Democratic primary for U.S. Representative for New Jersey's 6th Congressional district

Early years

Al-Khatahtbeh grew up in New Jersey to parents of Jordanian descent. When she was 13 years old, her family decided to move to Jordan due to concerns of increased violence against the Muslim community in the United States. After her mother fell ill, her family moved back to New Jersey to be closer to their relatives who still lived there. Back in New Jersey, she continued to feel closer to her Muslim identity and decided to wear the hijab as an act of resistance against Islamophobia. Because she didn't have a community of young Muslim women, she decided to make her own and founded MuslimGirl.com in 2009 as a 17-year-old high school senior. With friends from her mosque, al-Khatahtbeh published blogs on the site.
Following high school, she attended Rutgers University, graduating in 2014 with a political science degree. She then worked for a non-profit based in Washington, D.C. before moving to New York and briefly working for a major media organization.

Career

MuslimGirl

In the beginning of 2015, MuslimGirl developed a volunteer staff and saw a large increase its readership. The site logged 1.7 million hits in 2018.
In 2016, she partnered with Teen Vogue for a web series that explored issues of concern to young Muslim women.
On March 27, 2017, MuslimGirl.com created Muslim Women's Day. Muslim Women's Day strives to celebrate all Muslim women and center their voices in mainstream media.

Literary career

Al-Khatahtbeh's book, MuslimGirl: A Coming of Age, was released in October 2016. She was a panelist at the 2017 Brisbane Writers Festival in Brisbane, Queensland, Australia.

Politics

On April 4, 2020, Al-Khatahtbeh announced her candidacy in the race to represent New Jersey's 6th congressional district, becoming the first Muslim woman in New Jersey to run for federal office. In the Democratic primary election, her opponents are the 16-term incumbent, Frank Pallone, and attorney Russ Cirincione.
Al-Khatahtbeh's campaign platform focuses on progressive issues including Medicare for All, the Green New Deal, student debt cancellation, free public university tuition, criminal justice reform, and the federal minimum wage of $15.

Controversies

Al-Khatahtbeh and MuslimGirl.com have faced allegations of staff mistreatment and content plagiarism by some sources.
John-Paul Pagano, writing in Tablet Magazine, accused MuslimGirl.com of allowing anti-Semitic views to be posted, including, in particular, the hosting of an article that promotes conspiracy theories claiming Israeli government-sponsored organ harvesting. Al-Khatahtbeh has also endorsed 9/11 conspiracy theories claiming that "9/11 was an inside-job."