Ruqaiyyah Waris Maqsood
http://members.aol.com/Ruqaiyyah/
is the author of some forty books on Islam and other subjects. She gained her honours degree in Theology in 1963, and Post Graduate Teaching Certificate in 1964, with distinctions in theory and practice. Her professional life was spent as Head of Religious Studies at various UK inner city secondary schools, until she retired in 1996, to concentrate on writing and lecturing. She grew up a devout Christian, but converted to Islam in 1986. Already established by then as an author of books on Christian and educational topics, she has since devoted her time to writing on Islam and doing dawah work to both Christian and Muslim audiences. She regularly addresses school and church groups, and has a keen interest in presenting Islam as a world faith, especially raising the awareness of Muslims in the traditional Islamic societies of the western and northern hermisphere converts to Islam (with cultural backgrounds totally different from Muslims of the Middle East and equatorial countries).
Ruqaiyyah is an outspoken moderate Muslim, whose main interests lie in the Madinah period, the genealogy of the Prophet and his companions, the importance of re-establishing good relationships between the Peoples of the Book (as opposed to rather ignorant hostility), and the battle to preserve Islam as the one true faith, tolerant, noble, and compassionate - in face of the growth of the 'other Islam' which is extremist and intolerant, and which she regards as both false and dangerous.