Mary Lahaj

Mary Lahaj is a freelance writer and retired Muslim chaplain. She was the first Muslim woman to serve as chaplain on staff at Brigham & WomenÕs Hospital, Simmons College, Groton School, and for the community at the Islamic Center of Boston in Wayland, MA. She holds a masterÕs degree in Islamic Studies from the Hartford Seminary and studied Middle East history at Harvard University.Ê Her family has been practicing Islam in America for more than 100 years, since emigrating from Lebanon. They were founding members of the oldest mosque in New England (1964), where her grandfather was the first Imam (religious leader).