M. Hasna Maznavi

M. Hasna Maznavi (Born c. 1985) is a writer, director, and founder. Maznavi founded the Women’s Mosque of America (the first women-led Muslim house of worship in the United States) in 2014. Maznavi is a WGA comedy writer/director committed to changing the way Islam and Muslims are represented in mainstream American media.

Background
Maznavi is the president of the Women’s Mosque of America.

She is a filmmaker and comedy writer, and received an MFA in Film and TV Production from University of Southern California's School of Cinematic Arts and her BAs in Art and Mass Communications from University of California, Berkeley.

The Women's Mosque of America
The Women's Mosque of America was founded by Maznavi on August 23, 2014. Maznavi was 28 years old. The Women's Mosque of America had precedents in other countries in Muslim-majority nations and elsewhere, but this was the first such space in the United States. Muslim women meet at the mosque monthly on Fridays to pray. It has other programming during the week. The mosque is led by women and housed in rented interfaith spaces in downtown Los Angeles.