Catherine Heseltine Explained

Catherine Heseltine
Nationality:British
Birth Date:[1]
Birth Place:Chelsea, London, England
Spouse:

    Catherine Heseltine (born 1978) is a British activist. She was elected as the CEO of Muslim Public Affairs Committee UK, a Muslim pressure group that opposes Zionism and Islamophobia.[2] She has appeared regularly in newspapers and on television discussing issues impacting the British Muslim community as well as encouraging British Muslims to get involved in mainstream politics and to engage with the community.

    Early life

    Heseltine grew up in North London. In 1998, at age 20, she married Syed Hossein whom she met at sixth form. They married while both were at university and she converted to Islam.[3] The marriage broke down and resulted in a divorce after seven years.[4] [5]

    Career

    On GMTV, while discussing the controversy around comments made by Archbishop of Canterbury about shariah law and its implications on divorce, Heseltine said "I wanted the divorce, and it was a very simple process. It was actually a lot easier for me to get an Islamic divorce than the expensive, and somewhat time-consuming process through the English courts".[6] She had assumed the name Hossein until her divorce.[7]

    Personal life

    On 9 August 2010, Heseltine married Muhammad Ali, a Bangladeshi who moved to Manchester with his family when he was three years old.[4] They have two children.[5]

    Involvement with MPACUK

    With her work at MPACUK, Heseltine was ranked by Time Out at position 17 in London's 100 top movers and shakers 2006.[7]

    Heseltine used to be a nursery teacher until elected as the CEO of MPACUK in 2010.

    Heseltine joined MPACUK because she believed it would help in "empowering Muslims in mainstream politics and media, dealing with Islamophobia" and lead campaign against "discrimination against women in mosques, poverty and the situation in Palestine".

    Notes and References

    1. http://www.mpacuk.org/story/160710/first-muslim-woman-leader-elected-mpacuk.html First Muslim Woman Leader Elected by MPACUK
    2. Web site: First Muslim woman elected MPACUK. MPACUK. 24 December 2010. dead. https://web.archive.org/web/20120303040348/http://www.mpacuk.org/story/160710/first-muslim-woman-leader-elected-mpacuk.html. 3 March 2012. dmy-all.
    3. News: Green. Lydia. Young. British. Female. Muslim. The Times. 29 May 2010. 4 January 2011. bot: unknown. https://web.archive.org/web/20100605090837/http://www.timesonline.co.uk/tol/comment/faith/article7135026.ece. 5 June 2010. dmy-all.
    4. http://www.singlemuslim.com/news_artical.php?aID=5618 Interview at SingleMuslim.com: "From Worlds Apart to 'Banglish' Wedding"
    5. News: Green. Lydia. Why millions of Muslims are signing up for online dating. BBC News. 10 December 2014. 1 May 2017.
    6. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9ZYZ4En-jjU
    7. London's 100 top movers and shakers 2006. London. Time Out. 28 November 2006. 26 December 2010. https://web.archive.org/web/20100808062231/http://www.timeout.com/london/features/2307/9.html. 8 August 2010. dead.