M. Hasna Maznavi, one of the co-founders of the Women’s Mosque of America in Los Angeles, died Wednesday from complications related to Type 1 diabetes, her family said in a statement. She was 39.
Maznavi was also a comedy writer, director and performer whose work focused on the authentic portrayal of Islam, Muslims and other underrepresented communities in the media. In 2014, she founded the first women-led Muslim house of worship in the U.S. when the Women’s Mosque of America opened its doors. It is led by women, for women and only open to women.
Maznavi told AirTalk’s Larry Mantle in 2015 that she created the mosque to “provide a platform for female Muslim scholars and female professionals and authorities, religious authorities, to be heard by the masses.”…