Written by Connie Etemadi
Ani Zonneveld’s life story unfolds across continents, disciplines, and causes, but one thread runs through it all: her unyielding commitment to justice. The founder and president of Muslims for Progressive Values (MPV), she has become one of the most visible and influential Muslim feminist advocates of the time, advancing human rights, women’s equality, and freedom of conscience while challenging entrenched patriarchy and extremism within religion and society.
Born and raised Muslim in Malaysia as the daughter of an ambassador, Zonneveld spent her childhood in Germany, Egypt, and India, an upbringing that exposed her early to cultural divides and the weight of social hierarchies. One memory has remained etched in her conscience. As a young girl in India, she would spend hours playing soccer with the gardener’s son, a scheduled caste child deemed “untouchable” under India’s caste system.
When other Indian staff members began whispering that it was inappropriate for an ambassador’s daughter to play with a scheduled caste boy, her mother educated her. “She informed me, ‘This is how society views it, but you should carry on playing with him,’” Zonneveld recalls. “So I did. That small act shaped how I see the world; it taught me to resist prejudice.”
Years later, she would invoke that same conviction to advocate for scheduled caste rights in California, helping pass legislation that recognized caste as a protected category against discrimination.
Zonneveld spent two decades in the music industry, winning acclaim as a songwriter and producer. But even there, she found herself navigating sexism and prejudice. “The constant theme in all these fields, entertainment, human rights, religion, is patriarchy,” she says. “Whether it’s women’s voices being censored in music or in the name of Islam, or the curtailing of basic women and girls' rights, the structures are the same. Connecting those dots has been a big part of my work.”
The turning point came after a tragic incident in 2001. Confronted with rising Islamophobia and questions about her faith, Zonneveld returned to the Qur’an, relearning Islam for herself. A particular verse ignited what she calls “a fire in my belly.” It presented her as the command to stand up for justice, even against one’s own family or self-interest. “That verse has continued to shape everything I do,” she says. “It’s why I speak out, why I do this work, and why I cannot look away.”
In 2007, she formalized her mission by founding Muslims for Progressive Values, a nonprofit rooted in love and empathy. At the heart of the NGO is their advocacy for gender equality, LGBTQIA+ inclusion, freedom of expression, and the separation of religion and state, principles Zonneveld believes are not foreign to Islam but embedded in its origins.
“All I have to do is go back to the Qur’an and the example of Prophet Muhammad and his first wife, Khadijah,” she explains. “She was a fierce businesswoman and older than him. This is a testament that the roots of Islam affirm equality and women's empowerment. And that’s why challenging patriarchy, contrary to common belief, is authentic to our tradition.”
Her activism is pragmatic as much as it is principled. From officiating interfaith marriages without requiring conversion to addressing child marriage in rural communities by reframing arguments in the language of faith, Zonneveld tailors her approach to create sustainable and impactful change. “I always ask, who is my audience, and how can I frame this in a way that benefits them?” she says. “That’s how hearts and minds shift.”
Zonneveld’s journey has not been without resistance. She has endured criticism, hostility, and even threats, but she insists that her advocacy is not about personal recognition. “I separate myself from who I’m advocating for because it’s not about me,” she explains. “It’s about doing what is right, even when it comes at personal cost.”
This perspective shapes her new memoir, An Unlikely Social Justice Warrior: Making My Life Count as a Muslim Feminist. The book interweaves her life story with practical methodologies for dismantling systemic misogyny through empathy. It’s not about destroying beliefs but about understanding their origins and doing better. Unlike many memoirs that dwell on hardship alone, hers is anchored in solutions. “I wanted to show people how to connect the dots between problems and actionable change,” she says. “From music to human rights to religion, the method is the same: partnering with people who have patriarchal beliefs so that they can empower the marginalized, in creating an ecosystem that is conducive to peace and development.”
For Zonneveld, the work is both deeply personal and larger than herself. “I’m a privileged Muslim woman in Los Angeles, I have all my rights,” she acknowledges. “But I can’t sit in that position and ignore what’s happening to women and girls elsewhere. Justice demands we act, even when it doesn’t touch us directly,”
It is this philosophy, human dignity above all, that invigorates her work, and it is the very reason why Zonneveld’s impact resonates far beyond any one community, religion, or nation.
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