Welcome to Muslim Women's Association
Our Mission
Our Mission
Our Mission
Connecting Muslim women from many nations, provide scholarship support to young Muslim women while helping others during disasters and times of need.
Our Vision
Our Mission
Our Mission
- Connecting Muslim women from many nations as well as women of other faiths .
- Providing scholarship support to young Muslim women
- Helping others during disasters and times of need
- Economic Empowerment of Muslim women in different Muslim countries
- Building bridges with the local community
Our History
Our Mission
Our History
- The Muslim Women’s Association of Washington, DC (MWA) was founded in 1960 by Begum Aziz Ahmad, the wife of the Pakistani Ambassador to the United States. It was originally a cultural exchange group whose membership was comprised of members of the diplomatic community, including the spouses of many ambassadors, in addition to other Musl
- The Muslim Women’s Association of Washington, DC (MWA) was founded in 1960 by Begum Aziz Ahmad, the wife of the Pakistani Ambassador to the United States. It was originally a cultural exchange group whose membership was comprised of members of the diplomatic community, including the spouses of many ambassadors, in addition to other Muslim women in the Washington, DC metropolitan area. There was also a very prominent non-Muslim American membership including members of the State Department and other political and intellectual figures. In 2010, under the leadership of MWA’s President Nevine Hassouna, wife of the Arab League Ambassador to the United States, MWA completed all the requirements to become a 501(c)(3) tax exempt charitable organization. Our monthly cultural exchange luncheons, which are hosted mainly in the residence of one of the Muslim countries’ embassies, allowing our members and guests who come from many different backgrounds and faiths, to learn and enjoy the beauty of our Islamic cultures. For the first time, MWA will host “Meet and Greet Lunch” at Vienna Community Center. This year it will take place on October 14th, 2026. Our members and guests will meet and greet the old and new diplomates (Ambassadors’ spouses) of Islamic countries in Washington DC. During the lunch you will get an update about what MWA achievement in the previous years, and you will meet our scholarship awardees. This Scholarship program has been running since 1980, where we provided partial scholarship assistance for young Muslim women to study in the United States, specifically in the Washington, DC metropolitan area. Over the years we have helped almost 100 young women obtain their college degrees. Our scholarship program is funded by the monthly luncheons and by the Annual Bazaar held in May of each year. MWA Bazaar has become an annual institution at the Islamic Center at Massachusetts Avenue in DC for more than 40 years. Every year, the Islamic Center opens during the Bazaar for visitors, allowing them to visit a very historic and beautiful mosque. It attracts visitors from the local community as well as from the entire metropolitan region. Muslims and non-Muslims mingle and enjoy all the attractions of the Bazaar. MWA reached another milestone in 2026 when it became officially part of Passport DC. This event is celebrated annually in May during International Cultural Awareness month and offers programs by embassies and some of Washington, DC’s very best cultural institutions. Thousands of people enjoy the popular embassy open houses, street festivals, performances, exhibitions, workshops and more and of course enjoy visiting our beautiful Islamic Center in DC where we have our official yearly Bazaar. We also provide occasional disaster relief on an ad hoc basis through US based charitable organizations.
