Ruqayyah Waris Maqsood

Who is Ruqayyah Waris Maqsood?

Ruqaiyyah Waris Maqsood is a British Muslim author, who served as Head of Religious Studies at William Gee High School, Hull, England. Her name was Rosalyn Rushbrook.

She married poet George Morris Kendrick in 1964 and had a son and daughter, but after his acceptance of Scientology they divorced in 1986. She converted to Islam later that year. In 1990 she married a Pakistani Waris Ali Maqsood who she divorced in 1999 when he married his young cousin in Pakistan, stepping aside to allow the new wife legal status in the UK. Before converting to Islam in 1986, she was a devout Christian who earned a degree in Christian theology in 1963 at Hull University, and the post-graduate certificate in education in 1964 with distinction in both theory and practice.

She wrote on Christian themes for several mainstream publishers, and her work featured on the recommended lists for GCE and GCSE boards, and has now written over forty books on various aspects of religion, concentrating on Islam since her conversion. Many of her books were published by Goodword Press of New Delhi, including Living Islam, The Muslim Prayer Encyclopedia, and books on counselling for Muslim teenagers, and for the bereaved and those facing death. She was invited by Hodder Headlines to write the book on Islam for the World Faiths section of the famous Teach Yourself series, now in its third edition and a best-seller. She has also created a course enabling students to study Islam for the GCSE, consisting of her textbook 'Islam' published by Heinemann Press originally in 1986 and since updated, and a Do-it-Yourself Coursebook to accompany it published by IPCI. The textbook has been used widely in UK schools for over 20 years, and the DIY study has now been taken up by many individuals, converts, and students at madrassah schools and in private groups not only in the UK but in several countries.