Muslim Lifestyle

Watch This Face - Yassmin Abdel-Magied

Issue 80 May 2011

At 19, Yassmin Abdel-Magied is about to enter the fourth and final year of an engineering degree at Queensland University, having enrolled when she was only 16.

The daughter of Sudanese migrants, she moved to Australia at a very young age and as a proud Australian Muslim, Yassmin is keen to engage in society and feels that her Islamic identity should not be viewed as a hindrance. Her achievements bear this out: she was presented with the ‘Young Queenslander of the Year’ award in 2010 for her contribution to the community; aged 16 she founded Youth without Borders, an advocacy group designed to empower youth and she also coaches a football team for Muslim girls called ‘Shinpads and Hijabs’.

Being involved with so many organisations and initiatives, she says, is a matter of efficiency, time-management and always trying to keep herself busy. Boxing is one of Yassmin’s numerous other activities but it remains something her mum is less supportive of!

If that isn’t enough, she also aims to use her degree to go into the field of motorsport, and perhaps become the first female Muslim Formula 1 driver. In the more distant future, her friends see a political career beckoning, and something she sees as a very real possibility.