Is Ayesha Siddiqui the best answer to the spate of radical Islam? I am sure that you are wondering of this person. Well, Ayesha Siddiqui, who lives in Bensonhurst, is just like another hijab-wearing Muslim woman and she is also married and the proud mother of two sons. However there is a difference. She is not like other women from the same religion who are eternal subjects of their husbands. She has perceived an important milestone on the contrary. Ayesha Siddiqui is named New York City College of Technology’s (City Tech’s) 2009 valedictorian and is also the first Pakistani Muslim female student to receive this honor in the history of the Downtown Brooklyn college.

What has been the reaction of this Joan of Arc of Islamic Society? She says categorically, “I want to help bring peace and harmony to the world.” “I’ve lived in the Middle East and here; I feel I can be a bridge between different faiths and cultures.” “I stress that my religion is not narrow-minded,” she continues. “My husband totally supports my going to college and having a career. Women can talk to men who aren’t family members. And, Islam is a religion of peace; we don’t condone killing.”

There is no doubt that she belongs to a conservative society that still considers woman education as a profanity. What has been the main reason of her historic success? According to Ayesha Siddiqui’s own views, the credit goes to her husband and she says, “He convinced me to go back to college. Having been given this second opportunity to study and have a career, I wanted to do something different.” It is to be noted that once she studied to a great extent for Pakistan’s civil service exam but the marriage proved to be the greatest stumbling block.

Nevertheless she is truly a Muslim woman of different type. Ayesha worked hard in USA (where she arrived in 2000 with her husband’s help) and earned the associate degree at Kingsborough Community College in one year with a GPA of 3.97. She finished the requirements for her bachelor’s degree in communication design at City Tech in two years and is the first advertising design and graphic arts student to be named valedictorian in City Tech’s history.