Rania Awaad is an Egyptian-American Islamic scholar, psychiatrist, and professor. Awaad is a Clinical Professor of Psychiatry at the Stanford Department of Psychiatry and Behavioral Science. Awaad is known for her work on Islam and psychology and the mental health of Muslim Americans.
Awaad is a practicing psychiatrist and professor associated with Stanford University, where she is director of the Diversity Clinic and the Muslim Mental Health lab and chief of the Diversity section. Awaad is an activist for mental health among Muslim Americans.
Awaad studied Islam from the age of 14 in Damascus, Syria. She received ijazah to teach tajwid in the Hafs and Warsh recitations of the Quran. She also received ijaza in Shafi'i legal texts and Maliki fiqh, adab, and ihsan.
Awaad was the first female professor of Islamic law at Zaytuna College, where she taught Shafi'i jurisprudence, women's jurisprudential issues, and the Quran.
She is also a senior fellow at the Institute for Social Policy and Understanding and Yaqeen Institute.