Mona Abaza was born in Egypt. She obtained her Ph D. in 1990 in sociology from the University of Bielefeld, Germany. Currently Professor of sociology at the American University in Cairo. 2009-2011 visiting Professor of Islamology, department of Theology, Lund University for two years. She was a visiting scholar in Singapore at the Institute for South East Asian Studies (ISEAS 1990-1992), Kuala Lumpur 1995-96, Paris (EHESS) 1994, Berlin (Fellow at the Wissenschaftskolleg 1996-97), Leiden (IIAS, 2002-2003), Wassenaar (NIAS, 2006-2007) and Bellagio (Rockefeller Foundation 2005).