Check Out Ani Zonneveld’s Story

Today we’d like to introduce you to Ani Zonneveld.

Hi Ani, thanks for joining us today. We’d love for you to start by introducing yourself.
I started out as a songwriter and producer and somehow ended up founding and running a global progressive Muslim movement. When I was 18, my parents sent me to the U.S. for college to “get an education and make something useful of my life.” I landed alone in rural Illinois, far from Kuala Lumpur and the privileged upbringing I’d known as the daughter of a Malaysian politician and diplomat.

After graduating with degrees in Economics and Political Science, I chose not to return home to join the foreign service. Instead, I followed my passion for music and moved to Los Angeles. Young and naïve, I quickly discovered that the music industry — unlike the world of diplomacy I was raised in, with its etiquette and protocol — was a ruthless, dog-eat-dog environment. I struggled in Hollywood, a fish out of water trying to survive with no mentor and no helping hand.

Long story short, I eventually built a relatively successful music career, earning a Grammy certification for songwriting. Yet the achievement left me feeling empty rather than exhilarated. That was when my father’s mantra, “make your life count” rang loudly in my head, and a virtual fork in the road appeared before me.

We all face challenges, but looking back would you describe it as a relatively smooth road?
In my memoir “An Unlikely Social Justice Warrior: Making My Life Count as a Muslim Feminist”, I write about the consistent thread of patriarchy, sexism and prejudice I experienced in the music business, in faith and in human rights spaces.

As a songwriter I was the girl writing, arranging and producing tracks, rather than the typical role women were assigned to – usually the singer and writing the melody line. I struggled to get ahead in this male-dominated niche . The industry was intensely sexist and cliquish. It seemed like folks of a particular tribe would only help each other, Blacks, Jews, Latino, and East Asians, while I am South-East Asian. As someone who attended international schools with friends from all over the world, I don’t get this mindset.

Somehow, I managed to work my way into the industry with people who didn’t care what color you were. 17 grueling years later, I finally achieved some recognition—a Grammy certification for songwriting on a Contemporary Blues project with ‘Keb Mo’. Yet this accomplishment left me feeling empty rather than exhilarated.

While in the secular pop industry women are primarily designated as singers, in the Muslim communities in the West, the voice of female singers is designated ‘forbidden’ as our voices are deemed ‘sexually arousing’. I confronted this bias myself when Yusuf Islam’s (Cat Stevens’) label declined to distribute my solo project due to “limited funds,” only to sign three male-only vocal groups soon after.

Sexism and exclusion have been constant barriers throughout my work. Too many individuals and organizations operate from a mindset of scarcity, believing success only matters if the win is exclusively theirs. To persuade them to do what’s right, I’ve often had to first show them “what’s in it for them.” Or as Janet Jackson put it perfectly: What have you done for me lately?

Thanks for sharing that. So, maybe next you can tell us a bit more about your work?
I am an author of a memoir “An Unlikely Social Justice Warrior: Making My Life Count as a Muslim Feminist”, a Grammy certified songwriter, activist, and the founder and President of Muslims for Progressive Values (MPV). From the music industry to global human rights forums, I use my voice—literally and figuratively—to advocate for freedom of expression, women’s rights, and LGBTQIA+ inclusion. Whether navigating UN corridors or standing up to extremists, my work is to challenge dominant patriarchal narratives and foster radical empathy.

In addition, I am a board member at Community Partners Los Angeles, an Advisory Board member of Childhood Matters, and a member of the Council on Foreign Relations. I serve on the U.N. Inter-agency Faith Advisory Council, and in 2023 was nominated an “inspirational woman” by the Los Angeles Times. My work spans the entertainment industry, faith-based advocacy, and international human rights.

What matters most to you?
I grew up in privilege, and my parents taught me early that privilege is a responsibility, not a cushion. From my years navigating the music industry to my journey as a human rights advocate, I’ve learned that empathy and compassion are too often confined to one’s own tribe. This selective caring, the inability to see the suffering of “the other”, is the problem we have in this world.

I am, unapologetically, a radical advocate for the wellbeing and rights of all people. Since founding Muslims for Progressive Values in 2007, I’ve pursued this work instinctively and intersectionally. Take child marriage in California: no child should be forced into marriage, especially not as a consequence of being outed as queer. Yet LGBTQ+ affirming organizations remain largely absent from this fight, even though they should be natural allies. At the same time, despite the reality that a girl is married to an adult man in 98% of child marriage cases, groups like ACLU and Planned Parenthood have opposed raising the marriage age to 18, arguing it is “better for the child to be married than remain in an unhealthy family dynamic.”

I believe in lifting everyone, every child, every woman and man, every queer person, every marginalized voice. It is heavy work, yes, but it is the only work that moves humanity forward. Our rights are all inter-connected, and that has been made evident in the way technology is tested on Palestinians and used here in the streets of Los Angeles.

Pricing:

• Hard Cover $44.95
• Soft Cover $34.95
• Ebook: $26.99

Contact Info:

• Website: https://www.anizonneveld.com/
• Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/anizonneveld
• Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/ani.zonneveld
• LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/ani-zonneveld/
• Youtube: https://www.youtube.com/@IslamicHymns
• Other: Tik Tok: @AniZonneveld

Image Credits
Niaz Uddin

Saalika Khan