DEBRA L. DIRKS was raised in the Mennonite Church, converted to Islam in 1993, received her sessions program certificate in Islamic studies from Imam Muhammad ibn Saud Islamic University in 1998, and completed the ‘Umrah and Hajj in 1999. Over the years, Mrs. Dirks was variously employed as a governess, served as a substitute teacher in a private Islamic school, and worked as an office manager. For over twenty years, she owned and managed Dirks Desert Arabian Farm, which was dedicated to the preservation of the ‘Asil (pure from the original) Bedouin Arabian horse. She also served on the Board of Directors of Al Khamsa, Inc., The Bani Sham Association, and the Arabian Horse Historians Association.
Her accomplishments included countless presentations and speeches, as well as authoring or co-authoring over 140 articles and one book about the Arabian horse and its history. She is also the co-editor of Islam Our Choice—Portraits of Modern American Muslim Women, a book for which she wrote two chapters, and which is in its second printing. More recently, Mrs. Dirks has turned her hand to writing fiction, co-authoring the novel The Peacemaker Struggle, which was published in 2012.
Mrs. Dirks has lectured about Islam at mosques, churches, universities, and conventions in Georgia, Illinois, Kansas, New York, Pennsylvania, Utah, Virginia, and West Virginia. Mrs. Dirks is available for lectures on a variety of topics. Her special interests include women’s issues, Da’wah by our deeds, raising Muslim youth in America, and being an enthusiastic American and Muslim. She is a certified lead mentor for the Da’wah Institute of North America.