Raghad Al-Tikriti is seen by Western observers as a significant figure who stands in for Arabs and Muslims in Britain, particularly in light of her disengagement from the unrest in her own country and her seeming indifference to Western operations in Iraq.
She is the chair of a number of organizations, including the Islamic Association in Britain, which Kamal Helbawi founded in 1997. She has also been a major player in the global framework of the Muslim Brotherhood.
Born in Baghdad in 1970, Raghad Al-Tikriti moved to Britain in the same year as her family. Her brother, Anas Al-Tikriti, is a well-known leader in the Muslim Brotherhood, and her father, Osama Al-Tikriti, was a well-known figure in the group in Iraq.
Raghad is frequently presented in the British and European media as a pivotal figure for Muslim women in the country, having assiduously assimilated into British society and actively planning events for Arab and Muslim associations.
Raghad started her social and political activity within the British Muslim community while still a student, having finished her bachelor's and master's degrees in computer science at a university in London.
She has served in a number of leadership capacities in Muslim community organizations over the years, all the while being a well-known figure in the British and European Muslim Brotherhood network. She has held executive and departmental leadership positions in the British Islamic Association since its founding in 1997. She is also a prominent member of the European Forum of Muslim Women, the female branch of the Muslim Brotherhood in Europe.
When Raghad was chosen president of the British Islamic Association in 2020, she made history as the first female leader of an Islamic organization in Britain. She held this position until February 2022, at which point she took up the presidency of the Advisory Council, which she still holds today.