Shaykha Halima Krausen was born in Aachen, Germany into a Catholic/Protestant family. She became Muslim in her early teens, eventually learning Arabic and traveling extensively in the Muslim world. In 1992, she completed her studies in Hamburg in Islamic Studies, Theology and Comparative Religion and continued to study with visiting scholars from the Muslim world and most notably with Imam Razvi, the leading scholar in Hamburg's Muslim community. Shaykha Halima has been active in building up a German-speaking Muslim community in Hamburg and beyond. From 1984-1988 she was part of a team that produced a German translation of the Qur'an with commentary notes, and afterwards was involved in translating some volumes of Hadith and Islamic law as well. In 1985, Shaykha Halima became a founding member of the Inter-Religious Dialogue Circle at the Department of Theology at Hamburg University. Some time later she also joined Reinhard von Kirchbach's circle that involved Buddhist, Hindu, Christian and Muslim experts interested in deepening the dialogue beyond the intellectual encounter and in different cultural setups (incl. Pakistan, India, Sri Lanka etc.). Finally, in 1993 she helped found the educational institute Initiative for Islamic Studies and succeeded Imam Razvi as the head of the German-speaking community when he retired from active service. She teaches regularly in London and across Europe and is particularly interested in inter-faith dialogue.