List of Muslim feminists

This is a list of important participants in Muslim feminism, originally sorted by surname within each period.

It may include, for instance, earlier authors who did not self-identify as feminists but have been claimed to have furthered "feminist consciousness" by a resistance of male dominance expressed in their works.

Early and mid 19th-century feminists Born between 1801 and 1874. Name Country Born Died Comments SourceNawab FaizunnesaBritish India18341903female education advocateQasim AminEgypt 18631908early advocate of women's rightsHamida JavanshirAzerbaijan18731955women's rights activist, philanthropist Megastar and Her Light. An interview with Hamida Javanshir's granddaughter Dr. Mina Davatdarova. Gender-az.orgAisha TaymurEgypt18401902social activist, novelistAisha Taymur at Egyptian State Information ServiceFatma Aliye TopuzTurkey18621936women's rights activist, novelistJamil Sidqi al-ZahawiIraq18631936poet, Islamic philosopherZaynab FawwazLebanon18601914playwright, women's rights activist

Late 19th-century and early 20th-century feminists Born between 1875 and 1939. Name Country Born Died Comments SourceIffat AraBangladesh1939–writer, social activistRashid JahanIndia19051952writer and medical doctor Margot BadranUnited States1934-Middle East historian and recognized scholar of Islamic feminismEugénie Le BrunEgypt1908Hamid DalwaiIndia19321977Socialist feministTahar HaddadTunisia18971935Curtiss, Richard H. "Women's Rights an Affair of State for Tunisia." Washington Report on Middle East Affairs. September/October 1993, Page 50. Retrieved on January 17, 2009.Zaib-un-Nissa HamidullahBritish India19212000pioneer in (pre)Pakistan*Shamsiah FakehMalaysia19242008political leader, Malaysian nationalistHameeda HossainBangladesh1936–human rights activist, academicFatima Ahmed IbrahimSudan19332017Raden Adjeng KartiniIndonesia18791904Javanese advocate for native Indonesian women, critic of polygamous marriages and lack of education opportunities for womenSufia KamalBangladesh19111999advocate, nationalist, poetAnbara Salam KhalidiLebanon18971986authorShamsunnahar MahmudPakistan19081964leader of the women's rights movement in BengalMalak Hifni NasifEgypt18861918Nizar QabbaniSyria19231998poet, progressive intellectualAlifa RifaatEgypt19301996novelistNkealah, N. (2008). Reconciling Arabo-Islamic culture and feminist consciousness in North African women's writing: silence and voice in the short stories of Alifa Rifaat and Assia Djebar Tydskrif vir Letterkunde, 45(1), 19-41.Begum RokeyaBritish India18801932writer, educatorHuda Sha'arawiEgypt18791947organiser; founder of Egyptian Feminist UnionShaʻrāwī, Hudá, and Margot Badran. Harem years: the memoirs of an Egyptian feminist (1879-1924). New York: Feminist Press at the City University of New York, 1987.Hidaya Sultan al-SalemKuwait19362001writer, campaigner, suffragistRasuna SaidIndonesia19101965political leader, nationalistTim Gabung Ilmu, Pahlawan Indonesia & profilnya: edisi terlengkap [Profiles of Indonesian heroes; complete edition], Gedung Ilmu, Jakarta, .Saiza NabarawiEgypt18971985journalistChaudhry, Ayesha S. women, in Bulliet, Richard, David Cook, Roxanne L. Euben, Khaled Fahmy, Frank Griffel, Bernard Haykel, Robert W. Hefner, Timur Kuran, Jane McAuliffe, and Ebrahim Moosa. The Princeton Encyclopedia of Islamic Political Thought. Princeton University Press, 2012. p 598, via Wikipedia:Project MUSE. (Subscription required)Salma SobhanBangladesh19372003lawyer, academicQurratulain HyderIndia192712007novelist, academic, and journalist.Nurkhon YuldashevaUzbekistan19131929dancerIsmat ChughtaiIndia19151991novelist, director

Mid to late 20th-century and 21st-century feminists Born from 1940 to present Name Country Born Died Comments SourceSaleemah Abdul-GhafurUnited States1974–Global health advocateGoodstein, Laurie (2004), "Muslim Women Seeking a Place in the Mosque", The New York Times. Retrieved on 5 December 2008.Sitara AchakzaiAfghanistan19562009leading Afghan women's rights activist, member of the regional parliament in KandaharJamila AfghaniAfghanistan1974–women's rights activist, created the first "gender-sensitive training in Afghanistan for Imams"Mahnaz AfkhamiIran1941–women's rights activist, Minister without portfolio for Women's Affairs, Founder and President of Women's Learning PartnershipHaleh Afshar, Baroness AfsharUnited Kingdom19442022professor of politics and women's studies, member of the British House of LordsNazir AfzalUnited Kingdom1962–Public prosecutor and campaigner focusing on violence against women and so-called honour crimesLeila AhmedEgypt1940–Writer on Islam and feminismSafia Ahmed-janAfghanistan19412006Afghan women's rights advocateGunmen Kill Afghan Women’s Advocate - NY Times (registration required)Kecia AliUnited States1972scholar on the study of Islamic Jurisprudence (fiqh) and WomenZiad, Homayra Liberation Theology, in Bulliet, Richard, David Cook, Roxanne L. Euben, Khaled Fahmy, Frank Griffel, Bernard Haykel, Robert W. Hefner, Timur Kuran, Jane McAuliffe, and Ebrahim Moosa. The Princeton Encyclopedia of Islamic Political Thought. Princeton University Press, 2012. p 317, via Wikipedia:Project MUSE. (Subscription required)Mariam Alhassan AloloGhana1957–female Islamic missionaryAmat Al Alim AlsoswaYemen1958–journalistFadela AmaraFrance1964–politicianActing on The Outrage. Bruce CrumleyZainah AnwarMalaysia–head of Sisters in IslamMuslim Women Demand End to Oppressive LawsSeyran AteşGermany1963–lawyer"Islam needs a sexual revolution," interview in Der Spiegel, October 13, 2009. Retrieved January 20, 2010Shukria BarakzaiAfghanistan1970–politician, journalist"Women in Power in Central Asia Roundtable" Radio Free Europe 29 December 2005Farzana BariPakistan1952–human rights activistAsma BarlasPakistan1950–academicsHomepage of Asma BarlasBenazir BhuttoPakistan19532007Prime Minister of Pakistan from 1988 to 1990 and from 1993 to 1996Zoubeïda BittariAlgerian1939–Author of O, My Muslim Sisters, WeepSusan CarlandAustralia1978–academicKamala ChandrakiranaIndonesia–human rights activistShirin EbadiIran1947–; activist, Nobel Peace Prize winner for her efforts for the rights of women and childrenSineb El MasrarGermany1981–Moroccan-German author and magazine editorMona EltahawyEgypt1967–journalistFarid EsackSouth Africa1959–Muslim scholar, gender equity commissionerZahra EshraghiIran1964–activist, former government officialSoumaya Naamane GuessousMorocco–sociologist, women's rights activistFatemeh HaghighatjooIran1968–reformist politician, contributed proposing a bill to join Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Discrimination Against WomenMohammad Shafiq HamdamAfghanistan1981–Chairman of the Afghan Anti-Corruption Network (AACN)Suheir HammadJordan1973–poet, political activistRiffat HassanPakistan1943–theologian, scholar of the Qur'anHissa HilalSaudi Arabia–poetLubna al-HusseinSudan–journalist, human rights activistSamira IbrahimEgypt1987–activistRamziya al-IryaniYemen1954–novelist, diplomatal-Wadhaf, Yahya Hassan (2013)(?) "A Critical Reading to a Short Story by Ramizia Al-Eryani Journal of Social Studies. Vol. 20 (?) No. 3 (?) (2014?). pp 7-26. retrieved 12 May 2016al-Wadhaf, Yahya Hassan (2013)(?) op.cit. retrieved 12 May 2016Na'eem JeenahSouth Africa1965–academicNa'eem JeenahMohja KahfSyria1967–Meena Keshwar KamalAfghanistan19561987women's rights activist, founder of Revolutionary Association of the Women of AfghanistanTIME Magazine | 60 Years of Asian Heroes: Meena Sultana KamalBangladesh1950–activistSadiq KhanUnited Kingdom1970–Mayor of London since 2016Zahra Mostafavi KhomeiniIran1940–Noushin Ahmadi KhorasaniIran20th century–Fawzia KoofiAfghanistan1975 or 1976–politician, women' rights activistElaheh KoulaeiIran1956–Konca KurişTurkey19611999writerAsma LamrabetMorocco"Qui Sommes Nous?" GIERFI. Groupe International D'Etude Et De Reflexion Sur Les Femmes D'Islam.Mukhtār Mā'īPakistan1972–advocate for women's rightsAward ceremony of the North-South Prize of the Council of Europe (speech)Irshad ManjiCanada1968–Farideh MashiniIran2012women's rights activistFatema MernissiMorocco19402015Ziba Mir-HosseiniIran1952–academic of Islamic law and genderFakhrossadat MohtashamipourIran–reformist activist, head of women's affairs at the Ministry of InteriorIlham MoussaïdFrance1989–politicianShirin NeshatIran1957–visual artistAsra NomaniIndia1965–Queen Noor of JordanJordan1951–queen consort of JordanAyaz Latif PalijoPakistan1968–politicianZahra RahnavardIran1945–academic, politicianZiba Mir-Hosseini, “FEMINIST MOVEMENTS iv. IN THE ISLAMIC REPUBLIC,” Encyclopaedia Iranica, IX/5, pp. 498-503, available online at http://www.iranicaonline.org/articles/feminist-movements-iv (accessed on 30 December 2012).Queen Rania of JordanJordan1970–queen consort of JordanRaheel RazaPakistan1949–journalist, activistNilofar SakhiAfghanistan20th century–human rights activistZainab SalbiIraq1969–humanitarian, CEO of Women for Women InternationalLinda SarsourUnited States1980–Islamist political activistMarjane SatrapiFrance, Iran19692026comic artistShamima ShaikhSouth Africa 19601998South African activist, member of the Muslim Youth Movement of South Africa, proponent of Islamic gender equalityShahla SherkatIran1956–journalistNasrin SotoudehIran1963–human rights lawyerHidayet Şefkatli TuksalTurkey1963human rights activistZil-e-Huma UsmanPakistan19712007politician, women's rights activistDevika Bhat and Zahid Hussain: Female Pakistani minister shot dead for 'breaking Islamic dress code', The Times, February 20, 2007Amina WadudUnited States1952Rama YadeFrance1976politician, writerNadia YassineMorocco1958Euben, Roxanne L. Fundamentalism, in Bulliet, Richard, David Cook, Roxanne L. Euben, Khaled Fahmy, Frank Griffel, Bernard Haykel, Robert W. Hefner, Timur Kuran, Jane McAuliffe, and Ebrahim Moosa. The Princeton Encyclopedia of Islamic Political Thought. Princeton University Press, 2012. p 186, via Wikipedia:Project MUSE. (Subscription required)Malala YousafzaiPakistan1997–Pakistani activist for female educationBilkisu YusufNigeria19522015journalist, NGO adviserKadra YusufNorway1980activistMusdah MuliaIndonesia1960human rights activist, Islamic scholar, theologian, proponent of Islamic gender equality and LGBTIQ, interfaith activist, one of founders and leaders of ICRP - Indonesian Conference on Religion and PeaceManal al-SharifSaudi Arabia1979women's rights activistSamar BadawiSaudi Arabia1981women's rights activistNassima al-SadahSaudi Arabia1974women's rights activist

Muslim feminist movements Gerwani Musawah Sister-hood Sisters in IslamSisters in Islam official website Voice of Libyan Women Women's Islamic Initiative in Spirituality and Equality Revolutionary Association of the Women of Afghanistan Women Living Under Muslim Laws

See also Islamic feminism Women in Islam List of feminists Liberalism and progressivism within Islam Islamo-Leftism Islamic socialism

References

External links National Women's History Project FemBio – Notable Women International