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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.
Born between 1801 and 1874.
Name | Country | Born | Died | Comments | Source |
---|---|---|---|---|---|
Qasim Amin | Egypt | 1863 | 1908 | early advocate of women's rights | [1][2] |
Nawab Faizunnesa | British India (present day Bangladesh) | 1834 | 1903 | female education advocate | [3] |
Hamida Javanshir | Azerbaijan | 1873 | 1955 | women's rights activist, philanthropist | [4] |
Aisha Taymur | Egypt | 1840 | 1902 | social activist, novelist | [5] |
Fatma Aliye Topuz | Turkey | 1862 | 1936 | women's rights activist, novelist | [6] |
Jamil Sidqi al-Zahawi | Iraq | 1863 | 1936 | poet, Islamic philosopher | |
Zaynab Fawwaz | Lebanon | 1860 | 1914 | playwright, women's rights activist | [7] |
Born between 1875 and 1939.
Name | Country | Born | Died | Comments | Source |
---|---|---|---|---|---|
Iffat Ara | Bangladesh | 1939 | – | writer, social activist | [8] |
Eugénie Le Brun | Egypt | 1908 | [9] | ||
Hamid Dalwai | India | 1932 | 1977 | Socialist feminist | |
Tahar Haddad | Tunisia | 1897 | 1935 | [10] | |
Zaib-un-Nissa Hamidullah | British India | 1921 | 2000 | pioneer in (pre)Pakistan | [11] |
Shamsiah Fakeh | Malaysia | 1924 | 2008 | political leader, Malaysian nationalist | [12] |
Hameeda Hossain | Bangladesh | 1936 | – | human rights activist, academic | [13] |
Fatima Ahmed Ibrahim | Sudan | 1933 | 2017 | ||
Raden Adjeng Kartini | Indonesia | 1879 | 1904 | Javanese advocate for native Indonesian women, critic of polygamous marriages and lack of education opportunities for women | [1] |
Sufia Kamal | Bangladesh | 1911 | 1999 | advocate, nationalist, poet | [14] |
Anbara Salam Khalidi | Lebanon | 1897 | 1986 | author | [15][16] |
Shamsunnahar Mahmud | Bangladesh | 1908 | 1964 | leader of the women's rights movement in Bengal | [17] |
Malak Hifni Nasif | Egypt | 1886 | 1918 | [18] | |
Nizar Qabbani | Syria | 1923 | 1998 | poet, progressive intellectual | [19] |
Alifa Rifaat | Egypt | 1930 | 1996 | novelist | [20] |
Begum Rokeya | Bangladesh | 1880 | 1932 | writer, educator | [21][22][23] |
Huda Sha'arawi | Egypt | 1879 | 1947 | organiser; founder of Egyptian Feminist Union | [24] |
Hidaya Sultan al-Salem | Kuwait | 1936 | 2001 | writer, campaigner, suffragist | [25][26] |
Rasuna Said | Indonesia | 1910 | 1965 | political leader, nationalist | [27] |
Saiza Nabarawi | Egypt | 1897 | 1985 | journalist | [28] |
Salma Sobhan | Bangladesh | 1937 | 2003 | lawyer, academic | [29] |
Nurkhon Yuldasheva | Uzbekistan | 1913 | 1929 | dancer | [30] |
Ismat Chughtai | India | 1915 | 1991 | novelist, director | |
Nazira Zain al-Dine | Lebanon | 1908 | 1976 | writer, women's rights activist | [31] |
Born from 1940 to present
Name | Country | Born | Died | Comments | Source |
---|---|---|---|---|---|
Saleemah Abdul-Ghafur | United States | 1974 | – | Global health advocate | [32] |
Sitara Achakzai | Afghanistan | 1956 | 2009 | leading Afghan women's rights activist, member of the regional parliament in Kandahar | [33] |
Jamila Afghani | Afghanistan | 1974 | – | women's rights activist, created the first "gender-sensitive training in Afghanistan for Imams" | [34][35] |
Mahnaz Afkhami | Iran | 1941 | – | women's rights activist, Minister without portfolio for Women's Affairs, Founder and President of Women's Learning Partnership | [36][37] |
Haleh Afshar, Baroness Afshar | United Kingdom | 1944 | – | professor of politics and women's studies, member of the British House of Lords | [38] |
Nazir Afzal | United Kingdom | 1962 | – | Public prosecutor and campaigner focusing on violence against women and so-called honour crimes | [39] |
Leila Ahmed | Egypt | 1940 | – | Writer on Islam and feminism | [40] |
Safia Ahmed-jan | Afghanistan | 1941 | 2006 | Afghan women's rights advocate | [41] |
Kecia Ali | United States | 1972 | scholar on the study of Islamic Jurisprudence (fiqh) and Women | [42] | |
Mariam Alhassan Alolo | Ghana | 1957 | – | female Islamic missionary | [43] |
Amat Al Alim Alsoswa | Yemen | 1958 | – | journalist | [44] |
Fadela Amara | France | 1964 | – | politician | [45] |
Zainah Anwar | Malaysia | – | head of Sisters in Islam | [46] | |
Seyran Ateş | Germany | 1963 | – | lawyer | [47][48] |
Shukria Barakzai | Afghanistan | 1970 | – | politician, journalist | [49] |
Farzana Bari | Pakistan | 1952 | – | human rights activist | [50][51] |
Asma Barlas | Pakistan | 1950 | – | academics | [52] |
Benazir Bhutto | Pakistan | 1953 | 2007 | Prime Minister of Pakistan from 1988 to 1990 and from 1993 to 1996 | [53] |
Susan Carland | Australia | 1978 | – | academic | [54] |
Kamala Chandrakirana | Indonesia | – | human rights activist | [55] | |
Shirin Ebadi | Iran | 1947 | – | ; activist, Nobel Peace Prize winner for her efforts for the rights of women and children | [56] |
Sineb El Masrar | Germany | 1981 | – | Moroccan-German author and magazine editor | [57] |
Mona Eltahawy | Egypt | 1967 | – | journalist | [58] |
Farid Esack | South Africa | 1959 | – | Muslim scholar, gender equity commissioner | |
Zahra Eshraghi | Iran | 1964 | – | activist, former government official | [59][60] |
Soumaya Naamane Guessous | Morocco | – | sociologist, women's rights activist | [61] | |
Fatemeh Haghighatjoo | Iran | 1968 | – | reformist politician, contributed proposing a bill to join Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Discrimination Against Women | [62][63] |
Mohammad Shafiq Hamdam | Afghanistan | 1981 | – | Chairman of the Afghan Anti-Corruption Network (AACN) | |
Suheir Hammad | Jordan | 1973 | – | poet, political activist | |
Riffat Hassan | Pakistan | 1943 | – | theologian, scholar of the Qur'an | [64] |
Hissa Hilal | Saudi Arabia | – | poet | [65] | |
Lubna al-Hussein | Sudan | – | journalist, human rights activist | [66] | |
Samira Ibrahim | Egypt | 1987 | – | activist | [67] |
Ramziya al-Iryani | Yemen | 1954 | – | novelist, diplomat | [68][69] |
Na'eem Jeenah | South Africa | 1965 | – | academic | [70] |
Mohja Kahf | Syria | 1967 | – | ||
Meena Keshwar Kamal | Afghanistan | 1956 | 1987 | women's rights activist, founder of Revolutionary Association of the Women of Afghanistan | [71][72][73][74] |
Sultana Kamal | Bangladesh | 1950 | – | activist | [75][76] |
Sadiq Khan | United Kingdom | 1970 | – | Mayor of London since 2016 | [77] |
Noushin Ahmadi Khorasani | Iran | 20th century | – | ||
Fawzia Koofi | Afghanistan | 1975 or 1976 | – | politician, women' rights activist | [78] |
Elaheh Koulaei | Iran | 1956 | – | ||
Konca Kuriş | Turkey | 1961 | 1999 | writer | [79] |
Asma Lamrabet | Morocco | [80] | |||
Mukhtār Mā'ī | Pakistan | 1972 | – | advocate for women's rights | [81] |
Irshad Manji | Canada | 1968 | – | [82] | |
Farideh Mashini | Iran | 2012 | women's rights activist | [83] | |
Fatema Mernissi | Morocco | 1940 | 2015 | [84] | |
Ziba Mir-Hosseini | Iran | 1952 | – | academic of Islamic law and gender | [85][86] |
Fakhrossadat Mohtashamipour | Iran | – | reformist activist, head of women's affairs at the Ministry of Interior | [87] | |
Ilham Moussaïd | France | 1989 | – | politician | [88][89] |
Shirin Neshat | Iran | 1957 | – | visual artist | [90][91] |
Asra Nomani | India | 1965 | – | [92] | |
Queen Noor of Jordan | Jordan | 1951 | – | queen consort of Jordan | |
Ayaz Latif Palijo | Pakistan | 1968 | – | politician | |
Zahra Rahnavard | Iran | 1945 | – | academic, politician | [93] |
Queen Rania of Jordan | Jordan | 1970 | – | queen consort of Jordan | |
Raheel Raza | Pakistan | 1949 | – | journalist, activist | [94][95] |
Nilofar Sakhi | Afghanistan | 20th century | – | human rights activist | [96] |
Zainab Salbi | Iraq | 1969 | – | humanitarian, CEO of Women for Women International | [97][98] |
Linda Sarsour | United States | 1980 | – | political activist | [99] |
Marjane Satrapi | France, Iran | 1969 | – | comic artist | [100] |
Shamima Shaikh | South Africa | 1960 | 1998 | South African activist, member of the Muslim Youth Movement of South Africa, proponent of Islamic gender equality | [101] |
Shahla Sherkat | Iran | 1956 | – | journalist | |
Nasrin Sotoudeh | Iran | 1963 | – | human rights lawyer | [102] |
Hidayet Şefkatli Tuksal | Turkey | 1963 | human rights activist | [103] | |
Zil-e-Huma Usman | Pakistan | 1971 | 2007 | politician, women's rights activist | [104] |
Amina Wadud | United States | 1952 | [105] | ||
Rama Yade | France | 1976 | politician, writer | [106] | |
Nadia Yassine | Morocco | 1958 | [107] | ||
Malala Yousafzai | Pakistan | 1997 | – | Pakistani activist for female education | [108] |
Bilkisu Yusuf | Nigeria | 1952 | 2015 | journalist, NGO adviser | [109] |
Kadra Yusuf | Norway | 1980 | activist | [110] | |
Musdah Mulia | Indonesia | 1960 | human 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 Peace | [citation needed] | |
Manal al-Sharif | Saudi Arabia | 1979 | women's rights activist | [111] | |
Samar Badawi | Saudi Arabia | 1981 | women's rights activist | [112] | |
Nassima al-Sadah | Saudi Arabia | 1974 | women's rights activist | [112] |