Movements for Muslim women to seek roles in national leadership have increased rapidly. Greater opportunities for women in education have further encouraged their involvement in politics. The most prominent and important Muslim female leaders are former prime minister of Pakistan Benazir Bhutto (1988–1990 and 1993–1996), Indonesian president Megawati Sukarnoputri (2001–2004), former Turkish prime minister Tansu Çiller (1993–1996), former Senegalese prime minister Mame Madior Boye (2001–2002), Bangladeshi prime ministers Khaleda Zia (1991–1996 and 2001–2006) and Sheikh Hasina Wajed (1996–2001 and 2009–2024), former Iranian vice president Masoumeh Ebtekar (1997–2005), former Malian prime minister Cissé Mariam Kaïdama Sidibé (2011–2012), Kosovan president Atifete Jahjaga (2011–2016), former president of Mauritius Ameenah Gurib (2015–2018), former president of Singapore Halimah Yacob (2017–2023) and current president of Tanzania Samia Suluhu Hassan (vice president that ascended to presidency after the sudden death of John Pombe Magufuli in March 2021)
Dar al-Ifta al-Misriyyah, an Islamic institute that advises Egypt's ministry of justice, issued a fatwa stating that female rulers and judges are allowed in Islam. The Qur'an contains verses that appear to support the role of women in politics, such as its mention of the Queen of Sheba, who represented a ruler who consulted with and made important decisions on behalf of her people. The Hadith provides numerous examples of women having public leadership roles. Muhammad's first wife, Khadija bint Khuwaylid, was his chief adviser as well as his first and foremost supporter. His third wife, Aisha Bint Abu Bakr, a well-known authority in medicine, history, and rhetoric, often accompanied him to battles, even leading an army at the Battle of the Camel. In the context of this battle a hadith is ascribed to Muhammad where he said, "Never will succeed such a nation as makes a woman their ruler. During the battle of Al-Jamal, Allah benefited me with a Word (I heard from the Prophet). When the Prophet heard the news that the people of the Persia had made the daughter of Khosrau their Queen (ruler), he said, "Never will succeed such a nation as makes a woman their ruler." However, contemporary scholars have cast doubt on the authenticity of this Hadith, citing the odd timing of the Hadith's first release, its contradiction with the verses of the Quran, and the most likely use of the Hadith for a specific person at the time (Queen of Persia) rather than as a general rule or advice.
Though leadership opportunities for Muslim women are cemented in religious text and continue to expand today, earlier generations had different understandings of women's roles.
Despite modern developments and greater inclusion of Muslim women in political life, there are Muslims in certain countries who maintain that the ideal Muslim woman should confine herself to the role of mother and wife.
Quranic views
Islamic scholars argue that the Qur'an gives women the right to participate in public affairs, as there are examples of women who took part in serious discussions and argued even with Muhammad.Shahla Haeri 2020. The Unforgettable Queens of Islam: Succession, Authority, Gender. Cambridge University Press In addition, during the Caliphate of Omar, a woman argued with him in the mosque, proved her point, and caused him to declare in the presence of many people: "A woman is right and Omar is wrong". However, one of the major problems with the ability for women to lead in Muslim-majority countries stems from differences in interpretation of the textual foundations for Islam, the Qur'an and Hadiths.Shahla Haeri. 2020. The Unforgettable Queens of Islam: Succession, Authority, Gender. Cambridge University Press This problem is exacerbated by the complexity of the Arabic language, the different sectors of Islam, such as the differences between Shia Islam and Sunni Islam, and the differences that occur across the different regions. There is not a singular interpretation of the Qur'an that defines Islam. Therefore, the role of women as leaders cannot be definitively found in the Qur'an. The role of female leaders is constantly evolving depending on interpretation. Through new modern interpretations from the "progressive Islam" movement, women have gained more freedom and power as leaders.
Sections of the Qur'an used to limit women's power:
This verse, however, is often misinterpreted.
In Chapter 27, verses , the Qur'an references female leadership with the Queen of Sheba (Bilqis) who had a role similar to head of state.Shahla Haeri. "Queen of Sheba and Her Mighty Throne," 2020, pp.29-51. The Unforgettable Queens of Islam: Succession, Authority, Gender. Cambridge University Press
Sections of the Qur'an used to equate women's power:
History The female role has been constructed throughout history. Historically in Islamic societies, the women's role has been within the home, which has limited and created obstacles for female leaders. During the time of Muhammad and throughout the early and per-Islamic period, women were given a great sense of freedom and power. The wives of Muhammad, referred to as the Mothers of the Believers, were considered the ideal way for women in Islam to behave. Many of his wives and women within the early Islamic period were widely important in different leadership areas. Khadija bint Khuwaylid was not only economically successful prior to her marriage to Muhammad, but she is also considered the first convert to Islam, aiding Muhammad during the revelations and the tumultuous history of the early Islamic period. His wife Hafsa bint Umar was entrusted with safeguarding the Qur'an, and his wife Aisha bint Abi Bakr led an army in the Battle of the Camel. Muhammad also appointed Umm Waraqa as a female imam of both men and women. However, the role of women in all of Islam is difficult to generalize, as there are many different sectors of Islam and different interpretations of Qur'an verses which place the role of women in Islamic societies in different ways.
Overall, women became regulated to positions within the household, becoming protected through seclusion, with men dictating the major decisions of their lives. Therefore, a separate movement for the rights and freedoms of females in Islam began to stir in the early 20th century. Two major figures who called for the liberation and education of women in Islamic societies were Rifa 'a al-Tahtawi and Qasim Amin. Qasim Amin is considered the father of women's reform in the Muslim Middle East, challenging societal norms in his book The Liberation of Women. Amongst these two male leaders were also three Egyptian women, Maryam al-Nahhas, Zaynab Fawwaz, and Aisha al-Taymuriyya, who worked for the Islamic feminism movement in the late 19th century. In 1956, Doria Shafik led a suffrage movement in Egypt. The movement for women as political leaders in modern-day Islamic society was spearheaded by these modern day activists for gender equality. However, the progress of this movement varies in different Arab countries and within different sectors of Islam, as new interpretations shape the gender construction for women in Islamic societies.
Political leaders There are many twentieth and twenty-first century examples of women leading Muslim-majority countries. The majority of all Muslims in the world live in countries that have, at some time, elected women as their leaders. The three most populous Muslim-majority countries have had women as leaders including Indonesia,Shahla Haeri. 2020, pp.183-218. The Unforgettable Queens of Islam: Succession, Authority, Gender, Cambridge University Press Pakistan,Shahla Haeri. 2020, pp.141-182. The Unforgettable Queens of Islam: Succession, Authority, Gender, Cambridge University Press and Bangladesh. , women still face many pressures as political leaders, including arrests, imprisonments, and assassination attempts.
Afghanistan Kubra Noorzai First female minister of Afghanistan. The third Afghan Constitution (in 1964 under King Zahir Shah) gave women the right to vote and enter parliament as elected candidates for the first time. As a result, in elections the following year three women were elected as members of the parliament and two were appointed as members of the senate. Kubra Noorzai was appointed Minister of Public Health in 1965 and re-appointed in 1967.
Shafiqa Ziayee Shafiqa Ziayee became the second female minister when appointed Minister without Portfolio in 1971.
Massouda Jalal After graduating medical school in Kabul in 1988, she practiced as a physician until 1999 when the rule of the Taliban made this impossible. She began working for the women-led UN World Food Programme (WFP) in 1999. After the Taliban was removed from power in 2002 she was one of 200 women who participated in the loya jirga. She ran for president in 2002, becoming the first woman to run for this position in Afghanistan. She won 171 votes (the second most ballots received) in the 2002 presidential election against Karzai. She lost the election to Hamid Karzai but served within his cabinet as the Women's Affairs Minister from 2004 to 2006. Jalal was later nominated to study in Washington, D.C., at the Center for Development and Population Activities (CEDPA), which teaches women how to advance their leadership roles.
Azra Jafari
One of 200 women who participated in the loya jirga after the fall of the Taliban in 2002. She is the first female mayor in Afghanistan. She was the mayor of Nili a town in Daykundi Province of Afghanistan from 2008 till 2014. She is a member of the Hazara ethnic group, a religious and ethnic minority in Afghanistan. During her term she worked on receiving funds to build infrastructure in Nili. Before taking office she had left to Iran due to the civil war in the early 1990s. There she ran a school for Afghan children. In 2001 she returned to Afghanistan to participate in a peace jirga.
Fawzia Koofi
In 2014, she became a candidate for President of Afghanistan after being elected as the vice president of the National Assembly of Afghanistan in 2005. As vice president she became the first female second deputy speaker of Parliament. She was one of the few women selected to take part in a U.S. backed negotiation talk with the Taliban. On her way back from on one of the meetings she survived an assassination attempt. In August 2021 she fled Afghanistan to Qatar on one of the last evacuation flights. She managed to leave despite being under house arrest by the Taliban. Since leaving Afghanistan she went to the United Nations with a delegation of Afghan women. Urging the United Nations to not compromise on inclusion and equal rights in Afghanistan.
Sima Samar
She served as the Afghanistan Ministry of Women's Affairs from 2001 to 2003. From 2004 to 2019, she chaired the Afghanistan Independent Human Rights Commission that holds human rights violators accountable. Her work on this commission lead to her receiving death threats. She is the founder of the Shuhada Organization which operates schools for boys and girls, in 2012 it managed more than 100 schools. Shuhada also worked on providing healthcare and managed ran fifteen clinics and hospitals. Sima Samar was appointed as a member of the United Nations Secretary-General's High-Level Panel on Internal Displacement in December 2019.
Frozan Fana
Ran in the Afghan Presidential Election of 2009.
Shahla Atta Ran in the Afghan Presidential Election of 2009.
Azerbaijan
Tahira Tahirova She was a Soviet politician and diplomat. She served as Foreign Minister of the Azerbaijani Soviet Socialist Republic from 1959 to 1983.
Elmira Gafarova She was Speaker of the National Assembly of Azerbaijan and Minister of Foreign Affairs of Azerbaijan.
Lala Shevket