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.

Nawab Faizunnessa, feminist from the early 19's

Early and mid 19th-century feminists

Born between 1801 and 1874.

Name	Country	Born	Died	Comments	Source
Nawab Faizunnesa	British India (present day Bangladesh)	1834	1903	female education advocate	[1]
Qasim Amin	Egypt	1863	1908	early advocate of women's rights	[2][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]

Late 19th-century and early 20th-century feminists

Born between 1875 and 1939.

Name	Country	Born	Died	Comments	Source
Iffat Ara	Bangladesh	1939	–	writer, social activist	[8]
Margot Badran	United States	1934	-	Middle East historian and recognized scholar of Islamic feminism	[9]
Eugénie Le Brun	Egypt		1908		[10]
Hamid Dalwai	India	1932	1977	Socialist feminist
Tahar Haddad	Tunisia	1897	1935		[11]
Zaib-un-Nissa Hamidullah	British India	1921	2000	pioneer in (pre)Pakistan	[12]
Shamsiah Fakeh	Malaysia	1924	2008	political leader, Malaysian nationalist	[13]
Hameeda Hossain	Bangladesh	1936	–	human rights activist, academic	[14]
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	[2]
Sufia Kamal	Bangladesh	1911	1999	advocate, nationalist, poet	[15]
Anbara Salam Khalidi	Lebanon	1897	1986	author	[16][17]
Shamsunnahar Mahmud	Bangladesh	1908	1964	leader of the women's rights movement in Bengal	[18]
Malak Hifni Nasif	Egypt	1886	1918		[19]
Nizar Qabbani	Syria	1923	1998	poet, progressive intellectual	[20]
Alifa Rifaat	Egypt	1930	1996	novelist	[21]
Begum Rokeya	Bangladesh	1880	1932	writer, educator	[22][23][24]
Huda Sha'arawi	Egypt	1879	1947	organiser; founder of Egyptian Feminist Union	[25]
Hidaya Sultan al-Salem	Kuwait	1936	2001	writer, campaigner, suffragist	[26][27]
Rasuna Said	Indonesia	1910	1965	political leader, nationalist	[28]
Saiza Nabarawi	Egypt	1897	1985	journalist	[29]
Salma Sobhan	Bangladesh	1937	2003	lawyer, academic	[30]
Nurkhon Yuldasheva	Uzbekistan	1913	1929	dancer	[31]
Ismat Chughtai	India	1915	1991	novelist, director
Nazira Zain al-Dine	Lebanon	1908	1976	writer, women's rights activist	[32]

Mid to late 20th-century and notable 21st-century feminists

Born from 1940 to present

Name	Country	Born	Died	Comments	Source
Saleemah Abdul-Ghafur	United States	1974	–	Global health advocate	[33]
Sitara Achakzai	Afghanistan	1956	2009	leading Afghan women's rights activist, member of the regional parliament in Kandahar	[34]
Jamila Afghani	Afghanistan	1974	–	women's rights activist, created the first "gender-sensitive training in Afghanistan for Imams"	[35][36]
Mahnaz Afkhami	Iran	1941	–	women's rights activist, Minister without portfolio for Women's Affairs, Founder and President of Women's Learning Partnership	[37][38]
Haleh Afshar, Baroness Afshar	United Kingdom	1944	2022	professor of politics and women's studies, member of the British House of Lords	[39]
Nazir Afzal	United Kingdom	1962	–	Public prosecutor and campaigner focusing on violence against women and so-called honour crimes	[40]
Leila Ahmed	Egypt	1940	–	Writer on Islam and feminism	[41]
Safia Ahmed-jan	Afghanistan	1941	2006	Afghan women's rights advocate	[42]
Kecia Ali	United States	1972		scholar on the study of Islamic Jurisprudence (fiqh) and Women	[43]
Mariam Alhassan Alolo	Ghana	1957	–	female Islamic missionary	[44]
Amat Al Alim Alsoswa	Yemen	1958	–	journalist	[45]
Fadela Amara	France	1964	–	politician	[46]
Zainah Anwar	Malaysia		–	head of Sisters in Islam	[47]
Seyran Ateş	Germany	1963	–	lawyer	[48][49]
Shukria Barakzai	Afghanistan	1970	–	politician, journalist	[50]
Farzana Bari	Pakistan	1952	–	human rights activist	[51][52]
Asma Barlas	Pakistan	1950	–	academics	[53]
Benazir Bhutto	Pakistan	1953	2007	Prime Minister of Pakistan from 1988 to 1990 and from 1993 to 1996	[54]
Zoubeïda Bittari	Algerian	1939	–	Author of O, My Muslim Sisters, Weep	[55]
Susan Carland	Australia	1978	–	academic	[56]
Kamala Chandrakirana	Indonesia		–	human rights activist	[57]
Shirin Ebadi	Iran	1947	–	; activist, Nobel Peace Prize winner for her efforts for the rights of women and children	[58]
Sineb El Masrar	Germany	1981	–	Moroccan-German author and magazine editor	[59]
Mona Eltahawy	Egypt	1967	–	journalist	[60]
Farid Esack	South Africa	1959	–	Muslim scholar, gender equity commissioner
Zahra Eshraghi	Iran	1964	–	activist, former government official	[61][62]
Soumaya Naamane Guessous	Morocco		–	sociologist, women's rights activist	[63]
Fatemeh Haghighatjoo	Iran	1968	–	reformist politician, contributed proposing a bill to join Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Discrimination Against Women	[64][65]
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	[66]
Hissa Hilal	Saudi Arabia		–	poet	[67]
Lubna al-Hussein	Sudan		–	journalist, human rights activist	[68]
Samira Ibrahim	Egypt	1987	–	activist	[69]
Ramziya al-Iryani	Yemen	1954	–	novelist, diplomat	[70][71]
Na'eem Jeenah	South Africa	1965	–	academic	[72]
Mohja Kahf	Syria	1967	–
Meena Keshwar Kamal	Afghanistan	1956	1987	women's rights activist, founder of Revolutionary Association of the Women of Afghanistan	[73][74][75][76]
Sultana Kamal	Bangladesh	1950	–	activist	[77][78]
Sadiq Khan	United Kingdom	1970	–	Mayor of London since 2016	[79]
Noushin Ahmadi Khorasani	Iran	20th century	–
Fawzia Koofi	Afghanistan	1975 or 1976	–	politician, women' rights activist	[80]
Elaheh Koulaei	Iran	1956	–
Konca Kuriş	Turkey	1961	1999	writer	[81]
Asma Lamrabet	Morocco				[82]
Mukhtār Mā'ī	Pakistan	1972	–	advocate for women's rights	[83]
Irshad Manji	Canada	1968	–		[84]
Farideh Mashini	Iran		2012	women's rights activist	[85]
Fatema Mernissi	Morocco	1940	2015		[86]
Ziba Mir-Hosseini	Iran	1952	–	academic of Islamic law and gender	[87][88]
Fakhrossadat Mohtashamipour	Iran		–	reformist activist, head of women's affairs at the Ministry of Interior	[89]
Ilham Moussaïd	France	1989	–	politician	[90][91]
Shirin Neshat	Iran	1957	–	visual artist	[92][93]
Asra Nomani	India	1965	–		[94]
Queen Noor of Jordan	Jordan	1951	–	queen consort of Jordan
Ayaz Latif Palijo	Pakistan	1968	–	politician
Zahra Rahnavard	Iran	1945	–	academic, politician	[95]
Queen Rania of Jordan	Jordan	1970	–	queen consort of Jordan
Raheel Raza	Pakistan	1949	–	journalist, activist	[96][97]
Nilofar Sakhi	Afghanistan	20th century	–	human rights activist	[98]
Zainab Salbi	Iraq	1969	–	humanitarian, CEO of Women for Women International	[99][100]
Linda Sarsour	United States	1980	–	Islamist political activist	[101]
Marjane Satrapi	France, Iran	1969	–	comic artist	[102]
Shamima Shaikh	South Africa	1960	1998	South African activist, member of the Muslim Youth Movement of South Africa, proponent of Islamic gender equality	[103]
Shahla Sherkat	Iran	1956	–	journalist
Nasrin Sotoudeh	Iran	1963	–	human rights lawyer	[104]
Hidayet Şefkatli Tuksal	Turkey	1963		human rights activist	[105]
Zil-e-Huma Usman	Pakistan	1971	2007	politician, women's rights activist	[106]
Amina Wadud	United States	1952			[107]
Rama Yade	France	1976		politician, writer	[108]
Nadia Yassine	Morocco	1958			[109]
Malala Yousafzai	Pakistan	1997	–	Pakistani activist for female education	[110]
Bilkisu Yusuf	Nigeria	1952	2015	journalist, NGO adviser	[111]
Kadra Yusuf	Norway	1980		activist	[112]
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	[113]
Samar Badawi	Saudi Arabia	1981		women's rights activist	[114]
Nassima al-Sadah	Saudi Arabia	1974		women's rights activist	[114]
Rita Puspa Zakaria	Indonesia	1967		women's rights activist and health advocate	[115]

Muslim feminist movements

• Gerwani
• Musawah^[116][117]
• Sister-hood^[118]
• Sisters in Islam^[119]
• Voice of Libyan Women^[120]
• Women's Islamic Initiative in Spirituality and Equality^[121][122]
• 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