Muslim women political leaders
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.
[citation needed] Muhammad’s first wife, Khadija bint Khuwaylid, was his chief adviser as well as his first and foremost supporter.
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.
[8] In Chapter 27, verses 27:29–44, the Qur’an references female leadership with the Queen of Sheba (Bilqis) who had a role similar to head of state.
Historically in Islamic societies, the women's role has been within the home, which has limited and created obstacles for female leaders.
Two major figures who called for the liberation and education of women in Islamic societies were Rifa 'a al-Tahtawi and Qasim Amin.
[11] 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.
The movement for women as political leaders in modern-day Islamic society was spearheaded by these modern day activists for gender equality.
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.
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.
[22] Sima Samar was appointed as a member of the United Nations Secretary-General's High-Level Panel on Internal Displacement in December 2019.
On 24 November 2006, Aliyeva was awarded the title of Goodwill Ambassador of ISESCO for her attention to the children in need and help to improve their living conditions and education.
Yunus is a historian by training and wrote her dissertation on "English-Russian Rivalry on the Caspian Sea and Azerbaijan in the First Part of the 18th Century".
She faced much backlash as a female in this position, including arrests and mistreatment while imprisoned, causing global outcry and the assistance of Amnesty International.
Çiller quickly became assistant of the party, and then entered the 1991 election where she won and received the responsibility for ministry of economy in the government.
[66][67] Other Muslim female national political leaders include Cissé Mariam Kaïdama Sidibé, Sitt al-Mulk (in eleventh century), Sibel Siber and Aminata Touré.
King Amir Aman Allah (1919–29) was overthrown because he tried to liberate women, and Muhammad Dawud (1953–63) attempted public unveiling.
In December 2001 after the fall of the Taliban, the Bonn Process worked to make Afghan women a more active political force.
[15]: 1–44 Although there has been significant improvement of women's participation in public office, men are still the majority in the government and therefore still tend to make the final decisions.
Muslim women in Azerbaijan can study to become certified mullahs and lead women-only gatherings, a tradition that goes back centuries.
In 2000, Azerbaijan signed up to the Optional Protocol of CEDAW, recognizing the competence of the Committee on the Elimination of Discrimination against Women, after which it can receive and consider complaints from individuals or groups within its jurisdiction.
The Communist Party of the Soviet Union ruled after the Russian Empire, and the first women were elected to local and central governing bodies because of its new policies.
Women voted for the first time in the 1963 referendum on the White Revolution (reform introduced by Mohammad Reza Shah).
In the same year the Code of Personal Status (CPS) was enacted, reforming family law and aiming to establish equality between women and men.
[81] In 1983, changes to the CPS continued to expand women's rights such as the passage of citizenship matrilineally and custody of children following divorce.
[72]: 677–683 Tansu Çiller, leader of the True Path Party (DYP) became the first female prime minister in Turkey and served until 1996.
It is statistically proven that the total number of women working in public office has been increasing at a faster rate than males.
[57] The nineteenth century also marked the reformation of certain social restrictions and oppression toward women, specifically regarding education, polygamy, and the arranged marriage of a young girl to a much older man.
[57] Around the same time, and in contribution to this publication, Hind Nawfal, an immigrant from Syria to Alexandria, published a monthly women's piece in Arabic called Al-fatah.
Iran, Tunisia, and Egypt all addressed controversial topics of women's rights in divorce and child custody while reforming amendments.
