She studied her high school-level subjects at home before attending theology school in 1966.
Sefati took preliminary lessons in jurisprudence, literature and Islamic sciences in Abadan.
[3] Sefati achieved the highest jurisprudence degree (Ijtihad), an accomplishment made only by a small number of women.
Sefati has also co-founded a theology school for women in Qom, which later became known as Maktab-e Tawhid.
Sefati and some male jurists, such as Yousef Saanei, believe a female mujtahid can become a source of emulation (a marja), i.e. that both men and women can perform taqlid (emulation) of a woman mujtahid.