Muslim Women: Past and Present

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Throughout the ages, from the earliest days of Islam to contemporary times today, Muslim women have been and continue to be active leaders in their communities and countries across the world. This directory is a growing archive of leading Muslim women scholars, activists, writers, politicians, artists, religious and spiritual leaders, civil society leaders and more. Please contribute to this archive by suggesting Muslim women to be featured through our recommendation form.

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Chaiba Tallal

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Chaiba Tallal

photo of Chaiba Tallal Credit: Heba Amin

Known For: World Renowned Painter
Dates: Hijri 1324 - 1425 (AH)
Common Era 1929 - 2004 (CE)
Country: Morocco

About

Chaiba Tallal was born in a small village near El-Jadida, Morocco.  She was born into a poor family and was married at the age of thirteen. She was widowed by the time she was fifteen. By this time, she had a son, Talal, and was living in Casablanca, Morocco’s largest city and commercial center.  After the death of her husband, Chaiba supported herself and her son by finding odd jobs cleaning houses as a maid.

Chaiba began painting with no formal training but soon her work caught the attention of Pierre Gaudibert, a Parisian museum director.  He was immediately impressed by the bold colors and broad brush strokes that she used.  Featuring women and Moroccan culture as inspiration, her painting reflected the vibrancy of Moroccan life.  Gaudibert arranged for her to exhibit her paintings at the Museum of Modern Art, thereby transforming Chaiba into an internationally acclaimed painter. 

Since then, her work has been featured in various exhibitions across Europe and Morocco. One of her paintings was chosen for the poster advertising the first International Women’s Art Exhibition in 1984.  She also received a gold medal from the French Academic Society for Education and Encouragement for her contribution to the arts.  Despite her Chaiba’s fame, Chaiba never forgot her roots and donated a portion of her painting sales to education initiatives for women in Morocco. Chaiba died in 2004.

Sources

Maydell, Natalie and Sep Riahi, Extraordinary Women From The Muslim World. Global Content Ventures, 2008

Videos

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JhDnEaLYdXw

More Information

http://chaibia.wordpress.com/about-2/

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This search feature will enable you to find Muslim women chronologically by the Common Era century. We are actively building the archive of Muslim women leaders from the past, as well as from today, and we would welcome your recommendations of women to feature. Please complete our “Recommend Muslim Women” form and check the site again in the near future as we actively expand this section of the portal with your suggestions.
This search feature will enable you to find Muslim women by their Country. We are actively building the archive of Muslim women leaders from the past, as well as from today, and we would welcome your recommendations of women to feature. Please complete our “Recommend Muslim Women” form and check the site again in the near future as we actively expand this section of the portal with your suggestions.
This search feature will enable you to find Muslim women leaders by entering the keyword(s) of your choice. If you cannot find a particular woman that you are looking for, please let us know by completing our “Recommend Muslim Women” form and check the site again in the near future as we actively expand this section of the portal with your suggestions.