Muslim Women: Past and Present

Recommend a Muslim Woman

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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Bilkisu Yusuf

The ideal community for Muslims is the medina, where there is food for all, shelter for all, equality before the law, and the caliph would be held responsible if anyone went to bed on a hungry stomach. I didn't see Islam shaping people's lives like that, in terms of moving towards the welfare state. ...All of these things are spelled out in Islam, more than in any other religion I think. Governance, democracy--everything is there, every part of life has precepts in Islam. But I haven't seen Muslim leaders imbibing that culture.

“A Discussion with Bilkisu Yusuf, Journalist, Executive Director, Federation of Muslim Woman’s Associations in Nigeria”

Known For: Adviser to the Nigerian President on International Affairs/ Columnist/ Executive Director of Advocacy Nigeria
Country: Nigeria

About

Hajiya Bilkisu is an Adviser to the Nigerian President on International Affairs, a columnist for Daily Trust and Leadership newspapers and Executive Director of AdvocacyNigeria, a movement working for the reduction of Maternal and Child Mortality.

Ms. Bilkisu is also a founding member of several NGOs including two of the country’s most vibrant and pace setting national women’s organizations, Women in Nigeria (WIN) and the Federation of Muslim Women’s Association (FOMWAN). She served as First Kano State Coordinator at WIN and as a National President at FOMWAN. She also is a Chairperson at ABANTU for Development, an NGO where she is the Master Gender Trainer for Northern Nigeria.

Ms. Bilikisu has also worked as an information officer in the Ministry of Information in Kano and worked briefly as a Programme Officer at Radio Kano. She also worked as the Editor of three National Newspapers The Triumph in Kano, The New Nigerian, and Citizen Magazine both in Kaduna.

She serves on several national and international boards and has written 20 chapters in published books on subjects ranging from Women’s rights, media, gender, Islam, politics and maternal and child health.

Ms. Bilikisu received her B.S. at Ahmadu Bello University Zaria, and also earned a Masters in Political Science from the University of Wisconsin Madison, USA. She received an Advanced Diploma in Journalism from the Moscow Institute of Journalism and International Relations, Moscow. She is married with children.

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This search feature will enable you to find Muslim women alphabetically by their first names. Many Muslim names have alternative spellings once rendered into English so if you cannot find the name you are looking for, please try the general search tab where you can enter keywords of your choice.
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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.