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.

  • By Category
  • By Name
  • By Century
  • By Country
  • Search


Jila Baniyaghoob

photo of Jila Baniyaghoob Photo Credit: Hasan Sarbakhshian/AP Images

Known For: Freelance Iranian Reporter
Dates: Hijri 1390 - Present (AH)
Common Era 1970 - Present (CE)
Country: Iran

About

Jila Baniyaghoob is a freelance reporter, working in Iran. As a journalist, Baniyaghoob faces numerous ramifications for her reporting and has been arrested, beaten, and imprisoned on numerous occasions.

Baniyaghoob began to pursue journalism at the daily newspaper Hamshahri as a journalism student at the University of Allameh Tabatabayi. Beginning from there, she has worked for various newspapers and has been threatened or fired many times for her reporting on government and social oppression, particularly on how they affect women.

While working for Sarmayeh newspaper, Baniyaghoob started a section on women’s economy, which incorporated interviews with experts on the gender issues of economics. However, the section was canceled in 2008.

From 2001-2002, Baniyaghoob travelled throughout the Middle East, including Afghanistan, Palestine, Lebanon, and Syria. She has written about women and refugees she encountered, covering issues like social and legal discrimination. She is a founding member of the One Million Signatures Campaign for Equality, which seeks to alter the discriminatory laws against women in Iran.

Baniyaghoob has also published a book, Journalists in Iran, which related the hardships experienced by Iranian journalists, particularly women. The book includes stories of some of her own experiences. She is also working on a new book, Women in the Unit 209 of Evin, which is founded on her firsthand observations during her own incarceration of women prisoners in Evin Prison in Tehran. Baniyaghoob plans to have the book published outside of Iran.

Sources

IWMF : International Women’s Media Foundation - Jila Baniyaghoob, Iran

RSS Bookmark and Share
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.
A | B | C | D | E | F | G | H | I | J | K | L | M | N | O | P | Q | R | S | T | U | V | W | X | Y | Z
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.