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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Shahla Sherkat

“Zanan remains the one journal in Iran to speak with great courage on issues of feminism and women's rights.” - Haleh Esfandiari

Known For: Journalist
Dates: Hijri 1376 - Present (AH)
Common Era 1956 - Present (CE)
Country: Iran

About

Shahlah Sherkat is the founder and sole owner of Zanan, an Iranian magazine that concentrates on women’s issues . She felt mainstream journalism was ignoring serious coverage of women’s rights in Iran and Zanan became the first independent journal—and one of the most successful—to focus on women’s issues after the Iranian Revolution in 1979. She is a winner of the 2005 International Women’s Media Foundation Courage in Journalism Award and the 2005 Louis Lyons Award from The Nieman Foundation for Journalism at Harvard University.

Sherkat has worked as a journalist for 26 years and continues to publish Zanan despite the political climate where the government tightly controlled publications.


Zanan consistently and provocatively covers women’s issues, like articles on divorce laws, prostitution, HIV/AIDS, domestic abuse, and maternal custody issues. In 1998, investigated the rising amount of HIV/AIDS victims in Iran, critiquing the government’s laissez-faire attitude toward the disease. Another story, published in 2003, covered the controversial topic of prostitution in Iran. A 2004 story touched upon gender discrimination within Iranian universities. 

Sherkat and Zanan have faced their own dose of adversity over the years. Zanan’s offices were attacked by fundamentalist gangs during the early and mid-1990s. Authorities have threatened Sherkat and her writers with imprisonment. Since she is the editorial director, Sherkat is liable for the content of the magazine and has been called to Iran’s Press Court to defend specific articles, including an article by 2003 Nobel Peace Prize winner Shirin Ebadi and a controversial series of articles about Islamic law and women that were written by Mehrangiz Kar, women’s rights lawyer, and Mohsen Saidzadeh, Islamic cleric.


Despite the adversity, Sherkat continues to publish and the charges brought against her for publishing the aforementioned pieces were eventually dropped.

Sources

IWMF: Shahla Sherkat

More Information

IWMF: International Women’s Media Foundation

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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.