Charismatic, striking and politically sly, Benazir Bhutto, 54, was reared amid the privileges of Pakistan’s aristocracy and the ordeals of its turbulent politics. Smart, ambitious and resilient, she endured her father’s execution and her own imprisonment at the hands of a military dictator to become the country’s – and the Muslim world’s – first female leader.
The Muslim world’s first female leader? Really? Are they serious? Maybe the first democratically elected prime minister of a modern nation-state that is majority Muslim, but to make the jump to say the first leader in the entire history of the ‘Muslim world’ is misleading and incorrect methinks.
What an incredibly misleading way to begin a story. I said as much to someone, and they said, why is that misleading? So I said umm, Aisha led politically (right?) after the death of the prophet. The person said, “Well I didn’t know that.” And she’s right- no one does, which is why major respected papers with international readership can get away with making such a statement (which really has not much to do with the rest of the article). Notice how the author can write a biography of a female leader of a Muslim modern nation, something that would contradict the stereotypes of most of the readers, without actually challenging the stereotype. With that sentence they reinforce the idea that women can’t lead- she must have been the first.
Can we please note here that there hasn’t been any non-white non-male president in the US?
Here are some of the FEST’s favorite Muslim women leaders (min zamaan and in this current zaman):
Khadija: The first wife of Muhammad. Also his elder, his distant cousin, and his financial sponsor. She was the first person to convert to Islam, and the prophet didn’t marry any other wives until after her death. She is remembered as having a leading role in early Islam.
Aisha: A later wife of Muhammad, remembered as having had a special relationship with him, who after his death was respected for her accounts of the prophet’s sayings and actions. Up to a quarter of Islamic law may be attributed to her explanations. In the battle that split Islam into Sunni and Shia, she raised up and led an army.
Najah Al-Attar: Syrian Vice President as of 2006 and former Minister of Culture. Don’t let her fake wig distract you from her accomplishments.
Khaleda Zia: Bangladeshi Prime Minister from 1991-1996 and 2001-2006. Also she was Forbes’ 33rd Most Powerful Woman in 2006.
For a plethora, see here.
Tarboush Tip: Nadeem, May, Fadi
Related posts:
- Muslim Women: Myths and Realities
- Palestinian Women Stop Israeli Army
- Like Timex: Muslim Assimilation in Europe Takes a Licking and Keeps on Ticking
- Wow, A Muslim Woman Can Surf
- Muslim Live8
Or even a non-Christian president, without my father noted as a prerequisite for an American president: “an easy sounding name.”
Posted by Maytha | December 31, 2007, 11:02 amcome on, that list is pretty weak if you have to go back all the way to the times of Muhammad. The only venerable leader on that list is Khaleda Zia. And Najah Al-Attar? Come on now, she might be vice president in title, but we all know who where the real power lies.
Posted by Anonymous | January 1, 2008, 4:40 pmI think the point being made by going back to the time of the prophet is that women have had leadership roles in Islam from its outset.
Posted by Mohammad | January 2, 2008, 6:23 amPerhaps you should define leader.
I don’t know why it’s so narrowly confined to the world of politics for purposes of this discussion because, in my family alone, there are multitudes of Muslim women leaders.
Leaders of families, leaders of faculty departments, leaders of community projects, etc.
Muslim women are some of the toughest women I’ve ever come across and have always been so. The only difference between them and non-Muslim women is that Muslim women don’t believe that their ability to lead requires the castration and emasculation of the men in their community.
Posted by Intellectual Insurgent | January 2, 2008, 7:40 amtheir ability to lead requires the castration and emasculation of the men in their community
DULY NOTED.
Posted by nadia | January 3, 2008, 3:32 amThe only difference between them and non-Muslim women is that Muslim women don’t believe that their ability to lead requires the castration and emasculation of the men in their community.
Also the fact that they’re subject to honor killings for pretty much anything.
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Posted by mimienjoypoxy | June 28, 2009, 12:23 pm