Islam teaches that believing men and believing women are allies of one another, enjoining what is right and forbidding what is wrong. This ethic of shared responsibility affirms gender equity as a spiritual and communal mandate.
An African proverb reminds us: when you educate a woman, you educate a nation. Wilma Mankiller, the first female Principal Chief of the Cherokee Nation, reflected that whoever controls the education of our children shapes the future. Education, authority, and institutional leadership matter. Muslim women have long held these roles, even when unrecognized.
From an anti-racism perspective, we recognize that identity is intersectional. Muslim women’s leadership unfolds across race, ethnicity, nationality, class, disability, and migration status. This series intentionally highlights that diversity.
Understanding Misogynisa
Muslim women’s leadership must be understood within the context of the layered systems of oppression they navigate.
One framework for understanding this is Misogynisa — a term that combines misogyny and nisa, the Arabic word for women. Misogynisa names a specific form of gendered discrimination that Muslim women experience at the intersection of sexism, Islamophobia, racism, and xenophobia.
This harm operates on multiple levels:
- Within some Muslim spaces, where patriarchal norms may restrict women’s authority or leadership
- In broader society, where Islamophobia racializes Muslim women and reduces them to stereotypes
- In some feminist spaces, where Muslim women’s religious commitments are dismissed or mischaracterized
Muslim women are not only confronting sexism. They are confronting a layered system that treats their faith, race, ethnicity, migration status, and gender as liabilities rather than strengths.
External Targeting and Political Extremism
In recent years, alt-right ethnonationalist movements have targeted Muslim women as part of broader Islamophobic agendas. These attacks may include online harassment, public intimidation, physical violence, and employment discrimination.
Such targeting reflects the convergence of misogyny, xenophobia, and Islamophobia. Muslim women who are visibly Muslim, including those who wear hijab, are often disproportionately affected.
Leadership often emerges in response to hostility and exclusion. Muslim women continue to organize, teach, advocate, and build institutions despite these pressures.
Why This Matters
Highlighting Muslim women leaders is not symbolic recognition. It is narrative intervention.
When we center Muslim women’s scholarship, organizing, and institutional leadership, we counter:
- Erasure
- Tokenization
- Anti-Black racism within Muslim communities
- Islamophobic stereotypes in public discourse
- Gendered silencing of religious authority
Recognizing Misogynisa allows us to move beyond surface-level empowerment language toward structural analysis. It invites accountability within Muslim institutions and challenges prejudice in broader society.
Throughout this month, we invite you to study these leaders, amplify their work, and reflect on how Muslim women’s leadership continues to shape our collective future.
Featured Leaders
Below are the Muslim women leaders featured in our 2026 series:
- Aisha Yesufu
- Amna Nawaz
- Amra Babić
- Anjum Rahman
- Asmaa Mahfouz
- Dr. Aziza al-Hibri
- Dr. Ingrid Mattson
- Dr. Intisar Rabb
- Dr. Jamillah Karim
- Dr. Kayla Renee Wheeler
- Dr. Zaheera Soomar
- Dr. Zaynab Ansari
- Edina Leković
- Fatima Payman
- Ghazala Hashmi
- Jackie Ying
- Layla Saad
- Lina M. Khan
- Marta Khadija Felicitas Galedary
- Nana Firman
- Precious Rasheedah
- Representative Rashida Tlaib
- Rukayat Yacoub
- Sahar Jahani
- Sara Minkara
- Shaykha Ieasha Prime
- Shirin Neshat
- Ustadha Maryam Amir
- Yassmin Abdel-Magied
- Yuna
- Zahra Billoo
See the full series here
Women's History month profiles by MuslimARC
Each of these leaders reflects a different dimension of Muslim women’s public presence — from Black Muslim scholarship and abolitionist thought to environmental justice, media representation, faith-based education, legal reform, and political leadership.
Why This Series Matters
Muslim women’s leadership is often overlooked, simplified, or misrepresented.
This series:
- Centers Muslim women’s intellectual authority
- Highlights racial and ethnic diversity within Muslim communities
- Documents faith-rooted justice work
- Expands how leadership is defined
- Preserves living political and spiritual memory
Recognition is not symbolic. It is archival. It ensures that current and future generations have access to models of principled leadership.
Reflection Prompts
Use these questions for classrooms, community discussions, or personal study:
- How does learning about Muslim women’s contributions challenge Islamophobia and racism?
- How does Islamophobia operate differently when combined with racism and sexism? How do Muslim women navigate this compounded discrimination?
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What becomes possible for our communities when Muslim women’s leadership is fully recognized, supported, and resourced?
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If future generations study this moment, what example of Muslim women’s leadership would you want them to see?
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What commitment can you make this month to support Muslim women-led work?
How to Engage with the Content
Learn more about each leader’s work by exploring the full profiles shared throughout this series.
Share their work. Teach their scholarship. Cite their research. Support their institutions. Amplify their voices.
If you are an educator, integrate these leaders into your curriculum.
If you are part of a faith community, host a discussion circle.
If you are an organizer, uplift their frameworks in your work.
Support This Work
MuslimARC’s mission is to advance anti-racism education and build healthier Muslim communities rooted in justice. We work with allied communities to build solidarity and counter Islamophobia, racism, and xenophobia.
If this series has informed or inspired you:
- Share this post
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- Make a contribution to sustain our educational programming
Support Education Resources
Your support ensures that we continue documenting, teaching, and amplifying Muslim leadership grounded in collective liberation.
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