The most important thing for the happiness and preservation of our nation and the most necessary thing for strengthening our religion is educating our women and adorning them with knowledge  – Mukhlisa Bubi Mukhlisa Bubi was the first woman to…

Dayfa Khatun was an Ayyubid princess, daughter of Sultan al-Adil I, who served as Regent of Aleppo during her grandson’s minority. She was a politically able ruler, engaging in the military struggles of the time and developing the city. She…

Life is never just humorous, never just tragic – Yasmin Ahmad Director and scriptwriter Yasmin Ahmad was known for her touching films and television commercials that explored multiculturalism in Malaysia. She also worked as the executive creative director at Leo…

In parliament, we demanded complete equality for working women. In 1969 women received the same rights when it came to earnings, pension and working conditions. In addition, we also demanded that women be appointed judges of the Islamic faith. And…

Be sincere to your noble profession – Zohra Begum Kazi Zohra Begum Kazi was the first Bengali Muslim woman to become a physician and surgeon. She established gynaecological and obstetric healthcare within the health system of Bangladesh at a time…

Wife of Sultan Murad III and mother of Mehmed III, Safiye Sultan was a powerful and ambitious consort and zalide sultan (queen mother) within the Ottoman court, who lived through the reigns of seven sultans. Named Safiye for her blonde…

If the rosebud is opened by the breeze in the garden The key to our heart’s lock is the beloved’s smile The heart of one held captive by beauty and coquetry Knows neither roses, nor colour, nor face, nor tresses…

The beauty of mathematics only shows itself to more patient followers – Maryam Mirzakhani Maryam Mirzakhani was an Iranian mathematician, and the first woman to be awarded the prestigious Fields Medal for her work in the field of mathematics. She…

When I paint, I am in another world. I forget everything. My painting is not the reflection of the exterior world, but of my own inner world. – Baya Mahieddine Baya, an avant garde artist who inspired Picasso, was born…

Cups of crimson wine are circling in rounds of dance If the beloved is glimpsed this party abounds in dance God has made this believed peerless in my view Everything before my eyes resounds in dance – Ma Laqa Bai…

This week there has occurred in this city a most extraordinary event, one absolutely unprecedented in the history of the Sultans. The Grand Signior Suleiman has taken himself as his Empress a slave woman from Russia. There is great talk…

With a royal blow, she tore away the veil; She showed her face’s sun from behind the screen. The lioness showed so much force that brave men bent low before her. — Amir Khusrau Raziya Sultan was the Sultan of…

There is no community in which the rays of civilisation have shone forth – in whatever era this may be – where women did not have the greater hand and the greater due, as is perfectly obvious to anyone who…

Men claim they have superior intelligence, saying there have been more men of genius than women. They forget that only when people use their gifts do they develop. That is why poor men who have spent their lives as cooks…

You need courage to do vulnerability. But research shows the rewards are huge: compassion, self-respect, assertiveness, laughter, deeper connections, less isolation, oh, and inner peace – Tazeen Ahmad Farah Tazeen Ahmad was a journalist, presenter and writer, and one of…