Abstract
The article examines the question of the women religious mentorship in modern Iran. It is shown that Iranian theologians differed in their opinion whether a woman can be a religious mentor (marja): many of them supported it, others agreed to it only if she should mentor other women, and many others, including Ayatollah Khomeini, opposed it. Brief biographies of two most prominent female marjas are given: those of Nesrat Amin and Zahra Sefati. Both of them received a permission to interpret Islamic texts from distinguished Iranian ayatollahs. With theirinitiative and eagernessfor knowledge, they managed to succeed in Shiite theology and their works were highly regarded by Iranian ayatollahs. It is evident that their activities were closely linked to important events that happened in Iranian society during their lifetime: the Constitutional Revolution, anti-religious Shah regime, Islamic Revolution. Currently due to increase in the education and social activity among women, a need arose to officially allow women to become marja. Today, in Iran there works the Women Council on Islamic Law, what allows to expand the role of women in development of Islamic Law
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Schedule a callMore From: RSUH/RGGU Bulletin. Series Political Sciences. History. International Relations
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