Zohreh Sefati

Sefati was raised in a religious family. She was born in Abadan, Iran in 1948. She studied her high school-level subjects at home before attending theology school in 1966. Sefati took preliminary lessons in jurisprudence, literature and Islamic sciences in Abadan.[1] In 1970, she left to attend Qom Theology School to continue her studies.[2] She was a student of renowned scholars such as Ayatollah Shahidi, Ayatollah Haqqi, Ayatollah Ali Meshkini and Ayatollah Mohammad Hassan Ahmadi Faqih (who was her husband).[3]

Sefati achieved the highest jurisprudence degree (Ijtihad), an accomplishment made only by a small number of women. Her Ijtihad degree was approved by several ayatollahs, including Ayatollahs Ali Yari Gharavi-Tabrizi (a student of Ayatollah Naeini), Safi Gulpaygani, Fazel Lankarani, and Mohammad Hassan Ahmadi Faqih.

Sefati has also co-founded a theology school for women in Qom, which later became known as Maktab-e Tawhid.[4] Sefati was one of the 3,000 exemplary women commended by Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad and received (and accepted) a plaque of honor from the president in October 2006.

Sefati has two brothers. One is Gholāmḥusayn Ṣefātī-Dezfūlī (1952–1977), who was a member of the radical anti-capitalist group “Manṣūrān.” Her other brother, Īraj Ṣefātī-Dezfūlī (b. 1940), represented the city of Abadan in the first and fifth Majlis (Iranian parliament) and was a member of the Majlis’ Supreme Audit Court.

Sefati and some male jurists, such as Yousef Saanei, believe a female mujtahid can become a source of emulation (a marja), i.e. that both men and women can perform taqlid (emulation) of a woman mujtahid. Most Shiite mujtahids, however, believe that women cannot become majors.

• Lady Amin
• Amina Bint al-Majlisi
• Iftikhār al-Tujjar
• Zīnah al-Sādāt Humāyūnī

• Islamic Insight
• Iran Daily Panorama