Images

Updated 09 Jun, 2016

The Bangladeshi PM, a Saudi billionaire and the President of Mauritius are just a few Muslim women mentioned in Forbes 13th annual World’s 100 Most Powerful Women and we couldn’t be more proud.

According to Forbes, “The number of women leaders in the world has more than doubled since 2005,” which explains why most women mentioned in the list play a vital role in their country.

What’s even more interesting that “this elite group [of women] governs or directly influences more than 3.6 billion people.” That is half the world’s population! If that doesn’t impress you, we don’t know what will.

Here are the Muslim women of the hour:


Sheikh Hasina Wajed


Sheikh Hasina has led the Bangladesh Awami League since 1981 —Photo courtesy: AP
Sheikh Hasina has led the Bangladesh Awami League since 1981 —Photo courtesy: AP

Taking the 36th spot on the list, Sheikh Hasina Wajed is the current Prime Minister of Bangladesh, running for the second time. She was first elected PM in 1996. She commands a country with the world’s eighth largest population. This is her second mention in the Forbes’ list, she was previously ranked 59 last year.


Sheikha Lubna Al Qasimi


This is Sheikha Lubna's second time on the list —Photo courtesy: alamy.com
This is Sheikha Lubna's second time on the list —Photo courtesy: alamy.com

Coming in at 43, Sheikha Lubna Al Qasimi is the Minster of State for Tolerance in the UAE. In 2004, She became the first woman in the country’s history to assume a cabinet position. Her first mention on the list was in 2015 ranked at 42.


Lubna S. Olayan


Lubna at the World Economic Forum in 2013 —Photo courtesy: Flickr
Lubna at the World Economic Forum in 2013 —Photo courtesy: Flickr

Hailing from Saudi Arabia, Olayan has been ranked 65 on the list for being one of the most influential businesswomen in the Middle East. In 2004, she became the first woman elected to a board position in the Kingdom. She was ranked 67 in 2015.


Dr. Raja Easa Al Gurg


Pictured business magnate Dr Raja Easa Al Gurg —Photo courtesy: gulfbusiness.com
Pictured business magnate Dr Raja Easa Al Gurg —Photo courtesy: gulfbusiness.com

Ranked 91, Raja Easa Al Gurg is a Dubai-based businesswoman who has played a significant role in the support and encouragement of Arab women entrepreneurs. She is the managing director of multidivisional conglomerate, Easa Saled Al Gurg Group. She ranked 2 in Forbes Middle East list of Most Powerful Arab Women, 2015. Last year she ranked 97 on the World’s Most Powerful Women list.


Ameenah Gurib-Fakim


Ameenah is the first woman elected President of the country —Photo courtesy: Gurib-Fakim's Twitter account
Ameenah is the first woman elected President of the country —Photo courtesy: Gurib-Fakim's Twitter account

The first female Muslim president of Mauritius ranks in at #96. With no political background and a PhD in chemistry, this biodiversity scientist says, “I did not choose politics, but politics chose me.” She is working towards advancing global warming awareness and promoting new investment in science and technology on the island and Africa. This is her first mention on the list.

Also read: Ameenah Gurib-Fakim is no stranger to Karachi


Sri Mulyani Indrawati


Sri Mulyani Indrawati speaking at a conference —Photo courtesy: Flickr
Sri Mulyani Indrawati speaking at a conference —Photo courtesy: Flickr

Sri Mulyani ranked 37 on the latest list; The 53-year-old is the current managing director of the World Bank, following her previous stints as Indonesia’s coordinating minister of economic affairs and minister of finance.

This is the fifth year in a row that Sri Mulyani has made the list. She ranked 31st last year.

These women have worked hard to get where they are and have rightfully earned their place on this list. Next year, we hope women from Pakistan make it on the Forbes list. Here’s to seeing women changing the way people perceive gender roles.

You can find the complete list here.


Clarification: An earlier version of this article did not include Sri Mulyani Indrawati in the list. Images regrets the error.

Comments

سے Shaam Jun 09, 2016 03:26pm
Where are Pakistani women?
Recommend (0)
Zak Jun 09, 2016 03:35pm
Amarnath makes us proud and she loves Pakistan.
Recommend (0)
Razi Jun 09, 2016 03:40pm
Sri Mulyani Indrawati is the sixth one. She is Managing Director, World Bank and second most powerful over there.
Recommend (0)
Wellwisher Jun 09, 2016 03:44pm
Credits go to education and upbringing of these women. Linking success to ones religion or religious beliefs is setting the wrong message and president. Goodluck!
Recommend (0)
M.K Jun 09, 2016 03:52pm
23% world population is Muslims, and just 5% women got place in world leaders. May be its last chance to awake.
Recommend (0)
Mohammad Zayauddin Jun 09, 2016 03:53pm
comments already sent
Recommend (0)
Mady Jun 09, 2016 03:58pm
Great rising of muslim women in the global world. Including the 2 listed by Dawn, there are total 9 women of the sub-continent origin in Forbes's list: Indra Nooyi of Pepsico, USA (14th), Arundhati Bhattacharya of SBI-bank, India (25th), Aung San Su, Myanmar (26th), Chanda Kochhar of ICICI-bank, India (40th), Bidya Devi, Nepal (52th), Kiran Mazumdar-Shaw of Biocon, India (77th) and Shobhana Bhartia of HT-media, India (93rd). It seems future belongs to the sub-continent :-)
Recommend (0)
KUNAL MAJUMDAR Jun 09, 2016 04:05pm
Let's celebrate the achievements of all the women who made it to the list, not just 5 Muslims or 6 Hindus or 4 Indians.
Recommend (0)
Mouli Jun 09, 2016 04:13pm
I am an Indian. My little son always asks if all Muslims are Pakistanis for which I will always give an explanation saying "Not necessarily". Now the article on Muhammad Ali and this one makes me feel that Pakistanis consider all Muslims as Pakistanis.
Recommend (0)
Ironman Jun 09, 2016 04:26pm
Sounds like all Muslim women are Pakistanis.
Recommend (0)
Adil Jun 09, 2016 04:34pm
Economic, political and business success are not the only criteria Islam considers for successful women... however, according to modern western standards these are the only criteria under consideration
Recommend (0)
hnr Jun 09, 2016 04:37pm
They are Muslim but none from Pakistan.
Recommend (0)
Fact Finder Jun 09, 2016 04:42pm
Where is Maryam Nawaz name? She working on girl education project worldwide under the supervision of Michelle Obama. However in her native city , Lahore, a 18 yrs old girl was burned alive by her mother for marrying man of her own choice.
Recommend (0)
sudhir Jun 09, 2016 04:44pm
@سے Shaam I don't know. But there are seven Indian women in the list.
Recommend (0)
Gnanesh Jun 09, 2016 05:05pm
We should see more women from the subcontinent in this list. It starts from providing equal opportunities, pursuing girl child education, shunning patriarchal attitudes and throwing out social evils like triple talaq, caste discrimination, girl child abortions and other such utter nonsense. Congratulations to those who are listed here. We are proud of them and their achievements.
Recommend (0)
Mady Jun 09, 2016 05:09pm
@Adil I believe women who are top of their field be it politics, business, public-service, art, sports are in the Forbe's list. Is their other categories or criteria of success?
Recommend (0)
ROHIT PANDEY Jun 09, 2016 05:10pm
There are 6 Indian/Hindu women on that list as well.:)
Recommend (0)
Zaheer Jun 09, 2016 05:13pm
At what criteria Bangldeshi PM is being selected ? Just to Hang out to Death after cotroversial justice.
Recommend (0)
kdp Jun 09, 2016 05:50pm
Why do you put so much importance on religion of people. Religion has nothing to do with what these women have achieved. Might as well as mention that there are about equal number of Hindu women and the rest of them are perhaps Christians.
Recommend (0)
satya Jun 09, 2016 05:53pm
Over hyped that too 6 women's. How can they control 3.6 billion people or influence them when. Entire population of the countries to which they belong is not even close to half billion
Recommend (0)
Khwarezmi Jun 09, 2016 06:20pm
Don't ask "where are Pakistani women" when the rulers have an agenda of making money while the people suffers.
Recommend (0)
Mady Jun 09, 2016 06:30pm
@satya I believe Forbes-committee wants to acknowledge, encourage women of relatively smaller countries too
Recommend (0)
Vinod Narang Jun 09, 2016 06:33pm
Congratulations ladies for your esteemed success. You have proved that no barrier can stop women if they want to achieve success. Not Men not religion not politics. So proud of you .
Recommend (0)
Pyasa Jun 09, 2016 06:51pm
@سے Shaam : Please let me know, whenever you come to know!
Recommend (0)
M. Malik Jun 09, 2016 06:53pm
How many Pakistani women on this list, exactly??
Recommend (0)
Lakhkar Khan Jun 09, 2016 06:53pm
@hnr Maybe so but Malala Yousafzai should been on this list.
Recommend (0)
Lakhkar Khan Jun 09, 2016 06:54pm
@Zaheer Very true.
Recommend (0)
atif khan Jun 09, 2016 06:55pm
@سے Shaam wondering why this time they missed malala, or may be forbes is international
Recommend (0)
Zakaria Jun 09, 2016 06:59pm
Slowly but surely Muslim women will take their rightful position on the world stage
Recommend (0)
atif khan Jun 09, 2016 07:03pm
@Mouli you see what your brain want you to see :), by the way i dont see what you said, thats the beauty of being Islam, when its a muslim he is more closer to each other rather than which country they belong.
Recommend (0)
suren sukhtankar Jun 09, 2016 07:09pm
Why Malala wasn't included ? This young Pakistani Nobel-Prize winner has inspired millions of people all over the world.
Recommend (0)
Indian Jun 09, 2016 07:28pm
Buy no one is from Pakistan??
Recommend (0)
Ramesh Manghirmalani Jun 09, 2016 07:28pm
Congratulations
Recommend (0)
Indian Jun 09, 2016 07:28pm
No one is from Pakistan
Recommend (0)
SubhSubhBol Jun 09, 2016 08:16pm
Arundhati Roy and Mamata Banerjee should be in the list above.
Recommend (0)
dabangg Jun 09, 2016 08:24pm
I am surprised the Saudi woman is not wearing a niqab.
Recommend (0)
Bupi Jun 09, 2016 10:28pm
It sounds strange when one looks as only as Muslims. Today as world is Global Village one have to think one as humanbeings. Today's world women's are equal as men but in Pakistan there are hardly 10 percent women who are on top jobs.
Recommend (0)
Mady Jun 09, 2016 10:31pm
The world economy gets affected by the power of Janet Yellen (#3) decisions. I feel she is the most powerful woman in the list.
Recommend (0)
Satyameva Jayate Jun 09, 2016 10:55pm
Kudos to all six.
Recommend (0)
Fariha Jun 09, 2016 10:59pm
All women should be listed in such an article, not just Muslims. Being Muslim is just a religion. A person can change their religion if they feel like it, but a woman will always remain a woman.
Recommend (0)
Yawar Jun 10, 2016 12:26am
This is our typical reaction: "It is so wonderful to see six Muslims make it to the list. Time to relax." Whereas our reaction should have been: "Why only six Muslims? Something is wrong. We need to take steps to allow many more Muslims to get onto the list."
Recommend (0)
Sumit Mazumdar Jun 10, 2016 12:51am
@Fariha: Not true any more in the 21st century.
Recommend (0)
Ahmad Khan Jun 10, 2016 02:23am
For me most powerful women in the world are my mom and my wife. :)
Recommend (0)
Abbas Syed Jun 10, 2016 03:27am
These six women who made to Forbes list of 100 most powerful women for achievement in their field and not for their faith/religion. They should be celebrated and applauded for their achievement in the male dominated societies/countries they belong to, where women are relegated to the 2nd class status.
Recommend (0)
HomeAlone Jun 10, 2016 04:48am
More needs to be done to educate every female in the Islamic world.
Recommend (0)
Arshad Jun 10, 2016 05:41am
@M.K There are 7 female front line fighter pilots in the Pakistan Air Force. There no female front line fighter pilots in any Western Air Force including USA: UK; and Germany or even Russia......so let's get things in perspective !
Recommend (0)
Omrna Jun 10, 2016 06:28am
I miss Benazir Bhutto, she would have topped the list being PM of Pakistan and globally recognised more than Bangladesh PM.
Recommend (0)
Sanjeev Yadav Jun 10, 2016 07:08am
It's not about 6, it's about 94.
Recommend (0)
Zak Jun 10, 2016 07:30am
Ameena Garib-Fakim is pretty, intelligent and the best of all. A true friend of pakistan.
Recommend (0)
Zak Jun 10, 2016 07:31am
@Wellwisher Benazir would have been there.
Recommend (0)
neelima Jun 10, 2016 08:39am
More power to you . GO GIRLS!!!! I read news from both times of india and this. I must say , this news agency is very positive, fair and encouraging. Keep up the good job DAWN.COM
Recommend (0)
neelima Jun 10, 2016 08:41am
@Fariha . I agree with you . You have my vote . very intelligent and non biased thinking. Loved it!!
Recommend (0)
Kabeela Khan Jun 10, 2016 09:15am
@suren sukhtankar Good that she isnt on the list
Recommend (0)
Mady Jun 10, 2016 10:20am
@Ahmad Khan LoL. Same here my wife is the most powerful person in the house.
Recommend (0)
xyz Jun 10, 2016 10:22am
4 indians on the list and we dont count them as hindus or muslims
Recommend (0)
AliPasha(USA) Jun 10, 2016 10:51am
Sheikh Hasina is a leader.Is that a joke/
Recommend (0)
Serious Senior Jun 10, 2016 11:10am
1. Very strong, positive and good news promoting women. 2. Giving religious color does not sound good. 3. Sri Mulyani Indrawati sounds to be original Hindu/Indian name.
Recommend (0)
Abdul Majeed Sheikh Jun 10, 2016 11:20am
@Mouli Truly yes!
Recommend (0)
vivek Jun 11, 2016 10:05am
@سے Shaam In their Burqas
Recommend (0)
Indian Jun 11, 2016 03:08pm
4 women from India. Congrats! :)
Recommend (0)
Libra11 Jun 11, 2016 03:15pm
Glad to see Shaikh Haseena Wajid ranked 39. she can be within top ten if only she adds some forgiveness and tolerance
Recommend (0)
Farhan Jun 13, 2016 10:58am
22% of world population is Muslim. Having only 6 on a list of 100 goes to show that this is nothing to celebrate. There should be at least 20 muslim women here. Lots of work needs to be done with respect to women, education etc.
Recommend (0)