Munira Qubeysi is the head of the largest women-only Islamic movement in the world. It offers Islamic education exclusively to girls and women.
Munira Qubeysi is the head of the largest women-only Islamic movement in the world. It offers Islamic education exclusively to girls and women.
Birth: 1 January 1933 (Age: 92)
Source of Influence: Preachers & Spiritual Guides, Scholarly
Influence: Spiritual leader of more than 75,000 students in Damascus alone
School of Thought: Sunni, Traditional Sunni
Status: Not featured in current year
Munira Qubeysi is the head of the largest women-onΒly Islamic movement in the world. It offers Islamic education exclusively to girls and women. Qubeysi commands around 80 schools in Damascus alone, teaching more than 75,000 students. She is one of the most significant Islamic scholars in the world; her movement focuses on learning the Qurβan and six hadith collections by heart. Qubeysi is arguably the most influential Muslim woman in the world, albeit in great discretion.
Background andΒ Growth:Β Munira Qubeysi is the daughter of a merchant from the Hauran region in Syria. She was born in 1933 and grew up in Al-MuhaΒjirin district in Damascus. She attended government schools as a child, eventually entering the Faculty of Science at the University of Damascus. After graduaΒtion, she worked as a teacher. At that time, she attendΒed lessons of Sheikh Ahmed Kuftaro, who later beΒcame the Grand Mufti of Syria. However, after some differences, she continued her studies under Sheikh Abdul Karim Al-Rifai. She entered the Faculty of IsΒlamic Sciences at the University of Damascus, studyΒing under Sheikh Mustafa Al-Sibaβi, who was leader of the Syrian Muslim Brotherhood, and Professor Issam Al-Attar, who succeeded Al-Sibaβi. Although she studΒied under several teachers, she carved her own path while maintaining good relations with the various Muslim intellectual communities in Damascus. After the Baβathist coup in Syria, Sheikha Qubeysi focused all her efforts on womenβs religious educationβeven to the point of refusing to marryβestablishing what is now generally known as the βQubeysiatβ.
Female MuslimΒ Order:Β At a time when meetings of Islamic organisations are proscribed in Syria, Sheikha Qubeysiβs network, the Qubeysiat, has legally been permitted to host classes and meetings in mosques since 2006βalthough they had been operating as a secret society long before that time. Members of the Qubeysiat are provided a unique role within Arab society as scholars and teachers exclusively catering to the needs of Muslim women, providing a forum to address religious questions and discuss religious issues. Due to some of her followers coming from wealthy and influential families, Qubeysiβs moveΒment has been able to spread globally as well as affect changes in Syria. Under Bashar Al-Assad, restrictions around wearing hijab were relaxed. During the SyriΒan Civil War the Qubeysiat have grown extensively and enjoy good relations with the regime. Among their new responsibilities conferred by President AsΒsad is near exclusive control over the countryβs youth Qurβanic memorisation programme conducted in every mosque.
Milestones in Islamic Education:Β Qubeysi is influΒential as the leader of an incredibly successful educaΒtional movement. The religious education of women had previously been neglected so the emergence of a female-specific educational initiative has become very popular, making the Qubeysiat, in numbers, the leadΒing Islamic movement in Syria. Qubeysiβs students are also at the forefront of a significant achievement in Islamic history in regards educationβno less than 70 Qubeysiat have memorised nine canonical books of hadith with extensive chains of narration.
βStudents must inform their teachers of everything that is happening with them β¦ because here we are in a hospital of faith, and a patient in hospital must inform his doctor of everything so that he can rectify it.β
βa Qubaysi edict
OverΒ 50 yearsΒ teaching Islamic studies to womenΒ
75Β thousandΒ female students in Syria study in Qubeysiat circles