Scholar Stresses Role of Women in Religious Research Following Islamic Revolution

TEHRAN (IQNA) – An Islamic scholar says there has been significant growth in the number of Iranian women active in the field of religious research after the 1979 Islamic Revolution.

This is according to Dr. Yahya Jahangiri who offered a lecture on the issue on Saturday at a conference titled “Religion, Religious Organizations, Strategies and Practices of Deradicalisation: Gender Aspect”.

After the Islamic Revolution, women played as much role in expanding religious studies as they had done during the past 14 centuries, he told IQNA while offering a summary of his speech.

According to Jahangiri, only a handful of women active in this arena could be found before the Islamic Revolution in universities and seminaries but there has been a sharp increase in this number after 1979 with the establishment of specialized institutions that train women researchers in religion.

“Today, religious research in Iran is not men-centered as both men and women are working in this field,” he added. 

Organized by Russian Science Foundation and hosted by Dagestan State University, the event aims to obtain new data on the role of women in Islam, religious organizations and countering social threats, terrorism, and ideological extremism. The conference will wrap up on Sunday.