Great Women Profiles

She is a Polish-born French physicist, famous for her work on radioactivity and twice a winner of the Nobel Prize. With Henri Becquerel and her husband, Pierre Curie, she was awarded the 1903 Nobel Prize for Physics. She was the sole winner of the 1911 Nobel Prize for Chemistry. She was the first woman to win a Nobel Prize, and she is the only woman to win the award in two different fields. Marie Currie

She is the wife of Pharaoh the adoptive mother of Moses mentioned in Surah chapter Al-Qasas in Quran, identified as Bithiah in the Jewish tradition. She is revered by Muslims as one of the four greatest women of all time, and according to a prophetic narration in Sahih al-Bukhari, the second ever. She is believed to have secretly accepted monotheism after witnessing the miracle of Moses. The tradition holds that she worshipped God in secret and prayed in disguise fearing her husband. She died while being tortured by her husband, who had discovered her monotheism and retaliated to her rebellion against his tyranny. Siti Asiyah

She was the first wife and the first follower of the Islamic prophet Muhammad. She was the daughter of Khuwaylid ibn Asad, a notable of the Quraysh tribe in Makkah and a successful merchant. She was supportive of Muhammad's prophetic mission, always helping in his work, proclaiming his message and belittling any opposition to his prophecies. It was her encouragement that helped Muhammad believe in his mission and spread Islam. She also invested her wealth in the mission. When the polytheists and aristocrats of the Quraysh harassed the Muslims, she used her money to ransom Muslim slaves and feed the Muslim community. Khadijah Binti Khuwailid

She was an American author, disability rights advocate, political activist and lecturer. Born in West Tuscumbia, Alabama, she lost her sight and her hearing after a bout of illness when she was 19 months old. She then communicated primarily using home signs until the age of seven, when she met her first teacher and life-long companion Anne Sullivan. Sullivan taught her language, including reading and writing. After an education at both specialist and mainstream schools, attended Radcliffe College of Harvard University and became the first deafblind person in the United States to earn a Bachelor of Arts degree Hellen Keller

She is an American attorney and author who served as the first lady of the United States from 2009 to 2017, being married to former president Barack Obama. She campaigned for her husband's presidential bid throughout 2007 and 2008, delivering a keynote address at the 2008 Democratic National Convention. She has subsequently delivered acclaimed speeches at the 2012, 2016, and 2020 conventions. As first lady, she served as a role model for women and worked as an advocate for poverty awareness, education, nutrition, physical activity, and healthy eating. She supported American designers and was considered a fashion icon. She was the first African-American woman to serve as first lady. After her husband's presidency, Obama's influence has remained high. In 2020, she topped Gallup's poll of the most admired woman in America for the third year running. Michelle Obama

She is an American politician serving as the U.S. representative for Minnesota's 5th congressional district since 2019. She is a member of the Democratic Party. She has advocated for a $15 minimum wage, universal healthcare, student loan debt forgiveness, the protection of Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals, and abolishing U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE). A frequent critic of Israel, she supports the Boycott, Divestment and Sanctions (BDS) movement and has denounced its settlement policy and military campaigns in the occupied Palestinian territories, as well as what she describes as the influence of pro-Israel lobbies in American politics. She is the first Somali American in the United States Congress and the first woman of color to represent Minnesota. She is also one of the first two Muslim women (along with Rashida Tlaib) to serve in Congress. She has been the target of several death threats, as well as derogatory comments by political opponents, including Donald Trump, as a result of her background. Ilhan Omar

She was a prominent Indonesian activist who advocated for women's rights and female education. She was born into an aristocratic Javanese family in the Dutch East Indies (present-day Indonesia). After attending a Dutch-language primary school, she wanted to pursue further education, but Javanese women at the time were barred from higher education. Instead, she entered a period of seclusion mandated for teenage girls until they married. She acquired knowledge by reading books and by corresponding with Indonesian and Dutch people. Her father allowed her to go into the community beginning in 1896, although she remained an unmarried single woman. Kartini

She has worked in the technology industry for over twenty years. She became involved in the creation of Google in 1998 when she rented out her garage as an office to the company's founders. She worked as Google's first marketing manager in 1999, and later led the company's online advertising business and original video service. After observing the success of YouTube, she suggested that Google should buy it; the deal was approved for $1.65 billion in 2006. She was appointed CEO of YouTube in 2014, serving until resigning in February 2023 Susan Wojciciki

She was the key figure behind the success of the big company PT Paragon Technology & Innovation (PTI) which presented 3 local cosmetic brands such as Wardah, Emina, and Make Over. “In Islam, nothing happens without Allah’s permission, with efforts and Allah’s permission there will be easiness from Allah. The keys are collaboration and innovation while still carrying out the 5 main values ​​in paragon. Namely, divinity, caring, humility, toughness, and innovation,” explained Nurhayati Subakat in her presentation. She added that the purpose of running a company was not about looking for money. But how we were useful for others. The most important things were collaboration and respect for differences. From her, we could learn that with dedication, perseverance, and innovation, we would be able to produce maximum results. Nurhayati Subakat