Fatima Sheikh: A Founding Member Of The Indian Feminist Movement, Alongside Savitribai Phule And Jyotirao Phule

Fatima Sheikh Launched The Feminist Movement In India And Worked For Women's Rights Highlights 1. She was an enlightened woman who stood side by side with Savitribai Phule and Jyotirao Phule. 2. People used to harass and stop Fatima and Savitribai when they started the educational campaigns. 3. Fatima Sheikh started the first joint struggle of Dalits and Muslims. 4. Google, the world's largest search engine, featured a photo of Fatima Sheikh, wishing her a happy 191st birthday. -------- By Bilal Ahmad Mir, New Age Islam Translation from Urdu by Kaniz Fatma, New Age Islam 28 January 2022 Fatima Sheikh not only launched the feminist movement in India, but she also worked for women's rights. She originated the slogan "Save daughter, educate daughter" with Savitribai Phule a century and a half ago when education for women was deemed kufr. The presence of a poor and lower-class woman, in particular, was regarded as foreboding. Fatima Sheikh was born on January 9, 1831, in Pune, Maharashtra. She was the first Indian woman to become a teacher and open a school for girls. She was an enlightened woman who stood side by side with Savitribai Phule and Jyotirao Phule. She served as a teacher in Phule's secret school and went door to door encouraging small and large families to send their daughters to school and take care of school affairs. It is known that When Savitribai Phule started teaching lower castes, Dalits and especially women, she was asked to either stop this practice or leave her home. The mother-in-law and father-in-law forced her to leave the house. When she decided to leave her house, Fatima Sheikh and her brother Usman Sheikh gave her a place to stay in their house. They helped her establish the first girls' school, the "Intelligence Library". She was against both the upper caste Hindus as well as the conservative Muslims. Almost everyone in the upper class was enraged by her decision and sought to stop her by pestering her socially. Fatima Sheikh, on the other hand, stood like an iron wall and aided Savitribai in any way she could. Her brother, Usman Sheikh could not remain unaffected by the movement. According to documentation from the time, Usman Sheikh recommended Fatima Sheikh to pursue a career in education. People used to harass and stop Fatima and Savitribai when they started attending Jyotibai's school. They were stoned, and the path front of them was littered with thorns. They did not, however, give up and instead became an iron wall in their cause, fighting oppressors who were plotting day and night against the education of lower-class, oppressed, and Muslim women. The life of Fatima Sheikh is of great importance because she started the first joint struggle of Dalits and Muslims. The struggle in the life of Fatima Sheikh proved to be an early prelude. Fatima Sheikh became an icon in India. Fatima Sheikh also worked for women's rights and founded a school for Muslim girls in Pune. Fatima Sheikh was also a teacher at Savitribai Phule School, where she educated Dalit and Muslim girls. The Aim for Education campaign included both Savitribai and Fatima. Fatima Sheikh was a well-known figure in both India and the United States. Fatima Sheikh taught at the University of Pennsylvania and Harvard College of Education as an assistant professor. With her job and personal life, she has affected many women. She was India's first Muslim teacher. She taught in two different Muslim and Dalit girls' schools. Fatima Sheikh was placed in textbooks by the Indian government in 2014. The storey of Fatima Sheikh motivates women to fight for equal rights. Fatima Sheikh was instrumental in opening the doors of education for Muslim and Dalit women in the country and became a forerunner in Indian education for underprivileged women. But unfortunately, history has forgotten Fatima Sheikh. On the internet, Google, the world's largest search engine, featured a photo of Fatima Sheikh in a Google Doodle and wished her a happy 191st birthday. This was a true honour for her. Urdu Article: Fatima Sheikh - The Icon of Women's Rights فاطمہ شیخ۔ حقوق نسواں کی آئیکن URL: https://www.newageislam.com/islam-women-feminism/fatima-sheikh-savitribai-jyotirao-phule-feminist-movement/d/126255 New Age Islam, Islam Online, Islamic Website, African Muslim News, Arab World News, South Asia News, Indian Muslim News, World Muslim News, Women in Islam, Islamic Feminism, Arab Women, Women In Arab, Islamophobia in America, Muslim Women in West, Islam Women and Feminism