We merely have to look at the admired list of as many as 900 Nobel Prize winners (both men and women) to find barely three ‘lucky’ Muslim women who have been so far honoured with this prestigious award.
All these women happen to come from different Asian countries. It was the result of their long struggle in an individual’s capacity. Their names in the list of women Nobel awardees is obviously a matter of great honour. It does not matter much which countries they belong to. What matters most is their capability in obtaining this prize.
One woman is from Iran; another is of Yemen; the third is a citizen of Pakistan. Their decorated wings are flapping like sensible souls, rolling with the merciless wind of time, and feeling a tremendous happiness for being active amid their people.
Without a doubt, securing the most high-status award was immensely hard for these three women. This becomes obvious with the selection criteria. Despite strong contenders like Vera Rubin, who discovered the existence of dark matter, many women could not get this highest honour.
Iran’s Shirin Ebadi, a lawyer, earned her important Nobel Prize in the year 2003 for spearheading the democratic values in her country. She also involved herself in furthering the cause of the human rights related to the women, the refugees and the children. Secondly, Twakkol Karman, a Yemeni journalist, drawn by the mass demonstrations and actions critical of the Yemeni regime, got the special opportunity of collecting the award in the year 2011. Thirdly, there comes Malala Yusafzai, a Pakistani woman credited with the award in the year 2014. She was, and still is, devoted to gender equality and girl’s education.