Dar al-Zahra was the first women's Shia seminary to be opened in Qom. It was established by grand ayatollah Mohammad Kazem Shariatmadari, who opened it in 1973 as a section of his hawza Dar al-Tabligh.
By 1975, Dar al-Zahra already counted 150 female students, taught by male teachers from behind a curtain.
With the fall-out between Mohammad Kazem Shariatmadari and Khomeini, the seminary was closed and Shariatmadari was placed under house arrest.
Dar al-Zahra was run by Fatemeh Amini. After Dar al-Tabligh was closed, she opened a number of other women's seminaries in Tehran.
References
- Michael M. J. Fischer, Iran: From Religious Dispute to Revolution, Wisconsin: University of Wisconsin Press, 2003, p.84ff.
- Michael M. J. Fischer, Iran: From Religious Dispute to Revolution, Wisconsin: University of Wisconsin Press, 2003, p.84.
- Azadeh Kian-Thiébaut, “Women’s Religious Seminaries in Iran”, ISIM Newsletter, No. 6, October 2000, p. 23.
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