The All-Russian Congress of Muslim Women, held from 24 to 27 April 1917, in Kazan, was a significant forum of Muslim women following the February Revolution in Russia. It brought together 72 delegates and 300 spectators from across the former Russian Empire, including regions like Crimea, the Caucasus, Turkestan, Lithuania, and Siberia. The congress served as preparation for the, which took place a month later in Moscow.[1] [2]
Participants included community leaders, prominent teachers, university students and graduates, as well as working women. Among notable attendees were Xädiçä Yamaşeva, Salima Yakubova,, Ilhamiya Tuktarova,, Fatykha Aitova, and Gulsum Asfendiyarova.[3] [4]
The Congress was inaugurated by its chairwoman, Xädiçä Yamaşeva, who declared,
Previously, the state forbade us from addressing our disenfranchised and oppressed status. Now, with the fall of the former regime, the revolution has given us freedom. On behalf of the Central Bureau [of Russian Muslims], I want to share this joy with you and extend my heartfelt congratulations to the congress…The resolutions and decrees adopted at the Congress marked the beginning of the process of liberating Muslim women and changing their social status in both society and the family. One of the most significant resolutions was “On the Equality of Men and Women in Islam,” which included three key points:
Regarding family and marriage relations, articles were adopted that prohibited polygamy, affirmed the right of women to divorce, and required the personal presence of both the bride and the groom at the marriage ceremony.