In Shiism, there have been dozens of women who have attained the rank in the modern history of Iran (for instance, Amina Bint al-Majlisi in the Safavid era, Bibi Khanum in the Qajar era, Lady Amin in the Pahlavi era, and Zohreh Sefati during the time of the Islamic Republic).See: Mirjam Künkler and Roja Fazaeli, "The Life of Two Mujtahidas: Female Religious Authority in 20th Century Iran", in Women, Leadership and Mosques: Changes in Contemporary Islamic Authority, ed. Masooda Bano and Hilary Kalmbach (Brill Publishers, 2012), 127-160. There are diverging opinions as to whether a female mujtahid can be a marjaʻ or not. Zohreh Sefati and some male jurists believe a female mujtahida can become a marja''' — in other words, they believe that believers perform taqlid (emulation) of a female mujtahid— but most male jurists believe a marjaʻ must be male.
In Shiism there have been dozens of women who have attained the rank in the modern history of Iran (for instance Amina Bint al-Majlisi in the Safavid era Bibi Khanum in the Qajar era Lady Amin in the Pahlavi era and Zohreh Sefati during the time of the Islamic Republic)See Mirjam Künkler and Roja Fazaeli "The Life of Two Mujtahidas Female Religious Authority in 20th Century Iran" in Women Leadership and Mosques Changes in Contemporary Islamic Authority ed Masooda Bano and Hilary Kalmbach (Brill Publishers 2012) 127-160 There are diverging opinions as to whether a female mujtahid can be a marjaʻ or not Zohreh Sefati and some male jurists believe a female mujtahida can become a marja''' — in other words they believe that believers perform taqlid (emulation) of a female mujtahid— but most male jurists believe a marjaʻ must be male