Due to the Fatima Zahra’s birth anniversary which is also designated as Mother's Day and Women’s week in Iran, the international scientific meeting of ‘Fatima, Lady of Kindness, Mother of Her Father’, was held in the country with collaboration of The World Forum for Proximity of Islamic Schools of Thought. The guests of this conference also visited Alzahra University in April 14th, 2015 and had a meeting with university officials. 

Senegal Minister of Women, Children and Family, Iraq Minister of Culture, CCO of Muslim Women Union of Greece, and some of the academic members, writers, poets, and political party members from Senegal, Lebanon, Oman, and Turkey participated in this meeting. University Chancellor, Director of International Academic Collaborations, dean of faculties for Literature, Languages and History, Physics, and Biology, and also a faculty member of French Department were among Alzahra university officials present in this meeting. 

Alzahra University was founded in 1964 as a private institution with 90 students under title of The Higher Educational Institute for Girls, and today it has more than 10000 students after fifty years of activity. The comprehensive university of Alzahra, offering study programs in Basic and Social Sciences, Humanities, Engineering, Arts, and PE, is among one of the best universities countywide. 

The event started with recitation of Holy Quran and a brief introduction about the university. The main issues discussed in the meeting were about the university accomplishments as an educational center exclusive for girls in Iran, the role of women in Iranian society, family and marriage, Iran's image within the international community, and university admission requirements for international students. Moreover, detailed information about the Alzahra University Award to present to top Muslim women scholars around the world in the next year was given in the event, the idea that received much attention. The guests also expressed their pleasure and interest for participating in the meeting and taking further steps to cooperate in different fields respectively.

Amsatou Sow Sidibé, Senegal’s Minister of Women, Children and Family and Human Rights Advisor to the president, referred to the measure of attention called for the education of Muslim women and girls in Iran, as an indication of concentration on the Supreme Leaders’ statements. She also admired the idea of Alzahra University Award for Muslim women scholars and described it as a motivation for Muslim women. Prof. Saliba from the Universite Cheikh Anta Diop in Dakar also mentioned to the long history of Alzahra University as a sign of historical understanding of the women’s position in Iranian society and questioned about the job opportunities for Alzahra university graduates and exclusive job titles for Iranian women which was responded by the Dr. Khazali, the university chancellor. “Women are not considered inferior to men in our country; hence no employment quota is needed for them. They have different responsibilities in various job titles and except few fields like some of Women’s Healthcare specialities that are exclusively for women, others mostly are available for them. Both women and men are treated equal in workplace regarding salary and benefits,” she said and added: “40 percent of graduate alumni each year belong to Alzahra University.”

Director of International Academic Collaborations also emphasized on the essential role of women in family and education of children as an important factor for Iranian women to accept the differences between two genders and not to insist on total equality with men. Dr. Marandi further referred to Islam and division of labor in family, as men are assigned to provide the financial support for the family, while “women are given a more vital responsibility toward rising the new generation, although this is only their preference and they are totally free to work outside of their homes.”

The marriage of educated girls in Iran and Turkey also was among the issues discussed in the meeting. Çetin Topçuoğlu the head of Jitendra Institute, professor of Çukurova University, and Turkish Taekwondo athlete who lost his wife in the attack to Mavi Marmara ship by Israeli government and was in captivity for three days, referred to the increasing rate of marriage among educated girls in his country and inquired about the situation in Iran. “Implementation of new policies by Iranian government has been caused new reforms and modifications regarding the issue,” Dr. Khazali responded. She also lauded Turkey for its support of the Palestinian people, and added people of Yemen at this time are in need for support from all Muslims around the world. 

Aynur Sülün, the writer in Nisanur Journal and member of Mostazafin Association also underlined the importance of family strength and said: “We, as journalists, are trying to reduce the negative effects of media on families. Several related seminars recently were held in Turkey about this problem.” Dean of Oriental Languages in Sakarya University of Turkey, and graduate student of Tarbiat Modarres University in Iran, Ayesha Susar, also expressed her pleasure of spending so many years in Iran and hoped to achieve desired outcomes of this meeting. 

CCO of Muslim Women Union of Greece and the head of Avicenna Institute, Dr. Al-Ghandour described the activity of the comprehensive university of Alzahra as an indication of strong identity of Persian women and added: “As far as I know there is no such support for women in other Islamic countries and I give my congratulations to Iranians for that.” She referred to knowing European Muslims as the reason of her decision to convert to Islam and noted: “I was a veiled Muslim woman among the parliamentary candidates in the European Parliament elections last year, and that was a matter of surprise and wonder for everyone. My party could not enter the parliament, but I received many warm welcomes and will continue trying to achieve that goal.” Dr. Talal Atrissi, Professor of Sociology in Lebanon University, also commented on the long years of activity and comprehensiveness of various scientific fields in Alzahra University, and suggested the world to know about these aspects of the country which devotes million dollars each year to enhance education and research, as contrary to the opposite image of Iran portrayed outside of its borders. One of the Omani poets in the meeting also remarked her interest into Persian Literature.

According to university chancellor, Alzahra University now is providing study programs for foreign students and any collaboration from other universities in this regard is truly appreciated and welcomed. She referred to the university achievements in different student competitions and festivals and said: “the appropriate environment apart from many distracting factors for the study of girls paves the way for their success.” Jaber Al-Jabari, Iraq Minister of Culture and the Head of Iraq-Iran Friendship Association, expressed his honor in regard to the activity of such center in current Middle East and inquired about other branches of Alzahra University outside the country and the admission requirements for non-Iranian students. Dr. Khazali mentioned other branches in Urmia and Alborz provinces of Iran and responded: “If the facilities to achieve that goal are provided, we are ready to expand our branches abroad.” She also declared that foreign students can apply for study in Alzahra University by sending their educational completion certificates and academic documents and in case of their acceptance they need to pay decided tuition fees, although scholarship students are exempt from paying for expenses. Scholarships are provided either by the Iranian Government scholarship for top students or the country of origin after signing a memorandum between two countries.