The contentious issue of women’s religious authority is Islam has engaged religious scholars, women and the state in dynamic debates. In Iran, female religious authorities have resorted to various strands of Islamic jurisprudence (fiqh) in order to interpret religious doctrines. In this research I argue that women’s participation in the production of Islamic knowledge must be assessed within the context of the jurisprudential tradition they propagate. There are currently two predominant kinds of jurisprudential tradition advocated by female religious authorities. The first type, which I refer to as “traditional jurisprudence” (fiqh-e taqlīdi), continues to advocate conventional precepts, enjoys majority support. The second type of jurisprudential tradition, or the “renaissance” approach (fiqh-e tajdīdī), is traditional in nature but attempts to revive the legal pluralism of the tradition. Through interviews and textual analysis, I highlight several factors that distinguish female reformist religious authorities from their traditionalist counterparts. In the works of female religious leaders who adhere to the fiqh-e tajdīdī tradition, one observes a major hermeneutical shift in Shiʿi legal theory. The female reformists who adhere to fiqh-e tajdīdi represent the vibrant community of religious authorities advocating an indigenous reformation within the Shiʿi tradition. This drive for reform, as well as the promise of greater adoption of the egalitarian principles of Islam, is at the center of this reformist religious authority. Despite their differences, it is important to note that these two strands of religious authorities are not static categories entirely separate from each other; rather one witnesses a continuing dialogue among their advocates.