IslamOnline has an excellent article about the life of Aisha (also spelled 'A'ishah), one of the wives of the Prophet Muhammad (sAas). The article is called "'A'ishah: A Paragon of Islamic Activism" and describes her active involvement in political and community affairs and her fame and prowess as a scholar, as well as her outspokenness and ever-questioning intellect. Not what many people think of as a "typical" Muslim woman, but certainly a role model worth emulating :)
As a student, she rose from an intelligent youth, with a critical and probing mind to a highly effective and successful teacher, scholar and jurist, who held firm and bold views in all of the vital areas of Islamic knowledge such as tafsir, hadith, fiqh, Islamic history, nuances of Arabic language, etc. One of her hallmarks was being courageous and forthright in expressing these views. 'A'ishah's assertiveness, confidence and outspokenness for standing up for what she believed to be true and right explodes the stereotype prevailing even among Muslims today of the "rightful" role for Muslim women - that of being a silent witness prevented by her femininity from participating in the real live of the community. Her unparalleled insight into the daily life of the messenger of Allah as well as the independence of her thought and character brought her life into sharp focus from other personalities of the time... ...'A'ishah was endowed with an extraordinary intelligence that very few had been endowed with. She was not merely a passive student in understanding and learning religion even from the best and noblest of teachers, the Prophet, peace be upon him. Her trademark was her critical, ever-inquisitive and probing mind. There are numerous examples of her further questioning the Prophet's answers. Once when he found out she had followed him in disguise on his trip to the graveyard to pray for the departed companions in the middle of night, the Prophet asked her, "Why did you do this? Did your Devil visit you?" 'A'ishah asked back, " Does every person have a devil following him or her around?" When he replied to the affirmative, she asked, "Are you included in this?" He answered, "Yes. I am included in this; but my Lord has helped me against him. Thanks to this he has become a Muslim (i..e he has surrendered and thus does not command anything but good!)" Another example of her questioning the Prophet minutely was when the Prophet said that following resurrection people will rise up from their graves as Allah had created them and 'A'ishah asked, "Then they will all be naked and they will see one another?" He replied, "The issues confronting them will be far too grave for them to be looking at each other."... ...Another example of the same critical understanding is her response to the so called report that "Three things that invalidate one's prayer are a dog, a donkey and a woman." When 'A'ishah heard this narration, she asked, "how dare you compare us women with dogs and donkeys when I myself did lie down to sleep and the Prophet having woken up from sleep would pray in front of me, and when it was time for him to prostrate he would push my legs gently to the side!" ... ...Thanks to her assertiveness, 'A'ishah always stood up to what she thought was unjust, unethical and false. When she heard that some individuals were finding faults with Abu Bakr after his death, she gathered them all and spoke to them about his achievements as everyone would readily recognize and then asked them plainly which one of his actions they were critical of. None of his detractors had anything to say. She also stood up to Caliphs such as Mu'awiyah and vocally criticized their policies which she though was unjust and therefore un-Islamic. Another example of her forthrightness is her answer to those who forbade women from visiting cemeteries. On her visit to Makkah, when she stopped by the grave of her brother, someone objected to her and asked how come she was visiting his grave when the Prophet had forbidden women to do so, she replied, "The Prophet had forbidden both men and women from visiting graves in the early years of Islam, and then he lifted that prohibition later." In other words, in her sound understanding the lifting of the ban was applicable to both men and women, for there is no evidence to suggest that it was only applicable to men. It was because of her strength of character that she made the Caliph implement the will of Safiyyah, the mother of the faithful, who had stipulated one third of her estate to her Jewish brother. When the Caliph thought it was against the dictum of the Prophet, peace be upon him, 'A'ishah rejected that and obliged him to fulfil the wishes of Safiyyah... ...'A'ishah serves as the best role model for women's activism in Islam for she never was held back from full participation in any aspect of Islamic life even after the death of the Prophet, peace be upon him. During his life she accompanied the Prophet even to the battle fields to perform essential duties... ...'A'ishah's life is especially remarkable when examined with the lenses of contemporary times. Surrounded by current examples of Muslim women around the world not permitted to fully actualize their God-given potentials, 'A'ishah's life in the 6th and 7th century is a beacon to the inherent justice in Islam. She was reared with authentic Islam from her earliest memories and yet she grew up to be a woman who was confident, assertive and an active participant and leader of her society.