Truth be told even young muslim girls are only ever really taught about the wives of the prophet and his buddys, so the only role model they are getting is how to be a strong wife for your more worthwhile husband.
From a historical perspective there are quite a few strong female leaders from MENA, all pre-Islamic of course:
Kahina: She is like the Boadecia of the Maghreb, led the Berber resistance against the original Arab invasion.
Zenobia: Led a revolt against Rome and became a Queen of Syria
Dido: Phoenician Queen who founded the city of Carthage in Tunisia.
There is a lot of myth associated with these characters and who knows how much of their lives are really historical or mythical. But then the same could be said of the wives of the Prophet....