Women in the `Abbasid Court and Beyond

HIST 100710/9/13

What does it mean to be civilized?

• When I say someone is civilized, what am I saying about them?

• When I say someone is barbaric, what am I saying about them?

• What impact does this have on the study of history?

CIVILIZATION!

BARBARIANS!

Judging the Past• On whose terms do we judge the past?• Positivism: Progressive historical narrative• Cultural Relativism: Our ideas are true only as far as our civilization extends• Empiricism: Use primary sources to judge the past on its own terms

Leopold von Ranke, father of historical empiricism

Studying Women and the Family in Islamic History

• Why is it difficult?

The Family in Pre-Islamic Arabia

• Patriarchal agnatic clan• Extended family – several couples, their

offspring, and clients over several generations• Under the authority of eldest or chief male• Group duties and responsibilities

The Family in Pre-Islamic Arabia

• “Honor and Shame”• Defending individual members• Making restitution for individuals– Financial– Blood feud– All male relatives potentially responsible

• The actions of one has real consequences for all• No individual control over decision making

Muhammad the Feminist

• Enhanced status for women• Qur’an addresses women directly• Encourages marriage, discourages divorce• Protections for divorced women• Right for women to initiate divorce• Right for women to own and inherit property

Hadith on the Elevated Status of Mothers

• A man came to the Prophet and said, ‘O Messenger of God! Who among the people is the most worthy of my good companionship? The Prophet said: Your mother. The man said, ‘Then who?’ The Prophet said: Then your mother. The man further asked, ‘Then who?’ The Prophet said: Then your mother. The man asked again, ‘Then who?’ The Prophet said: Then your father. (Bukhari, Muslim)

• A man once consulted the Prophet Muhammad about taking part in a military campaign. The Prophet asked the man if his mother was still living. When told that she was alive, the Prophet said: “(Then) stay with her, for Paradise is at her feet.” (Al-Tirmidhi)

• On another occasion, the Prophet said: “God has forbidden for you to be undutiful to your mothers.” (Sahih Al-Bukhari)

Seclusion and Veiling

• Older Mediterranean traditions• Typically associated with status• Qur’an encourages modesty,but also includes status argument • No evidence of seclusion duringtime of the Prophet• Women as transmitters of religious knowledge, political representatives, present in battle

Muhammad and His Wives

• Khadija – Mother of Islam– Prophet’s first wife and first convert– Monogamous marriage– Older and wealthier widowed woman

• Following Khadija’s death in 620, ten political marriages• Almost all to widows or divorcees

Grave of Muhammad’s Widows

`A’isha bint Abu Bakr (ca. 613-678)• Mother of the Believers• Youngest wife of Muhammad, just entering puberty, age is contested• Important hadith transmitter• Advisor to Abu Bakr and `Umar• Participant in the First Fitna

Women and the Conquests

• Captives and slaves• Polygyny and concubines• Harems• Created complex family structures• Acknowledged heirs with slave mothers