The Forgotten Queens of Islam

by Mernissi, Fatema

• ISBN13: 9780816624393
• ISBN10: 0816624399
• Edition: Reprint
• Format: Paperback
• Copyright: 1997-09-01
• Publisher: Univ of Minnesota Pr

Summary

When Benazir Bhutto became prime minister of Pakistan in 1988, many claimed that it was a blasphemous assault on Islamic tradition since no Muslim state, critics alleged, had ever been governed by a woman. But Fatima Mernissi examined fifteen centuries of Islamic history and discovered that the critics were wrong. Recovering the stories of fifteen Islamic queens, this remarkable exploration tells how they ascended the throne, how they governed and exercised their power, and how their forgotten reigns influence the ways in which politics is practiced in Islam today.

Table of Contents

Introduction: Was Benazir Bhutto the First?	1	(8)
PART I Queens and Courtesans	9	(62)
1 How Does One Say `Queen' in Islam?	9	(17)
2 The Caliph and the Queen	26	(11)
3 The jawari or Revolution in the Harem	37	(14)
4 Khayzuran: Courtesan or Head of State?	51	(20)
PART II Sovereignty in Islam	71	(44)
5 The Criteria of Sovereignty in Islam	71	(17)
6 Fifteen Queens	88	(27)
PART III The Arab Queens	115	(64)
7 The Shi`ite Dynasty of Yemen	115	(24)
8 The Little Queens of Sheba	139	(20)
9 The Lady of Cairo	159	(20)
Conclusion: The Medina Democracy	179	(11)
Notes	190	(30)
Index	220