Kaatiba Writes
  • Home
  • Books
    • Legends of Mourra
    • Oracle
    • Rivener
  • Short Stories
    • The Queen, the Lion, and the Rings
    • A Net of Stars, Woven
    • The Peacock, The Crown, & The River
    • October Odds
  • Concepts
  • Poetry
  • Blog
  • Podcast
  • Editing
  • Contact

Magnificent Muslim Women - A Brief List

7/10/2020

0 Comments

 
Picture
Photo by Mari Potter on Unsplash
You may or may not know that I'm writing a Muslim-themed fantasy epic temporarily titled The Chronicles of Mourra (or CofM for short). I've been working on it off-and-on for about a decade now, which means I've been doing research for it for the same amount of time. I'm quite blessed in that I grew up surrounded by easy access to an excellent Islamic education (any and all ignorance is a reflection of me entirely lol).

My parents especially instilled in me a love of my history, traditions, and religion. Both my parents are educators and storytellers, in different ways, so that I haven't really needed 'outside' research to create the world of CofM (as it stands now). I base a lot of it on my lived experience!

​Still, when someone on Facebook asked me if I was able to do my research easily, and lamented struggling to find resources on notable women in Islam, especially in positions of power and leadership, I went on a researching binge and compiled a very non-exhaustive list of resources on magnificent Muslim women.

This is more a jumping off point so you can have a direction when researching online (there's a lot of books out there too!) I focused mostly on medieval women, as there's a wealth of easily accessible information out there on all the incredible female companions and contemporaries from the Prophet's (ﷺ) time. (Although, if y'all want a list of them, do let me know and I'll make a part 2 to this!)
1) Via Ballandalus, a truly excellent online resource on Islamic history:
  • 15 Important Muslim Women in History 
  • 20 Influential Medieval/Early Modern Muslim Women 
  • 20 Influential Medieval/Early Modern Muslim Women 
  • Women in Islamic History 
  • Famous Historical Muslims of African/Black Origin
  • 27 Prominent Medieval Andalusi Women
​
2) Extraordinary Women from the Golden Age of Muslim Civilisation via 1001inventions
​

3) Women’s Contribution to Classical Islamic Civilisation: Science, Medicine and Politics via MuslimHeritage

All these links include references that should lead you to more information! I did my best to make sure they're all credible too. Some standout favourite women I want to learn more about include:
  1. Lalla Fatma N’Soumer
  2. Rābi‘a al-‘Adawīyya
  3. Lubna of Cordoba
  4. Fāṭima b. Abī al-Qāsim ‘Abd al-Rahmān b. Muhammad b. Ghālib al-Ansārī al-Sharrāṭ
  5. Shajar al-Durr
  6. Zaynab b. Ahmad
  7. Sayyida al-Hurra
  8. Parī Khān Khānum
  9. Fatima al-Fihri
  10. Maryam bint Mohammed bin Abdullah al-Fihr
  11. Mariam “Al-Astrolabiya” Al-Ijliya
  12. Zaynab Al Shahda
  13. Gevher Nesibe Sultan
  14. Queen Amina of Zaria
  15. Zubayda bint Abu Ja’far al-Mansur
  16. Dhayfa Khatun
  17. Sitt al-Mulk
  18. Shajarat al-Durr
  19. Sultana Razia
  20. Umm al-Dardā’ Hujayma bt. Ḥuyayy al-Sughra
  21. Sayyida Nafīsah al-Ṭāhirah
  22. Kanzah bt. Isḥāq b. Muḥammad al-Awrabiyya
  23. ‘Arīb al-Ma'muniyya
  24. ‘Ā’ishah b. Ahmad b. Muhammad b. Qādim
  25. Zaynab bt. Isḥāq al-Nafzāwiyyah 
  26. Fāṭimah bt. Muḥammad b. Aḥmad al-Samārqandī
  27. ʿĀʾisha al-Mannūbiyya 
  28. Fāṭimah al-Ḥurrah
  29. Ā’ishah al-Ba‘uniyyah
  30. Malahayati of Aceh
  31. Gulbadan Begum
  32. Nūr Jahān 
  33. Nānā Asmā’u 
Do you know of notable Muslim women of history that are absent from this list? I would particularly like to find more women from outside the Arab world! Comment below and let me know!
Until next time, happy reading!
0 Comments



Leave a Reply.

    Welcome to the blog!

    Featuring prompt fills, excerpts from my wips, posts about my writing process, and more.

    Make sure to subscribe to get updates delivered directly to you whenever new content is available!

    Categories

    All
    A To Z Aesthetics
    Book Review
    Cofm
    Excerpts
    Fairytale Retellings
    Fictober 2021
    Fictober 2022
    Glitch Wip
    Islam
    Lofm
    Oracle Wip
    Prompt Fills
    Q & A
    Reaper
    Relationships
    Research
    Rivener
    Updates
    Wip Intro
    Worldbuilding
    Writing
    Writing Process

    RSS Feed

Copyright © Sumayyah A.
​All rights reserved.
  • Home
  • Books
    • Legends of Mourra
    • Oracle
    • Rivener
  • Short Stories
    • The Queen, the Lion, and the Rings
    • A Net of Stars, Woven
    • The Peacock, The Crown, & The River
    • October Odds
  • Concepts
  • Poetry
  • Blog
  • Podcast
  • Editing
  • Contact