In Gender and Succession in Medieval and Early Modern Islam: Bilateral Descent and the Legacy of Fatima, Alyssa Gabbay examines episodes in pre-modern Islamic history in which individuals or societies recognized descent from both men and women. Fatima, daughter of the Prophet Muhammad, features prominently in this study, for her example constituted a striking precedent for acknowledging bilateral descent in both Sunni and Shi'i societies, with all of its ramifications for female inheritance, succession and identity.
Covering a broad geographical and chronological swath, Gender and Succession in Medieval and Early Modern Islam presents alternative perspectives to patriarchal narratives, and breaks new ground in its focus upon how people conceived of family structures and bloodlines. In so doing, it builds upon a tradition of studies seeking to dispel monolithic understandings of Islam and Gender.
Author(s): Alyssa Gabbay; Roy Mottahedeh
Series: The Early and Medieval Islamic World
Publisher: I.B. Tauris
Year: 2020
Language: English
Pages: xii+270
Title Page
Copyright Page
Contents
Illustrations
Figures
Tables
Preface and acknowledgements
Transliteration, periodization and dates
Introduction: Redrawing family trees
The problem of patrilineal descent
Patrilineality versus bilateral descent, and a search for agency
Defining Shi‘ism
Defining Fatima
How this book is organized
Part 1: Mothers
Chapter 1: Umms and wombs: How and (maybe) why Shi‘is reckoned descent through Fatima
My mother, myself?
Medieval views on generation
Beyond biology
How Fatima carried on her lineage
Umm Abīhā
Challenges to bilateral descent
Why was Fatima seen in this way?
A closer look at Mary, Fatima and ‘the family of ‘Imran’
Conclusion
Chapter 2: Other mothers, other sons
‘A better claim to the throne’
Biographical dictionaries
Shi‘i hadith collections
Historical chronicles
Poetry and Sufism
Legal texts
Conclusion
Part 2: Heiresses
Chapter 3: Heiress to the Prophet: Fatima, Fadak and female inheritance
Carving out a more prominent place for daughters
The stark patrilineal model
Inheritance and the advent of Islam
Inheritance in Sunni and Shi‘i law
The Fatima connection
Fatima’s khutba
More Shi‘i support for Fatima and Fadak
Outside influences and Qur’an 8:75
Conclusion
Chapter 4: Endowing agency: Daughters, waqfs and semi-matrilineal inheritance
Deeds that speak
Women and waqfs in pre-Safavid Iran and Central Asia
‘Gunpowder’ waqfs
Sufi waqfs
A matter of debate
Conclusion
Part 3: Successors
Chapter 5: Speaking in her father’s name: Fatima as successor to the Prophet Muhammad
From mute to outspoken
Female successorship in Islam
Fatima as successor: The khutba
Fatima as successor: The muṣḥaf and other miracles
The role of pre-Islamic practices
Conclusion
Chapter 6: Fatima’s royal shadow: Muslim female rulers’ quest for legitimacy
‘The tongue of ‘Ali’
Slipping the constraints of their gender: Sitt al-Mulk (d. 1023) and Arwa (d. 1138)
Becoming a man: RaḊiyya bint Iltutmish (d. 1240)
Ruling as a woman: Parī Khān Khānum (d. 1578)
Conclusion
Epilogue: Whither Fatima?
Notes
Preface
Introduction
Chapter 1
Chapter 2
Chapter 3
Chapter 4
Chapter 5
Chapter 6
Epilogue
Bibliography
Primary sources
Secondary sources
Index
