When we imagine the Crusades, our minds almost immediately summon images of armored Christian knights and Muslim warriors clashing on the battlefields of the Levant. Popular history and romanticized media have long portrayed these medieval holy wars as an exclusively male enterprise. Yet the historical reality tells a far more surprising story. Women took up […]
Sayyida al Hurra, Islamic pirate queen
Sayyida al Hurra was a 16th-century pirate queen. Though Islamic records of the time are strangely silent about her, she was a powerful force of the time and an equal ally of the famous pirate Barbarossa. Her real name is unknown; the title Sayyida al Hurra means “noble lady who is free and independent; the […]
Nana Asma’u: princess, poet, reformer of Muslim women’s education
Nana Asma’u (1793-1863) was a princess, poet, and teacher, and is considered the precursor to modern feminism in Africa. She had such an impact of the education of women, that in Nigeria today, many Islamic women’s organisations, schools, and meeting halls are named after her. Nana was a member of the Fodio clan who ruled […]