Under
the early Abbassids, the system of absolute seclusion and segregation
of the sexes did not seem to have become a general rule until the time
of the Abbasid khalif el-Qadir billlah, who did more to reverse
the position of women than any other sovereign in Islam.
In
the time of el-Mansour we hear of two royal princesses (his cousins)
going to the Byzantine war clad in mail, in performance of a vow taken
during the struggle with Marawan the Omayyad. In Haroun el-Rashid's
time, too, Arab maidens went to fight on horseback and commanded
troops. The mother of el-Muqtadir herself presided at the High Court
of Appeal, listened to applications, gave audiences to dignitaries and
foreign envoys. Reunions and conversations at the residence of cultured
women of rank and position did not cease until the time of
el-Mutawwakil.
Under
Haroun
el-Rashid and el-Ma'moun we read of ladies holding their own
against men in culture and wit, taking part in poetical recitations, and
enlivening society by their grace and accomplishments. Zubaydah,
the khalif's wife, was a gifted woman and an accomplished poetess.
She frequently sent poetical epistles to Haroun el-Rashid, and the
letter she addressed to el-Ma'moun after the death of her son el-Amin,
displays high talent and feeling.
Fadl
the poetess flourished under el-Mutawwakil, in whose palace she
appeared to have lived for a while. After her enfranchisement by el-Mutawwakil
she
married and lived in Baghdad. Her poetry is considered equal in
merit to that of the foremost poets of the time.
The
Shaikhah
Shohdah, who flourished in the sixth century of the Higra, lectured
in Baghdad on history and belles lettres, and was renowned for the
excellence of her handwriting.
One
of the most famous lady jurists was Zaynab Omm el-Mou'ayyid, who
lived about the beginning of the twelfth century/the middle of the sixth
of the Higra. She had received from some of the prominent doctors
of the age diplomas of competency, and was licensed to teach Fiqh
(Islamic law).
In
the time of Salah ad-din, flourished Taqiah, daughter of
Abou'l
Faraj, who lectured on the traditions. She also was a poetess
of eminence. The pages of Amir Osamah give a very vivid picture
of the high position occupied by women among the Arabs.
Music
had not yet been placed under the ban by legists of Islam, and people
of the highest rank, both men and women, cultivated it.
Obaydah,
the tambourinist (at-Tanbouria), who lived in the reign of
el-Mam'oun
and el-Mu3tasim, is described by the author of the Kitab el-Aghani
as
a woman of great beauty, virtue and talent. She played exquisitely on the
instrument from which she derived her title, and also composed.
Princess
Olayah,
a devout and pious woman, was one of the most accomplished musicians of
her time. She had an exquisite taste for music, and her compositions are
mentioned with high eulogium by the author of the Book of Music (Kitab
el-Aghani). Her brother Ibrahim was equally talented, and the
Khalif
el-Wathiq distinguished himself both as a composer and performer. Princesses
and ladies of high, rank often gave musical soireés known as noubat
el-Khatoun; the orchestra being composed of as many as a hundred musicians,
led by a conductor beating time, with a stick.
In
the midst of the great turmoil of the eleventh century, when the
social and political fabric of Western Asia was almost in a state
of dissolution, woman was still, the object of chivalrous adoration, and
of delicate care and attention.
Marriage
was regarded as the domestic hearth, a sanctuary, and the birth of children,
especially of sons, a blessing from heaven. To the mother belonged the
training of her sons and daughters. The sons were brought up by her
until they passed into the hands of tutors; the daughters were trained
to be virtuous, pure-souled women, the future "Ommahat El-Rigal"
or mothers of men.
To be continued
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