READ...: Bint al-Shati's Wives of the Prophet: Feminist or Feminine?

Abstract

The Egyptian writer and Islamic scholar Dr. ^cA'isha ^cAbd al-Rahman (b. 1913), who originated from the countryside, was a pioneering woman in many respects, although she did not consider herself to be a feminist. She was one of the first Egyptians to write about the agrarian problems of the country and the plight of the peasants; and of the pioneering generation of female Arab literati. She was also the first Muslim woman to undertake Quranic exegesis. Writing under her pen name, Bint al-Shati', she was also one of the first women to deal with the life of the Prophet Muhammad through vignettes of the women in his life. Like many other modern Muslim biographers of the Prophet, she rendered classical Islamic materials in a new style. Although her book on the Wives of the Prophet often portrays women in a negative light, content analysis indicates that the work also reflects feminist themes.

Author: Ruth Roded - I would like to thank Professor Hilary Kilpatrick for her careful reading and comments on an earlier draft of this article as well as for her encouraging me to publish this preliminary work. Any inaccuracies that remain are, of course, my own responsibility.

DOI: 10.1080/13530190600603915

Publication Frequency: 3 issues per year

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