Synopses & Reviews
Synopsis
Fatima was the only one of the Prophet Muhammad's children to have male children to live beyond childhood and, as such, her sons Al-Hasan and Al-Husayn became the second and third Shi'ite Imams, respectively. This essentially means that Shi'is believe that Fatima perpetuated the Prophet's lineage - perhaps somewhat surprising given the common conception of pre-modern Islamic societies as monolithically patrilineal.
Through the lens of Fatima, and drawing on a host of texts including Qur'an commentaries, hadith, historical chronicles, court records and poetry taken from India to Morocco, and everywhere in between, Alyssa Gabbay here reconsiders various episodes from the medieval Islamic world in which individuals or societies acknowledged bilateral descent. In the process, Gabbay sheds important light onto gender roles in the pre-modern world and beliefs and practices on lineage and bilateral descent, as well as considering Fatima as a 'feminist icon' and her resounding (and long-lasting) influence throughout the medieval Islamic world more generally.
Synopsis
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.