When al-Muqtadir bi-llāh became the Abbāsid Caliph in 295 AH (908 AD), he was only thirteen years old, leaving his mother Shaghab as his main advisor. Previously a slave and concubine to the Caliph al-Mu’taḍid, Shaghab used her new position as queen-mother to gain wealth and influence, allowing her to promote her family members to elevated political positions and increase the power of the qahramana (female stewardesses) within court life. She herself was well respected by both the caliph and members of the wider court, being called a ‘pious and excellent woman’ by one of the Caliph’s viziers: she became rich enough to personally fund some of the Caliph’s military efforts during his time on the throne. Her experience highlights the gendered aspects of life within the Abbāsid Caliphate at this time: sources show that chroniclers of the tenth century were so struck by her influence that they questioned whether women should be in a political setting, while her past as a slave also sheds light on other issues from the time such as status. The reign of al-Muqtadir is marked by both contemporaries and modern historians as a period where women dominated the ‘Abbāsid court: it is one of the many examples from the medieval Muslim World where gender played a vital role in the historical narrative.
As an undergraduate student, I have spent my last few years developing a love for gender and queer history. An interest in these themes can evolve gradually, from single essays in my first year which discussed ‘gender’ writ large, to choosing modules for my finals which more explicitly target ideas of gender and sexuality in detail. Studying at Oxford has provided me with an excellent opportunity to explore history which I had previously never considered and I have greatly enjoyed all of the modules and topics that I have studied over the last few years. From my experience, however, I have noticed that gender and queer history is generally studied in a Western context, and is more prominent as an approach amongst modern historians, meaning that those of us who wish to study outside of these areas have to search a little harder to find research on the places and times which we find most interesting. In this short blogpost, I wanted to give a few examples of the ways that I have been able to encounter gender and queer history in the medieval Muslim World though my various modules to demonstrate the range of approaches possible over the degree, and to highlight just how varied and interesting the fields of gender and queer history can truly be.
One of the hardest things to do as a student is finding the confidence to go outside of your comfort zone, but this is also so rewarding. I have generally found that the times when I have read articles or researched topics which fall slightly outside of the usual reading list were the times when I enjoyed the research the most. For me personally, my encounters with Islamic history began with a European and World paper set between 1300 and 1500 where, despite the high frequency of European historical research, I made sure to do as much reading on history throughout Asia and Africa as possible; this meant that I was able to include the Mamluk Empire, China and Japan in my weekly essays alongside the European content. On occasions like this, it is very easy to maintain a narrowed focus and remain within the most established historiographical fields but, by reading even a few articles which fall outside of this area, you can diversify your knowledge of a particular subject and draw much more nuanced conclusions about your topics[HS1] .
After spending a term researching the medieval world, rather than remaining within medieval Europe, I realised that I much preferred a non-European focus. As a result, I chose a special subject module on the ‘Abbasid caliphate in the ninth and tenth centuries and I thoroughly enjoyed being able to study gender – alongside politics, class and religion – in a cultural context that I had previously been unable to experience. This was the first time that I was able to work with sources which weren’t European: while the fact that they were all in translation made it more difficult, it was also so interesting to access an entirely new outlook on the histories I loved. Language is one of the main barriers that people in British universities face when studying the Muslim World and this is why I would advise choosing modules in this area during your undergraduate degree if you have the chance. While postgraduate study often requires specific language capabilities to study sources, undergraduate modules are often less prescriptive, possibly acting as one of the only opportunities to study any geographical area which interests you without needing to speak the language too.
Many of the important aspects of the medieval Muslim World, such as the religious influences and patriarchal structures of society, will resonate with anyone who has studied medieval Christendom . Muslim and Christian societies interacted regularly throughout the medieval period, meaning that they developed their gendered and political ideologies side-by-side, allowing historians to see similarities and influences from both sides of the religious divide. Some aspects of Muslim marriage traditions do differ from Christian ones – such as the fact that divorce was more common in Muslim societies or that some Muslim communities allowed men to have multiple wives or concubines – providing a slightly different gendered dynamic than those seen in Europe. The more frequent presence of eunuchs and other gender non-conforming individuals like mukhannathan in medieval Muslim societies also allows for an interesting comparison with the history of gender identity in Europe, allowing historians to question their own understandings of the gender binary and compare the experiences of queer individuals in different contexts throughout history.
My favourite topic to study in the medieval Muslim World by far has been slavery. Before the topic, I had not been even remotely aware of the way that slavery functioned outside of the Atlantic slave trade but, through studying the topic in both the ‘Abbasid Caliphate and Mamluk Empire, I have gained a much better understanding of how domestic slavery functioned in these areas. Slavery was strikingly gendered with female slaves generally having a much more sexual role than male ones, allowing this kind of history to provide an insight into the ways that gender and sexuality were constructed on a societal level. Around the same time, slavery was also occurring on a domestic level in Europe, something that I also knew very little about before studying the topic, and the comparisons between slavery in Christian and Muslim countries offers an insight into the differences within the wider societies too. These kinds of history are always deeply disturbing and include some of the most horrific experiences that people throughout history have endured but they are also extremely valuable, giving attention to some of the most marginalised individuals.
I hope that these few paragraphs have highlighted just how fulfilling it is to look into gender and queer history within the medieval Muslim World, or indeed any other geographical area which interests you. While the historiography may be limited in some cases, there are still many historians working in these fields and engaging with their research can greatly diversify your own knowledge of gender and queer histories. I have included a few of my favourite articles (and sources) below which should provide an introduction to some of these topics for anyone who is interested!
Brekey. J., “Women and Gender in Islamic Traditions” in Bennett, Judith M. and Ruth Mazo Karras (Ed.). (2013). Oxford Handbook of Women and Gender in Medieval Europe. Oxford: Oxford University Press. – This gives a very brief overview of gender dynamics in Muslim societies throughout the medieval period
Al-Sa'i, Ibn, Julia Bray, The Editors of the Library of Arabic Literature, Shawkat M. Toorawa, and Marina Warner. Consorts of the Caliphs : Women and the Court of Baghdad. Library of Arabic Literature ; 2. New York, NY, 2015. – This is a very interesting collection of primary sources outlining the lives of women in the ‘Abbasid court throughout the medieval period
Marmon. S., “Domestic Slavery in the Mamluk Empire: A Preliminary Sketch” in Marmon, Shaun Elizabeth. Slavery in the Islamic Middle East. Princeton: Markus Wiener, 1999. – This is a short introduction to the way that slavery functioned in the Mamluk Empire, including the gendered aspects – tw sexual violence, slavery
Myrne, P., ‘Slaves for pleasure in Arabic sex and slave purchase manuals from the tenth to the twelfth centuries’, Journal of global slavery 4 (2) (2019) 196-225. – This focuses on slavery in the ‘Abbasid caliphate, especially how it interacted with gender and ethnicity – tw sexual violence, slavery
Rapoport, Yossef. Marriage, Money and Divorce in Medieval Islamic Society. Cambridge Studies in Islamic Civilization. Cambridge ; New York: Cambridge University Press, 2005. – especially Chapter 2 – This chapter discusses the lives of unmarried women in the Mamluk Empire, from their living conditions to their economic opportunities
Rowson, Everett. “Gender Irregularity as Entertainment: Institutionalized Transvestism at the Caliphal Court in Medieval Baghdad.” In Gender and Difference in the Middle Ages, edited by Sharon A. Farmer and Carol Braun Pasternack, 45. ACLS Humanities E-Book (Series). Minneapolis: University of Minnesota Press, 2003. – This gives a brief overview of mukhannathan and other individuals who went outside the gender binary in the ‘Abbasid court
Tillier, Mathieu. "Women before the Qādī under the Abbasids." Islamic Law and Society 16, no. 3-4 (2009): 280-301. – This is an introduction to the way that women featured in the courts of the ‘Abbasid caliphate, highlighting the effects of gender and class on legal proceedings
Muhammad Bal'ami, Public domain, via Wikimedia Commons.
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