REVIEW: A History of Islam in 21 Women (2019)
A History of Islam in 21 Women[1] by Hossein Kamaly, Associate Professor of Islamic Studies at Hartford Seminary, appears to have been modelled on two similarly titled and commercially successful books authored by Jenni Murray—A History of the World in 21 Women: A Personal Selection[2] and A History of Britain in 21 Women: A Personal Selection.[3]
All three of these books seek to shed light upon the lives of certain female figures throughout history who have been ostensibly side-lined in mainstream narratives. Professor Kamaly’s book is arguably the most ambitious of the three as it not only attempts to redress the balance of unequal historical coverage, but has also been lauded by reviewers as an ‘act of reclamation on several fronts’[4] which ‘exposes the untruths that have characterized Muslim women as deferential beings in need of rescue.’[5]
Ultimately, it will be argued that, while proceeding from a laudable premise, Kamaly’s work suffers from a number of defects.
A history of Islam?
While highly engaging, Kamaly’s choice of subjects is questionable as regards his apparent intention to write a ‘history of Islam.’ In this vein, the book starts promisingly by focusing on the lives of three women who were intimately connected with the genesis of Islam: Khadija, the first wife of the Prophet Muhammad; Aisha, the Prophet’s third wife; and the Prophet’s daughter Fatima. Each of these women not only played key roles in the formation of Islam, but also continued to be relevant to Islamic history long after their own deaths—for example, the Fatimid Caliphs who ruled over large portions of North Africa and the Levant between the 10th and 12th centuries derived their legitimacy and even their dynastic name from their alleged descent from Fatima.
Yet, after recounting the lives of these three individuals, Kamaly then spends the vast majority of his book covering a range of female figures, including Queen Arwa al-Sulayhi of Yemen and the Empress Nur Jahan. It is important to note that I am not attempting to understate the many achievements of these two individuals—in fact, Queen Arwa’s name was routinely proclaimed during Friday prayers[6] (an almost unique act indicating widespread support and recognition of her rule) and Nur Jahan was the only Mughal Empress to have coinage struck in her own name.[7] Instead, the question is whether either of these individuals could be said to have had a significant impact upon the development of Islam such as to merit inclusion in a self-described ‘history of Islam.’ A similar question arises as regards Kamaly’s choice to include chapters dedicated to the architect Zaha Hadid and the Fields Medal-winning mathematician Maryam Mirzakhani—both women were undoubtedly luminaries in their respective areas of expertise but their inclusion in a ‘history of Islam’ is questionable.
Despite their many achievements, none of the four aforementioned figures had a decisive impact on the development of mainstream Islamic philosophy or jurisprudence, a fact that is clearly revealed by juxtaposing the content of the chapters dedicated to them with Kamaly’s chapter on the Sufi saint, poet, and philosopher Rabi’a al-Adawiyya. In particular, the book is notable for its exclusion of a number of women who are perhaps less well known in contemporary Europe, but who arguably exerted a greater influence on the ‘history of Islam.’ Such individuals include Fatima al-Fihri, who funded and oversaw the construction of the mosque of al-Qarawiyyin which grew into the famed madrasa of al-Qarawiyyin (one of the oldest continuingly operating institutions of higher learning in the world).
Consequently, it is arguable that, with the exception of three or four chapters, Kamaly’s book largely reads like a well-written series of biographies covering a number of brilliant women who identified as Muslim, rather than as a ‘history of Islam.’
A skewed history?
Furthermore, as the chapters in Kamaly’s book unfold, it becomes increasingly clear that the majority of the twenty-one women covered in the book are either female monarchs or individuals from leading Muslim families that comprised the ruling class during a given period in Islamic history (for instance, Kamaly dedicates chapters to the following: Nur Jahan; Queen Arwa; and Terken Khatun). It is not until the beginning of the 19th century that Kamaly dedicates a chapter to a woman who was not part of the ruling elite. This is partly explicable given the relative difficulty of obtaining historically accurate information concerning the daily lives of women across history in general. To his credit, Kamaly acknowledges this lacuna by questioning whether ‘domestic tasks merit the attention of the historian?’ before answering in the affirmative.
It is nonetheless disappointing that a book that seeks to refute many of the assumptions that prevail about Muslim women does so chiefly by reference to an arguably unrepresentative selection of women drawn from the highest echelons of various Islamic societies across history. The reader is left entirely in the dark about the lives of the many hundreds of millions of ‘ordinary’ Muslim women.
History by numbers?
Finally, it is trite to observe that Professor Kamaly’s book selectively focuses on an extremely small number of women and that, in so doing, it necessarily suffers from a number of defects. Chief among these defects is the fact that the history of Islam has been shaped by a vast number of women who are excluded from the pages of Kamaly’s book. Their exclusion is something that is partly understandable—after all, Professor Kamaly’s book is not designed to be exhaustive.
Furthermore, to his credit Professor Kamaly readily acknowledges that ‘doing history by numbers has both benefits and limitations.’[8] However, notwithstanding this admission, by limiting his study to just twenty-one women, it is arguable that Kamaly compounds the two aforementioned defects in his work, namely that the book is unrepresentative and that it reads more akin to a series of biographies rather than a ‘history of Islam.’ Had Kamaly chosen not to confine himself to twenty-one women, it is arguable that he may have produced a more representative study.
Conclusion
Professor Kamaly’s book presents the reader with an accessible and cogently written series of biographies of prominent Muslim women. Each chapter provides an engaging portrait of its subject, which helps to displace conventional assumptions about the lives of Muslim women. However, it is also arguable that the book suffers from a number of crucial defects, including its unrepresentative nature as it does not cover the lives of ‘ordinary’ Muslim women between the 7th and 19th centuries in any detail.
Star Rating: 3/5 stars
Summary: A useful and easily readable introduction to the lives to twenty-one extraordinary Muslim women.
Article tags: | intersectionality | feminism | Islam | diversity | heritage |
A question arises as regards Kamaly’s choice to include chapters dedicated to the architect Zaha Hadid and the Fields Medal-winning mathematician Maryam Mirzakhani—both women were undoubtedly luminaries in their respective areas of expertise but their inclusion in a ‘history of Islam’ is questionable. Image source: illustrations by Peter Locke
It is arguable that, with the exception of three or four chapters, Kamaly’s book largely reads like a well-written series of biographies covering a number of brilliant women who identified as Muslim, rather than as a ‘history of Islam.’ Image source: The Tsundoku Chronicles
The book is notable for its exclusion of a number of women who are perhaps less well-known in contemporary Europe, but who arguably exerted a greater influence on the ‘history of Islam.’ Such individuals include Fatima al-Fihri, who funded and oversaw the construction of the mosque of al-Qarawiyyin which grew into the famed madrasa of al-Qarawiyyin. Image source: Alexis Reid
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Sources Cited
[1] Hossein Kamaly, A History of Islam in 21 Women (Oneworld Publications 2019).
[2] Jenni Murray, A History of the World in 21 Women: A Personal Selection (Oneworld Publications 2018).
[3] Jenni Murray, A History of Britain in 21 Women: A Personal Selection (Oneworld Publications 2016).
[4] Rafia Zakaria, ‘These are the Faces of Muslim Women Throughout History’ (The New York Times, 13 March 2020) <https://www.nytimes.com/2020/03/13/books/review/history-of-islam-21-women-hossein-kamaly.html> accessed 13 September 2020.
[5] ibid.
[6] Noor Almohsin, ‘Queens of Arabia Felix (The Happy Yemen)’ (Arab America, 28 February 2018) <https://www.arabamerica.com/queens-of-yemen/> accessed 13 September 2020.
[7] Renuka Nath, Notable Mughal and Hindu Women in the 16th and 17th Centuries A.D. (Inter-India Publications 1990) 64.
[8] Kamaly (n 1).