The Power, Influence and Agency of Pre-Modern Muslim Women

According to the interpretations of the Qur'an and the Shari'a by Islamic scholars of the pre-modern Middle East, women were restricted to highly dependent and powerless lives. However, contrary to these interpretations, women were able to exercise a considerable amount of agency, power and control over their lives. Firstly, some women were able to gain considerable amounts of respect and prestige within society through the outlet of the Islamic mystical tradition of Sufism and occasional opportunities of religious education. Secondly, women could also yield substantial control in their home life because of the valuable role she held as child-rearer, home-keeper, and provider of hallal sex. And thirdly, women had independent ways of experiencing joy and happiness that did not rely upon what their male family members provided them.
It is an ironic situation that the same religion that produced interpretive scholars who saw to disband women of much of their power, also produced a mystical tradition that provided outlets for women to engage more fully. Sufism is an expression of Islam that focuses on the love of God rather than the rules of God. It is a tradition that elicited (and continues to elicit) deep emotions displayed often through means of passionate artistic expression such as song, dance and literature. In the Qur'an, there is no hierarchy of who is more worthy to worship God (man or woman). Both genders are loved equally by God and have equal potential to reach Paradise. The Sufis, for the most part, respected this concept.
Amongst the Sufi hagiographies of the medieval Middle East, numerous names of women were mentioned. There are many stories of Sufi sheikhas with their students, some whom are male, bestowing their wit and wisdom. One of the most famous of these women was Rabi'a al-Adawiyya. Rabi'a had a saintly image that remains in pop culture today. She instigated the concept of “unquestioning love of God” into a movement of asceticism (Roded 129). Many stories were written about Rabi'a, but also about other sheikhas. One story of the Daughter of Umm Hassan al-Asadiyya conveys a conversation she had with Sufyan al-Thawri. Sufyan asks the sheikha questions about her zealot prostration and fasting practices and they enter into a discussion about gratitude. The conversation concludes:

'[Rabi'a] You must be grateful for recognizing gratitude, and if you experience this double gratitude, His blessing will never cease.' Sufyan said: By God, my knowledge failed me and my tongue was tied, boasts of his knowledge, this suffices to prove his ignorance. If a person fears God, this is enough to prove his knowledge. Know that what hearts will never be cleansed of evil until all intentions are united in one concern for God.' Sufyan said; I despaired thinking of myself.' (Roded 130)

With the Daughter of Umm Hassan's wise answer as to the nature of gratitude as well as her extreme demonstrations of devotion to God as well as her demonstrations of disregard the material world, Sufyan repents his arrogance and cries for humility. The Daughter of Umm Hassan proves her spiritual superiority and thus confirms herself a powerful religious influence.
Another example of the presence of women can be seen among Ibn al-Hajj's descriptions of the Sufis in Cairo during the 13th century. Women participated in Sufi orders and practices such as singing, dancing and chanting. These practices are done sometimes with the company of men and many “men and women belonging to some popular sufi orders seem to have established bonds of fraternity” (Lufti 116). Women were able to lead these gathering as well. They established a more egalitarian religious construct of Islam compared to the iron-fisted patriarchy which was considered the standard of the sunnah implied by the Legal Scholars (such as Ibn al-Hajj) of the time.
It should also be noted that, for the most part, women were not barred by Shari'a from gaining an education. Women were taught Qur'an, Hadith and Shari'a at school and in their homes. They could not, however, attend madrassas. Women could be teachers, and were especially valuable in order to not upset the rules of sexual segregation with the education system. It was most common, and preferred that if girls were to be educated, it was to be done only among the company of other female peers and under the guidance of female instructors. However, this ideal was not always held to strictly, especially within Sufi education. In general, throughout time and culture, education means power and agency. By understanding a variety of Islamic literature, women could use their knowledge as means of gaining respect and by suppressing more patriarchally biased customs, not traditionally expressed in Islam. For example, many sheikhas were encouraged to leave their matrimonial lives. At this time, for a woman to do this would break the intense chains of cultural restrictions.
Another means by which women established control and power over their lives was by taking advantage of their designated gendered role of child-rearer/home keeper. A common practice among the wives of Cairo was to take a haqq al-firash (or “bed fee”) from their husbands in return for sexual favors. According to Ibn al-Hajj's interpretation of Shari'a, men are the ones responsible for providing their wives pleasure during sex. This would seem just, but added to his collective interpretations of women's rights (or lack of), this viewpoint leaves women's pleasure to be solely dependent upon their husbands giving it to them. Thus, by charging a “bed fee” within the marriage, women were able to establish power over their situation, and receive more than just supposed sexual pleasure from their husbands. The “bed fee” also provided the wife with some economic independence. The husband is the breadwinner and the one earning and controlling most all of the money. A “bed fee” on top of a dowry, gave a wife more economic control and freedom within or beyond her domestic life.
Beyond matters of sex within the home life, women were also the keepers of the house, and the ones raising the children. Because of this valuable role, they often found ways to apply more power to their lives. For instance, among the Caliphs and the noble families, mothers often had strong influence over their sons, and by informal means, were sometimes able to agent themselves as literal rulers of their empires or estates. A clear example of this dynamic can been seen in the case of the concubine to the third Abbasid caliph, Muhammad al-Mahdi (ruled 775-7785 CE), al-Khayzuran. Her power was earned by giving birth to the two heirs of the caliphate, Musa and Harun. “Khaysuran's political influence was expressed primarily in the struggle for succession between her two sons, particularly after her husband's death, and during their reigns” (Roded 85). Khayzarun was also said to have been the go-to lady amongst the generals and had a tight hold on empire's economic workings. “...al-Khayzarun used to exercise her authority over him [Musa], by assuming sole control over matters of ordaining and forbidding, just as she had done previously with his father” (Roded 87). Women from less politically and economically powerful backgrounds often used similar means to gain control. They would stand in as advisors to their husbands and male relatives, as well as manipulating their children as they raised them in order to shape the family's future. Yet even beyond the structure of their families, women were able to take control of their own lives.
Pre-modern Middle Eastern women were not solely reliant upon their male family member for happiness and fun. Often, women would let loose and celebrate freely when amongst themselves. At weddings, it is described out Cairene women would sing, and dance without fully covering themselves. They would wear adornments and indulge in food and drink. Ibn al-Hajj once again paints a detailed picture of these festivities with the example of a child-birth celebration:

When the baby was born, loud and long-drawn-out shrills were heard everywhere in the house, as a manifestation of female joy. Music, dancing, and an atmosphere of gaiety followed, and a variety of special dishes was served to the family and neighbors of the community. This... went on for seven days; every time a woman came to express her congratulations, the song and dance would start all over again. To publicize the happy event, trumpets and pipes were blown in front of the house door... (Lufti 111-112)

al-Hajj, of course despised these practices because of their supposed, un-muslim ways. He saw them not to serve the purpose of sunna. However, despite it all, these celebrations were so ingrained in the culture of the Middle East, that people were said to have taken them as seriously as religious practices (Lufti 112). Through them, women were able tot take control of their lives and create their own atmospheres of joy and happiness.
The perspectives of Ibn al-Hajj is a premier example of the Muslim salafi scholar world that oversaw much of the Middle East during Mamluk reign (13th to 16th century). These religious scholars stood as the leading authority on Shari'a, and proper Muslim behavior. As seen in the examples, the ideals of the salafi scholars were not always practiced. The scholars used this fact as a tool to condemn women's ways. “Ibn al-Hajj thus attributed the chaos in society to the prevalence of female ways” (Lufti 100). In other words, it was viewed that the haram ways of women that caused things such as famines, droughts and inflation (Lufti 101). Nevertheless, by means of religion, educations, sex, their designated gender role, and internal women's activities, pre-modern women of the Middle East were able to use agency, gain control and attain power over their lives and other's.