Muslim Women Mystics: The Life and Work of Rabi'a and Other Women Mystics in Islam

by Margaret Smith

Focusing on Rabi'a of Basra, a woman of unique personality and a true mystic, Margaret Smith's comprehensive book highlights women's contributions to the rich heritage of Islam. Surveying the female saints of the Muslim world, her authoritative work provides a unique insight into a lesser-known aspect of the development of Islamic mysticism.

Genres: Islam, History, Spirituality, Womens, Religion, Nonfiction, Mysticism

256 pages, Paperback

First published July 25, 2001

About the author

Margaret Smith (1884–1970) was a British orientalist specializing in comparative religion and Sufism.

Reviews

[Yomna Saber · Rating 1 out of 5]

What a disappointment! It's just horrible and Smith is not only biased, she is also ignorant. The first part on the biography of Rabi'a is based on legends that are mostly incredible and illogical. The second part on Rabi'a's teachings are copied from other sources, Smith has no contribution at all or any useful addition to it. The part on women in Islam reflects nothing but a hateful prejudice which is quite obvious in decontextualizing almost everything that she quotes, and her argument on how Islam degraded women is totally unfounded, it is only built on her own views and not supported by any evidence, even the quotes she relies on are very weak hadiths that any Muslim would discard, and her disrespectful tone of talking about the Prophet again shows a subjective stance which is built upon her own views not upon academic research. The argument in the book is incredibly paradoxical because if Islam has degraded women as she claims, why is she writing a book about mystic Muslim women who were actually serving Islam in the way they saw right? Smith is not only biased, she is also ignorant. Babis are NOT Muslims and including Qurat al A'yn in the list of Muslim women mystics verily shows that Smith doesn't know what she's talking about!
The place of this book is the trash bin, not a library shelf, I regret each second spent in reading it.