Politics, Gender, and the Islamic Past: The Legacy of 'A'isha bint Abi Bakr

by Denise A. Spellberg

Winner of the "DOST" ("Friend") Award from the Turkish Women's Cultural Association of Istanbul (TURKKAD) for "universal excellence" in Islamic Studies D. A. Spellberg's innovative reading of the life of 'A'isha bint Abi Bakr (d. 678), the Prophet Muhammad's most beloved and controversial wife, has become a classic guide to a foundational figure in Islam. Rather than recount 'A'isha's tale chronologically, Spellberg builds a textual and contextual biography from multiple medieval, contesting sources, which depict various interpretations of 'A'isha's life and their impact on the changing status of women in early Islam. 'A'isha's historical legacy straddles the divide between emerging Sunni majority and Shi`i minority visions of the proper role of women in the medieval period. Debates in both communities over an accusation of adultery against 'A'isha as a wife and her bold political engagement as a widow in the first civil war of 656 CE continue to reveal bitter sectarian differences within the Islamic community. Joint Sunni-Shi`i condemnation of 'A'isha's political actions also demonstrate the ongoing, exclusively male control of Islamic discourse. In her new introduction, Spellberg follows renewed interest in 'A'isha among both Muslim women and men, who now promote a positive reinterpretation of her political precedent. Yet in recent Western fictional accounts, Spellberg argues, 'A'isha's fame has grown only through renewed controversy without an additional understanding of her true historical importance.

Genres: Islam, Nonfiction, Politics, History, Feminism, Religion, Middle East

256 pages, Hardcover

First published September 1, 1994

About the author

Denise A. Spellberg (born c. 1958) is an American scholar of Islamic history. She is an associate professor of history and Middle Eastern Studies at the University of Texas at Austin. Spellberg holds a BA from Smith College (1980) and a PhD (1989) from Columbia University.

Reviews

[Dan Gorman]

A slow read at times, due to the unfamiliarity (for me, anyway) of many of the medieval Islamic scholars Spellberg discusses, but a fascinating book. This book works as a short biography of 'A'isha bint Abi Bakr, the youngest and favorite wife of the Prophet Muhammad, but more importantly it works as a study of how 'A'isha has been portrayed in Islamic literature. To the Shia, 'A'isha is an unpopular figure, because she sided against Ali, the first Shia imam, in the First Civil War of Islam. To the Sunni, 'A'isha is a laudable, superior woman, but not perfect because she ventured into politics in the Civil War in a way that was inappropriate. This book shows how a life becomes a legacy, as well as how a historical figure becomes a religious icon.

[Hafsa]

A fascinating study of how the legacy of Aisha has been interpreted and reinterpreted amongst Muslims (male scholars) throughout history. The author's main point is that understandings of how Aisha is depicted relates to the broader political/economic/cultural state Muslims find themselves in. Her legacy also underpins discussions of the role of women in society, especially in terms of leadership.

[Billy]

Politics, Gender, and the Islamic Past opens with the statement: “A life and a legacy are not always the same,” and for good reason. D.A. Spellberg’s 1994 monograph shows that A’isha Abi Bakr’s place in the Islamic past is constructed. As the favorite wife of the Prophet Mohammad and the daughter of his immediate successor, Abi Bakr, A’isha holds an early, important place in Islamic history. Spellberg argues, however, that A’isha’s legacy was not written according to reliable sources; there remain no written accounts from A’isha’s to draw upon, and the first written account of her life was written some 150 years after her death. A’isha’s multiple roles in the Islamic past—as an “exceptional” female in Islamic society; as a possible adulterous; as a close, honorable companion to the Prophet—make her life a point of contention in continued debates surrounding the true lineage of Mohammad’s successors. Each of her roles are interpreted differently by Islamic scholars, making A’isha’s part in early Islamic tradition very complicated.

Spellberg makes a number of nuanced arguments as to why A’isha remains an exceptional example through which to analyze politics and gender in Islamic history. First, she explains A’isha’s role in the “Battle of the Camel,” or the first schism of Islamic faith and notes how her defeat in this early battle relegated A’isha to a divisive role in early Islamic history. Years later, medieval Muslim authors imposed their own cultural values of women’s place in society onto A’isha’s role in the battle. All of these authors were male, creating a gendered literature bound to increase a level of misinterpretation. Arguments over A’isha’s past have since produced considerable ammunition for the two sects of Islam: Sunnis and Shi’is. Sunni Muslims still hold A’isha in high regard. In extolling her virtues Sunni’s maintain their version of the proper lineage of the Prophet’s successors. Conversely, Shi’i Muslims minimize A’isha’s role in the life of Muhammad, an act that endorses their perception of proper Islamic lineage. These debates frame A’isha’s legacy, even though she forcefully argued for her own place in Islamic history; as the author states so succinctly, “in writing about A’isha, Muslims honed their own vision of themselves” (2).

Spellberg’s final chapter analyzes texts and paintings to show how two other women associated with the Prophet—Khadija, the Prophet’s first wife and Fatima, his daughter—are also extolled as exceptional women. Spellberg’s interpretation of these paintings reveals a hierarchy of female importance in the Islamic faith, one based on interpretations of the past and regional history. Regardless of interpretation of where these women rank in the hierarchy of Islamic heritage, one point remains clear: namely that these women are idealized or defamed per the opinion of later male authors, all of whom simply judge these women in their relation to maintaining the Prophet’s honor in the historical record.

Spellberg’s argument implies that earlier medieval scholarship influences the present and helps inform us why Middle Eastern women are seen as only important in their relationships with male counterparts. This point is one that western feminist scholars will wish Spellberg investigated more fully. Popular journalism and television news often banter about women’s roles in the Middle East in less-than-nuanced fashion. A’isha’s contested place in history remains an excellent example through which to engage those debates, but she never ventures onto “Orientalist” grounds. Spellberg’s book is certainly well written and should be well received by scholars in Middle Eastern history. Her attempt to leave any western perspective out of her discussion, however, makes Politics, Gender and the Islamic Past an intriguing book, but one that could do so much more to explain women’s roles in the modern Middle East.