Inscribing South Asian Muslim Women : An Annotated Bibliography and Research Guide

656 Pages·2008·2.33 MB·English

by  Tahera Aftab

Inscribing South Asian Muslim Women
AFTAB_Prelims_i-iv.indd i 11/12/2007 1:28:38 PM
Handbook of Oriental Studies
Section 1, The Near and Middle East
Edited by
H. Altenmüller
B. Hrouda
B.A. Levine
R.S. O’Fahey
K.R. Veenhof
C.H.M. Versteegh
VOLUME 91
AFTAB_Prelims_i-iv.indd ii 11/12/2007 1:28:39 PM
Inscribing South Asian
Muslim Women
An Annotated Bibliography & Research Guide
by
Tahera Aftab
LEIDEN • BOSTON
2008
AFTAB_Prelims_i-iv.indd iii 11/12/2007 1:28:39 PM
This book is printed on acid-free paper.
Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data
Aftab, Tahera.
Inscribing South Asian Muslim women : an annotated bibliography & research
guide / by Tahera Aftab.
p. cm. — (Handbook of oriental studies. Section 1, The Near and Middle East ;
v. 91)
ISBN 978-90-04-15849-8 (hardback : alk. paper) 1. Muslim women—South Asia—
Bibliography. I. Title. II. Series.
Z3185.A36 2007
[HQ1735.3]
016.30548'6970954—dc22
2007029418
ISSN 0169-9423
ISBN 978 90 04 15849 8
Copyright 2008 by Koninklijke Brill NV, Leiden, The Netherlands.
Koninklijke Brill NV incorporates the imprints Brill, Hotei Publishers,
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printed in the netherlands
AFTAB_Prelims_i-iv.indd iv 11/12/2007 1:28:39 PM
With love and gratitude
dedicated to the memory of my beloved parents
Hajra Begam
&
Azmat Ullah Khan
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CONTENTS
Abbreviations .............................................................................. xix
List of transliterations ................................................................. xxi
Acknowledgments ....................................................................... xxiii
Introduction ................................................................................ xxv
SECTION ONE
SELECTED SOURCES FOR THE STUDY OF
SOUTH ASIAN MUSLIM WOMEN
A. South Asia an Introduction .................................................. 1
I. Locating People and Spaces .......................................... 1
(a) General Studies on South Asia ............................... 1
(b) Selected Studies on Islam in South Asia ................ 3
(c) Encyclopaedias of Islam .......................................... 5
(d) Encyclopaedias of Muslim Women ......................... 6
(e) Dictionaries of Islam ............................................... 6
(f) Qur(cid:2)(cid:3)n/Hadiº/ and Traditions of Prophet
Muhammad ............................................................. 7
II. Bibliographies and Research Guides for the Study of
South Asian Muslim Women ........................................ 8
III. Bibliographic Review Essays .......................................... 15
IV. Catalogues of Library Holdings .................................... 16
V. Biographical Compendiums of Prominent Muslim
Women ........................................................................... 18
VI. Invisibility of Muslim Women in Research Studies ...... 19
B. Women’s Status in Religious Texts ....................................... 22
I. Women’s Status in the Qur(cid:2)(cid:3)n ...................................... 22
II. Rejecting Patriarchal Reading of the Qur(cid:2)(cid:3)n ............... 27
III. Status of Women in the (cid:4)adiº .................................... 30
IV. Role Models for Muslim Women: Prophet’s Wives
and Daughters ................................................................ 33
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viii contents
SECTION TWO
MUSLIM WOMEN IN THE HISTORY OF
SOUTH ASIA
A. Women in Medieval India .................................................... 35
I. General Studies .............................................................. 35
II. Ra(cid:5)iyy(cid:3)h Sul(cid:6)(cid:3)n or Raziyat al-Duny(cid:3) wal-D(cid:7)n
(r. 1236–40) .................................................................... 36
III. (cid:8)(cid:3)nd B(cid:7)b(cid:7) of the Ni(cid:9)(cid:3)m ·(cid:3)h(cid:7) Kingdom
(b. 1547–1600) and Other Women in Power in the
Deccan ........................................................................... 38
B. Women in the Age of the Mughals (1526–1707) ................ 41
I. General Studies .............................................................. 41
II. Gulbadan B(cid:3)no Begam (1522/3–1603), Daughter of
Babur, Emperor of Hindustan (1526–1530) ................. 49
III. Nur Jahan Begam (d. 1645), wife of Emperor
Jahangir (b. 1569–d. 1627) ............................................ 50
IV. Mumtaz Ma(cid:10)al (1592–1631), Wife of Emperor
·ah Jahan (b. 1592–d. 1666) ....................................... 55
V. Jah(cid:3)n Ar(cid:3) Begam (b. 1614–d. 1681), Daughter of
Emperor ·(cid:3)h Jah(cid:3)n ..................................................... 56
VI. Zeb-un Nis(cid:3)(cid:2) Begam (1638–1702) Daughter of
Emperor Aurangzeb, (b. 1619–d. 1707) ........................ 57
C. Mughal Women as Patrons of Art and Architecture .......... 59
D. Muslim Women from the 18th to the Early 20th
Century India ........................................................................ 62
I. The Kingdom of Awadh (1722–1856) ......................... 62
II. Muslim Women in the Kingdom of Bengal ................ 68
III. A dynasty of women rulers: The Begams of Bhopal ... 70
(a) General works .......................................................... 70
(b) Naww(cid:3)b Qudsiy(cid:3)h Begam (Period of Regency
1819–1837) ............................................................... 71
(c) Naww(cid:3)b Sikandar Begam (Regency 1843–1868) ... 72
(d) Naww(cid:3)b ·ahjah(cid:3)n Begam (b. 1838–d. 1901) ....... 72
(e) Nawwab Sul(cid:6)(cid:3)n Jah(cid:3)n Begam (b. 1858–d. 1930) .... 74
IV. Begam Samroo (also spelt as Sombre/Samru)
(1753–1836) of Sardhana .............................................. 79
V. Women in Hyderabad, Deccan .................................... 82
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contents ix
E. Muslim Women’s Encounter with the West ......................... 85
I. Women and the First War of Independence, 1858 ..... 85
II. Women under the British Colonial Regime ................. 86
III. Muslim Women in the Narratives of the Christian
Missions .......................................................................... 91
SECTION THREE
ISLAMIC TRADITIONS, MUSLIM WOMEN
AND THE REFORM MOVEMENT
A. Women in the Discourse of the (cid:2)uf(cid:3)s and the maª(cid:4)(cid:5)i¶ ....... 99
I. Women (cid:2)uf(cid:3)s .................................................................... 102
II. Women’s Image in (cid:11)u(cid:2) Literature ................................ 112
III. Women in the Reformist (i(cid:2)l(cid:4)(cid:6)(cid:3)) Traditions in the
18th and the19th Centuries ........................................... 113
(a) Women, shar(cid:3)(cid:7)at and the bid(cid:7)at Discourse ................. 113
(b) Patriarchal Construction of Muslim Women .......... 115
B. Modernist Reform Movements and Women’s Issues ........... 118
I. Men in Support of Women’s Rights ............................. 118
(a) Making Connections: Role Models from Other
Muslim Societies ....................................................... 120
(b) South Asian Muslim Women Compared With
Women in Other Regions ........................................ 123
II. Ideal Muslim Woman De(cid:2) ned ...................................... 125
(a) Sir Syed Ahmed Khan’s (1817–1898)
‘Model Muslim Woman’ .......................................... 125
(b) Syed Ameer Ali (1849–1928) ................................... 126
(c) Saiyyid Mumtaz Ali and (cid:6)uq(cid:8)q un-nisw(cid:4)(cid:9)
(1860–1935) .............................................................. 127
(d) Rashidul ‡air(cid:7) (1868–1936) ................................... 128
III. Muslim Woman in the New Muslim Consciousness .... 129
(a) The Bihishti Zewar of Ashraf (cid:12)Al(cid:7) Th(cid:3)naw(cid:7)
(1864–1943) .............................................................. 129
(b) Abul Kal(cid:3)m (cid:13)z(cid:3)d’s Views on the Status of
Women ..................................................................... 132
(c) Dr. Muhammad Iqbal (1877–1938) ........................ 133
IV. Women Claiming their Rights ....................................... 134
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x contents
SECTION FOUR
PARDAH—MUSLIM WOMEN IN/OUT
OF SECLUSION
A. Discourse on the Interpretation of the Qur(cid:2)(cid:3)nic Verses on
(cid:6)ijab ........................................................................................ 137
B. Fat(cid:4)w(cid:4) and Male Religious Opinions on Veiling/pardah ...... 138
I. Male supporters of pardah .............................................. 143
II. Men who opposed the pardah ........................................ 145
C. Women Challenging pardah Restrictions ............................... 148
I. Women in Support of pardah ....................................... 151
D. Pardah’s Impact on Women’s Lives ....................................... 151
E. Burq(cid:4)(cid:7) ...................................................................................... 161
F. Life Inside Pardah Households Observing ........................... 162
SECTION FIVE
RELIGIOUS PRACTICES
A. Fat(cid:4)w(cid:4): Male Authority and Women’s Status ................................ 166
I. Resisting the Use of Fat(cid:4)w(cid:4) against Women ................. 169
B. Prohibition on Women’s Presence in the Mosque and
Shrines ................................................................................... 171
C. Women’s Prayer ((cid:14)alat) .......................................................... 172
I. Women and (cid:7)(cid:10)d Prayers .................................................. 174
II. Shrine Visitation and Women ....................................... 175
D. Women and Religious Practices ............................................ 177
I. M(cid:3)l(cid:4)d n(cid:4)mey/M(cid:3)l(cid:4)d Tracts for Women and by
Women ........................................................................... 181
II. M(cid:3)l(cid:4)d or Maul(cid:8)d ªar(cid:3)f: Celebrations of Prophet
Muhammad’s Noble Birth ............................................. 182
III. M(cid:3)l(cid:4)d as bid(cid:7)at (Heresy) ................................................... 184
E. Hajj and Women Pilgrims: Early Pilgrimage Accounts
(Medieval India) .................................................................... 184
I. Pilgrimage in the Nineteenth Century .......................... 185
II. Pilgrimage in the Twentieth Century ............................ 187
F. Women’s Travelogues: Women out of pardah ....................... 187
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