Publications Women and Religious Life in the Muslim Middle Ages

This is a joint research paper by Omaima Abou-Bakr and Hoda El-Saadi that  sheds light on the neglected history of women as religious scholars in Islamic societies during the pre-Islamic period.  The study is a historical survey of the women who worked in the religious field as theologians and religious scholars.  It unearths their status among the religious elite in Islam, comparing them to the Christian saints of Europe during the same period.  The comparative aspect opens new avenues for research and analysis, and explores questions of women’s history, and the cultural and popular patterns of memory and social discourse.