Description
Book SynopsisIn Sufi Women of South Asia. Veiled Friends of God, the first biographical compendium of hundred and forty-one women, from the eleventh to the twentieth century, Tahera Aftab fills a serious gap in the existing scholarship regarding the historical presence of women in Islam and brings women to the centre of the expanding literature on Sufism. The book’s translated excerpts from the original Farsi and Urdu sources that were never put together create a much-needed English-language source base on Sufism and Muslim women. The book questions the spurious religious and cultural traditions that patronise gender inequalities in Muslim societies and convincingly proves that these pious women were exemplars of Islamic piety who as true spiritual masters avoided its public display.
Table of ContentsPreface Acknowledgments Note on Transliterations List of Abbreviations Glossary of Selected Sufi Terms Introduction PART ONE Section A: Setting the Scene Section B: The Sufi Texts: From Imagination to the Inscribed Word Section C: The Sufi Gaze: Perception of Women by the Male Sufis Section D: The Sufi Gaze: The Sufi Perception of Family and Familial Responsibilities Section E: The Sufi Gaze: Interaction with Maid Servants and Women of Ill-repute Section F: Women’s Presence in The Sufi Silsilas Section G: The Sufi Lodges: Fencing the Sacred and The Profane Section H: Sufi Shrines: Manifesting the Deceased Sufi PART TWO Section A. Narratives of Sufi Women According to the Time Period Section B: Biographical Notices of Sufi Women According to Their Specific Status Section C Biographical Notices of Women Sufis Based on Oral Traditions Collected by Visiting their Shrines Section D: Sufi Women Identified by Names Only Conclusions Bibliography Index
