Queens and Prophets: How Arabian Noblewomen and Holy Men Shaped Paganism, Christianity and Islam

by Emran Iqbal El-Badawi

Overview

A groundbreaking examination of female power in pre-Islamic Arabia

‘A genuinely paradigm-shifting work by one of the most exciting and innovative scholars in the field... compelling and powerful...’ Reza Aslan

Arab noblewomen of late antiquity were instrumental in shaping the history of the world. Between Rome’s intervention in the Arabian Peninsula and the Arab conquests, they ruled independently, conducting trade and making war. Their power was celebrated as queen, priestess and goddess. With time some even delegated authority to the most important holy men of their age, influencing Arabian paganism, Christianity and Islam.

Empress Zenobia and Queen Mavia supported bishops Paul of Samosata and Moses of Sinai. Paul was declared a heretic by the Roman church, while Moses began the process of mass Arab conversion. The teachings of these men survived under their queens, setting in motion seismic debates that fractured the early churches and laid the groundwork for the rise of Islam. In sixth-century Mecca, Lady Khadijah used her wealth and political influence to employ a younger man then marry him against the wishes of dissenting noblemen. Her husband, whose religious and political career she influenced, was the Prophet Muhammad.

A landmark exploration of the legacy of female power in late antique Arabia, Queens and Prophets is a corrective that is long overdue.

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9780861544455
Publisher:	Oneworld Publications
Publication date:	01/10/2023
Pages:	320
Sales rank:	698,817
Product dimensions:	6.00(w) x 9.20(h) x 1.40(d)

About the Author

Emran Iqbal El-Badawi is Program Director and Associate Professor of Middle Eastern Studies at the University of Houston, where he is also Chair of Modern and Classical Languages. He is the author of The Qur’an and the Aramaic Gospel Traditions (Routledge, 2014) and co-editor of Communities of the Qur’an, which is also published by Oneworld. He has contributed to numerous media outlets, including the New York Times, Al-Jazeera, Forbes, Christian Science Monitor and ARTE.

Table of Contents

Preface ix

Acknowledgements xi

Abbreviations xiv

Transliteration and Dates xvii

Introduction xix

Part I Divine Queens of Pagan Arabia

1 Origins 3

2 Queenship 33

3 Divinity 69

Part II Matrons of the Prophets

4 Zenobia, Paul, and the Nativist Church (240-337 CE) 89

5 Mavia, Moses, and Arab Christendom (375-500 CE) 139

6 Khadijah, Muhammad, and Christian-Pagan Confrontation (505-629 CE) 177

Part III Men of the Jahiliyyah

7 Pagans, Pontiffs, and Political Power 231

Conclusion 261

Bibliography 265

Index 285

Editorial Reviews

11/14/2022

In this enlightening history, University of Houston professor El-Badawi (The Qur’an and the Aramaic Gospel Traditions) chronicles female power in Arabia before the dawn of Islam. Contradicting modern perceptions, El-Badawi argues that Arabian queens allied with prophets to shape the region’s religious and political culture, and that their legacies impacted the early Christian church, the emergence of Islam in the seventh century, and historical connections between the two traditions. Though their power would eventually be usurped—and legacies overshadowed—by male-dominated empires and religious sectarianism, El-Badawi shows how Queen Zenobia and her theologian Paul of Samosata shaped the theology of the earliest Arabian churches, explores how “warrior-queen” and “bishop-maker” Mavia became the “historical matriarch to an Arab ethos,” and suggests Khadijah, the prophet Mohammed’s first wife, was also the “mother of the faithful” and a quasi cofounder of a new Middle Eastern monotheistic tradition. Though the author sometimes jumps abruptly between empires and queendoms, El-Badawi presents a convincing case that mothers, queens, and goddesses played a far more important role in antique Arabia than they’ve been credited. It’s a welcome reassessment of female power in late antique Arabia. (Jan.)

Publishers Weekly

‘Emran El-Badawi provides a landmark contribution to scholarship, grasping the nuance and depth of women’s power, spirituality, and presence in late antique Near East, when pagans, Jews, and Christians allied militarily and worshiped at the Oak of Mamre. Queens and Prophets cogently narrates this complex historical and cultural context, demonstrating the patriarchal polemics of Abrahamic and Roman traditions that gloss this powerful force and ultimately empower the birth of Islam.’

Roberta Sabbath

‘In this remarkable book, Emran El-Badawi brings to light the stories of influential noblewomen and female deities, to show how female power shaped religion and politics in late antique and early Islamic Arabia. Despite their importance, these female figures have been marginalised in the historical record over time, from Roman and Arabic histories till modern writings about early Islam. El-Badawi sensitively engages the historical memories preserved in these sources, disentangling kernels of truth from topoi, legend, and embellishment. This clear and well-written account should change how we consider women’s impact upon these patriarchal societies.’

Karen Bauer

‘A breathtaking journey through the religions and cultures of the late antique Near East. El-Badawi brings to life accounts of warriors and queens who defy standard notions of the social and religious history of the Arabs. His masterful book offers new insights into the intimate relationships between paganism, Christianity, and early Islam in the Near East, and on the distinctive roles that women played in all of these traditions.’

Gabriel Said Reynolds

‘A genuinely paradigm-shifting work by one of the most exciting and innovative scholars in the field. Queens and Prophets upends popular assumptions concerning Arab women in late antiquity. Drawing on an impressive range of extensive research, Emran El-Badawi sheds new light on the history of the Near East by studying three female rulers alongside the most significant holy men of the era. In doing so, he reveals the importance of these women to the history of the late antique Near East. It is a compelling and powerful narrative that is sure to provoke thought and discussion amongst scholars and curious readers alike.’

Reza Aslan