Dr Lloyd Ridgeon - Female Sufis in the Medieval Period
Channel: Recovering 'Lost Voices'
Date: 2016-03-01

Dr Lloyd Ridgeon - Reader in Islamic Studies, The University of Glasgow.

Female Sufis in the Medieval Period 
Abstract: This paper will assess the extent to which females were active in the medieval period. It will outline a range of perspectives - all male - which reveal a very diverse range of views, some of which were positive about female participation in the tradition, and others which were misogynist. The presentation investigates not only the social reality of female participation, but also describes how some Sufis presented an idealised version of femininity in which the divine was manifested as the ideal woman. A range of texts will be utilized, from Sufi manuals, poetry and hagiography. The work is an attempt to listen to the voices of women through these male authored texts, and present an alternative understanding of Sufism, as studies for so long have focused on the "big men" of Sufism, such as Rumi or Ibn 'Arabi 

Presented at The Subalterns Project, The First Workshop – on the pre-Safavid period, held at the University of Edinburgh, 7-8 November 2015.

For more detailed information about the project & the various workshops, please head to: http://www.shii-news.imes.ed.ac.uk/the-subalterns-project/