Queens of Islam - by Tom Verde (Paperback)

Book Synopsis

A survey of prominent Muslim women rulers from the first centuries of Islamic history to early modern times.

From Pakistan to Indonesia, Kyrgyzstan to Nigeria, from Senegal to Turkey, it is not unusual in modern times for women in Muslim-majority countries to be appointed and/or elected to high offices, including heads of state.

Nor has it ever been.

Stretching back nearly to the founding of Islam itself, women have held positions of political power in numerous Islamic nations and empires. Some ascended to office in their own right; others served as regents for incapacitated husbands or male successors then too young to rule. Some proved insightful and able administrators, courageous military commanders, or both; others differed little from their equally flawed, power-hungry male counterparts, and sowed the seeds of their own downfalls.

Queens of Islam examines the lives of fifteen of the most remarkable female leaders of Muslim dynasties, empires, and caliphates--from Islam's earliest centuries through the end of the seventeenth century. Their stories demonstrate that throughout the faith's long history there were many women who achieved positions of power and served as effective rulers, revered by those they governed while being respected--even feared--by their contemporary world leaders.

Entertaining and informative, Queens of Islam is rife with palace intrigue, sex scandals, power-grabs, and military conquests, set against a backdrop of Islamic world history.

Review Quotes

"Tom Verde's book, Queens of Islam, serves as an invitation to Muslim history for the general reader and a challenge to professional historians to widen their lens. With subtle detail cast against a large canvas, the examples marshalled here, from Nigeria to Aceh, stand a corrective to stubborn specious western views of Muslim women."--Alan Mikhail, professor, historian, and award-winning author of My Egypt Archive

"Tom Verde shares stories of 15 Muslim women rulers, dating back to the early Islamic era through the 17th century. The book pushes back on stereotypes of Muslim women being oppressed and subservient. It instead highlights prominent rulers who influenced Islamic civilization from Morocco to Nigeria and Iran, while their palace intrigues and stratagems made for gripping stories."--Religion News Service

About the Author

Tom Verde is a writer and journalist. He holds a Master's Degree in Islamic Studies and Christian-Muslim Relations from Hartford Seminary. He has lived and traveled in the Middle East, North Africa, and Europe and has written about religion, history, and culture for the New York Times, National Public Radio, Religion News Service, and AramcoWorld magazine.