The Role of Women in Islamic Civilization: A Historical Reading in Khorasan

Abstract

The importance of this research lay in the study of the pivotal role played by women in Islamic civilization. Through an evaluation of the political and cultural sides in Khorasan during the ninth and tenth centuries AD (third and fourth AH), it had the aim of revealing the truth about this role and its most prominent stages by following the historical descriptive analytical approach, based on collecting scientific material from its perspectives and then dividing and analyzing it to reach the specified goal. The research dealt with the study in the light of a number of axes: the first being the linguistic and geographical significance of the Khorasan region; the second, dealing with the political role of women in Khorasan through analyzing the most important political events that highlighted and referred to this role; and the third, discussing the role of women in Khorasan socially, culturally. religiously, and economically. The research concluded that the political and cultural influence of women in Khorasan reached its peak in the ninth and tenth centuries AD (third and fourth AH). The historical narratives referred to the active role of Khorasani women scientifically and culturally, and their influential role in objecting to the negative manifestations created by the feudal system and the land ownership system in the economic and social conditions of the time. KEYWORDS Abbasid state, feudalism, Ghaznavid state, Islamic east, Samanid state, Seljuks