Nuseiba blogger Sahar is starting a series on outstanding Muslim women in history, starting with Aisha. Why? Because:
Muslim women are in need of role models. Many of us look to women from Western backgrounds to seek inspiration from. Islam’s history is riddled with examples of admirable women. We either don’t hear about these women today ’cause Muslims are too busy telling women how to dress appropriately; or they are represented to us in a way that appeals to patriarchal expectations.
Each week, Nuseiba is going to feature a woman from Islam’s history, and hopefully will briefly shed light on her character and contributions to the community she lived in. We feature these women in the hope that Muslim women of today are reassured that women from our history were not just identified as the mother, daughter or the wife of some known man. They made great contributions. For our non-Muslim readers, it will also help to dispel common misconceptions that Muslim women were, and continue to be, submissive and oppressed.
