Asma bint Shihab

al-Hurrat-ul Malika Palace in Yemen

Asma Bint Shibab (died 1087) was the Queen of Yemen. Her full title, "al-Sayyida al-Hurrat-ul" translates to "The noble lady who is free and independent, the woman sovereign who bows to no superior authority". She was married to her cousin, the sultan and founder of the Sulayhid dynasty, Ali al-Sulayhi. Along with her husband they governed the realm of Yemen together. This allowed her name as well as her husbands to be proclaimed during the Khutba, or Friday prayer. In 1067, while on a pilgrimage to Mecca the Banu Najah clan took Asma prisoner and killed her husband. She was later rescued, returned to her realm and assisted her son, Ahmad al-Mukkaram, and daughter-in-law, Sayyida Hurra (Arwa al-Sulayhi), with the management of the realm until she died.^[1][2]

See also

• Dawoodi Bohras
• Ismaili
• Shia
• Islam
• Mustali
• Taiyabi
• Fatimid

References

1. "Great Muslim Women". Naseeb.com. Retrieved May 2, 2012.
2. Mernissi, Fatima (1997). Forgotten Queens Of Islam. Univ Of Minnesota Press. pp. 115–116. ISBN 0816624399. Retrieved May 2, 2012.

• Daftary, Farhad (1999). "Sayyida Hurra: The Isma’ili Sulayhid Queen of Yemen". In Gavin Hambly. Women in the Medieval Islamic World. Palgrave Macmillan. pp. 117–130. ISBN 978-0-312-22451-6.
• Mernissi, Fatima; Mary Jo Lakeland (2003). The forgotten queens of Islam. Oxford University Press. ISBN 978-0-19-579868-5.

External links

• http://www.guide2womenleaders.com/Yemen%20Heads%20of%20State.htm