Al-Dalfa’ and the Political Role of the Umm Al-Walad in the Late Umayyad Caliphate of Al-Andalus

Abstract

Sanchuelo was executed and Hisham II was dethroned. Al-Dalfa' had attained her goal. However, the collapse of the Amirid regime and the absence of a strong and consensual leadership led to civil war and, ultimately, to the end of the Umayyad Caliphate, in 1031.Considering that female interference in public affairs was discouraged in al-Andalus, as well as throughout the Muslim world, al-Dalfa's intervention looks surprising. A hadith spread by Aisha's adversaries in Islam's early days states: "A population which had put a woman in charge of its affairs shall not prosper." 4 Such distancing between women and politics rested in the concept that the domestic world was assigned to women, while men were in charge of the public dominion. 5 A woman's life outdoors was framed by a set of rules, such as the prohibition of travelling alone or in the company of anyone other than her husband or a relative she was not permitted to marry. 6