Women as Patrons of Religious Architecture in Ayyubid Damascus

Women in Islamic architecture: towards acknowledging their role in the development of Islamic civilization

“…The majority of the women under this study enjoyed high social status by being part of the imperial power as a mother, wife, or daughter of the ruler or sultan. For example, the challenging Dayfa Khatun, regent of Aleppo, provided the city with one of its famous monuments, the Madrasa al-Firdaws, the Seljuq princess Safwat al-Mulk, widow of the conqueror of Syria Taj al-Dawla Tutush (1078-95) ordered the construction of an impressive funerary cupola for her son and herself, and Zumurrud Khatun built the Madrasa Khatuniyya in Damascus (Humphreys, 1994). Other eminent women such as Rabi'a Khatun, sister of Salah al-Din al-Ayyubi, was known for her patronage of architecture in Damascus, and Nafisa al-Bayda, the wife of Murad Bey, the Ottoman viceroy of Egypt in the late 18 th century, employed her vast wealth for building monumental architecture, such as a public water fountain in Cairo (Behrens-Abouseif, 1989).…”

Muslim Women’s Religious Education in Early and Classical Islam

“…31 31 There are several articles on this topic including, Baer (1983), Haarmann (1980), Humphreys (1994), Petry (1983, 1991), Fay (1997) and Deguilhem (2005). …”