Sayyida ʿĀʾisha Al-Mannūbiyya
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Aïsha Al-Manoubya (, ʿĀʾisha al-Mannūbiyya), also known by the honorific ''As-Saida'' ('saint') or ''Lella'' ('the Lady') (1199–1267 CE), is one of the most famous women in
Tunisia Tunisia, officially the Republic of Tunisia, is a country in the Maghreb region of North Africa. It is bordered by Algeria to the west and southwest, Libya to the southeast, and the Mediterranean Sea to the north and east. Tunisia also shares m ...
n history and a prominent figure in
Islam Islam is an Abrahamic religions, Abrahamic monotheistic religion based on the Quran, and the teachings of Muhammad. Adherents of Islam are called Muslims, who are estimated to number Islam by country, 2 billion worldwide and are the world ...
. She is "one of the few
omen An omen (also called ''portent'') is a phenomenon that is believed to foretell the future, often signifying the advent of change. It was commonly believed in ancient history, and still believed by some today, that omens bring divine messages ...
to have been granted the title of saint." ʿĀʾisha was known for her
Sufism Sufism ( or ) is a mysticism, mystic body of religious practice found within Islam which is characterized by a focus on Islamic Tazkiyah, purification, spirituality, ritualism, and Asceticism#Islam, asceticism. Practitioners of Sufism are r ...
and good deeds. She was the supporter and student of Sidi Bousaid al-Baji and
Abul Hasan ash-Shadhili Abu al-Hasan al-Shadhili () (full name: Abū al-Ḥasan ʿAlī ibn ʿAbd Allāh ibn ʿAbd al-Jabbār al-Ḥasanī wal-Ḥusaynī al-Shādhilī) also known as Sheikh al-Shadhili (593–656 AH) (1196–1258 AD) was an influential Moroccan Islamic ...
. Her activities in higher education, advocacy, and public acts of charity were unusual for her time given her sex.


Life

Dates given for ʿĀʾisha's life vary slightly, but scholarly sources suggest she lived from 1199 to 1267 CE (595–665 AH). According to the standard
hagiography A hagiography (; ) is a biography of a saint or an ecclesiastical leader, as well as, by extension, an adulatory and idealized biography of a preacher, priest, founder, saint, monk, nun or icon in any of the world's religions. Early Christian ...
, ʿĀʾisha was born in the village of
Manouba Manouba ( ') is a city in north-eastern Tunisia, and is part the metropolitan area of Tunis, also called Grand Tunis. It is located at the west of Tunis city center at around . It is the capital city of Manouba Governorate. Manouba is well known ...
, near
Tunis Tunis (, ') is the capital city, capital and largest city of Tunisia. The greater metropolitan area of Tunis, often referred to as "Grand Tunis", has about 2,700,000 inhabitants. , it is the third-largest city in the Maghreb region (after Casabl ...
, and showed signs of her saintliness already in childhood, challenging social norms and effecting miraculous deeds ('' karamāt''). In portraying ʿĀʾisha's socially-transgressive behavior, narrations of her story tend to "alig her with the Ṣūfī model of the 'blamable ones" (''ahl al-malāma''), those who went about transgressing social norms on purpose" (see also:
Malamatiyya The Malāmatiyya (), or Malamatis, were an early Muslim organization and associated Islamic mystical movement active in 9th-century Greater Khorasan. The root word of their name is the Arabic word ''malāmah'' () "blame". The Malamatiyya believ ...
). According to a popular narrative, "after her father had slaughtered a bull at her request, she cooked it, distributed its meat to villagers, and brought it back to life in order to reveal her sainthood," an event which was then "regularly commemorated in song during rituals held at her shrines." ʿĀʾisha studied in Tunis with Shādhiliyya Ṣūfīs, moving back and forth between her rural home and urban
Tunis Tunis (, ') is the capital city, capital and largest city of Tunisia. The greater metropolitan area of Tunis, often referred to as "Grand Tunis", has about 2,700,000 inhabitants. , it is the third-largest city in the Maghreb region (after Casabl ...
. Prominent influences were the female mystic Rābiʿa al-ʿAdawiyya al-Qaysiyya (/714–185/801); Abū l-Ḥassan al-Shādhilī (–656/1196–1258), who founded the Shādhilī Ṣūfī order; the Baghdadi ʿAbd al-Qādir al-Jīlānī (470–561/1077 or 1078–1166, of Baghdad, namesake and patron of the Qādiriyya); and
al-Junayd Junayd of Baghdad (; ) was a mystic and one of the most famous of the early Islamic saints. He is a central figure in the spiritual lineage of many Sufi orders. Junayd taught in Baghdad throughout his lifetime and was an important figure in th ...
(d. 297/910), a
Shāfiʿī The Shafi'i school or Shafi'i Madhhab () or Shafi'i is one of the four major schools of fiqh (Islamic jurisprudence), belonging to the Ahl al-Hadith tradition within Sunni Islam. It was founded by the Muslim scholar, jurist, and traditionist al ...
scholar associated with Baghdad but originally of Persian origin. ʿĀʾisha is one of the few women to have been the subject of a written saint's life ('' manāqib'') in the Islamic world of her time, and she "represents a leading figure of women's sainthood in Islam." Whereas it was customary for female saints in her region to be recluses, ʿĀʾisha mixed with male society, including the poor, Sūfī scholars, and even the Ḥafṣīd sultan. She had two shrines dedicated to her, one in La Manouba (destroyed in 2012) and the other in the Gorjani district of
Tunis Tunis (, ') is the capital city, capital and largest city of Tunisia. The greater metropolitan area of Tunis, often referred to as "Grand Tunis", has about 2,700,000 inhabitants. , it is the third-largest city in the Maghreb region (after Casabl ...
.


Commemoration

In popular memory, ʿĀʾisha represents a powerful and respected saint. One of the
souk A bazaar or souk is a marketplace consisting of multiple small stalls or shops, especially in the Middle East, the Balkans, Central Asia, North Africa and South Asia. They are traditionally located in vaulted or covered streets that have doors ...
s of the
Medina of Tunis The Medina of Tunis is the medina quarter of Tunis, the capital of Tunisia. It has been a UNESCO World Heritage Site since 1979. The Medina contains some 700 monuments, including palaces, mosques, mausoleums, madrasas and fountains dating from ...
, "Souk Es Sida El Manoubya," was named after her. A few kilometres from the Medina, a gourbiville takes her name. Al-Manoubya used to retire to pray in that neighbourhood. The inhabitants of Manouba built a second
mausoleum A mausoleum is an external free-standing building constructed as a monument enclosing the burial chamber of a deceased person or people. A mausoleum without the person's remains is called a cenotaph. A mausoleum may be considered a type o ...
to commemorate ʿĀʾisha under the name of "The Mausoleum of As-Saida Al-Manoubya" in her birthplace area. The Mausoleum is still famous today and valued in the field of Tunisian national heritage and history. It was vandalised and burned after the Tunisian Revolution on 16 October 2012.


Primary sources

* ''Manâqib as-Sayyida 'Â'isha al-Mannûbiyya'' (Tunis 1344/1925) * Nelly Amri, ''La sainte de Tunis: Présentation et traduction de l'hagiographie de 'Â'isha al-Mannûbiyya (m. 665/1267)'' (Arles: Sindbad-Actes Sud, 2008) * ''Âisha al-Mannûbiyya (v. 1198–1267)', in Audrey Fella, ''Femmes en quête d'absolu: Anthologie de la mystique au féminin'' (Michel, 2016)


Secondary studies

Many books and studies have discussed ʿĀʾisha's history. So, too, have cinema and Sufi songs and performances. Key scholarly studies of ʿĀʾisha include: * Amri, Nelly, 'Femmes, sainteté et discours hagiographique au Maghreb médiéval: Naissance à la sainteté, naissance à l'histoire; Le case d'une sainte de Tunis, 'Â'isha al-Mannûbiyya (m. 665/1267)', in ''Histoire des femmes au Maghreb: Réponses à l'exclusion'', ed. by Mohamed Monkachi (Morocco: Faculté des Lettres de Kénitra, 1999), 253–74. Amri, Nelly, ''Les Femmes soufies ou la passion de Dieu'' (St-Jean-de-Bray: Dangles, 1992) * Abū 'Abd al-Raḥmān al-Sulamī, ''Early Sufi Women: Dhikr an-Niswa al-Muta'abbidat as-Sufiyyat'', trans. by Rkia Cornell (1999) * Katia Boissevain, ''Sainte parmi les saints. Sayyida Mannūbiya ou les recompositions cultuelles dans la Tunisie contemporaine'' (2006)


See also

* List of female Islamic scholars *
Islam in Tunisia Islam is the dominant religion in Tunisia. According to the United States CIA, 99.1% of its adherents are Sunni Muslims. The constitution of Tunisia states that the country's “religion is Islam”, the government is the “guardian of religi ...
*
List of Sufi Saints Sufi saints or wali (, plural ʾawliyāʾ أولياء) played an instrumental and foregrounding role in spreading Islam throughout the world. In the traditional Islamic view, a saint is portrayed as someone "marked by pecialdivine favor ... ...


References

{{Authority control Tunisian women 13th-century women 13th-century people from Ifriqiya People from Manouba Governorate People from the Almohad Caliphate 1199 births 1267 deaths Sufi saints Female Sufi mystics Sufi mystics