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Sayyida al Hurra

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Lalla Aisha bint Ali ibn Rashid al-Alami
للا عائشة بنت علي بن رشيد العلمي‎
Modern fantasy image
Governor of Tétouan
Rule1515/1519[1] – 1542
Predecessor
Sidi al-Mandri II
Bornc. 1491–1495[2]
Chefchaouen, Morocco[2]
Died1552
Chefchaouen, Morocco
Spouse
  • Sidi al-Mandri II
    ​
    ​
    (m. 1501; died 1515)​
    [3]
  • ​
    ​
    (m. 1541; died 1549)​
DynastyWattasid (by marriage)
FatherAli ibn Rashid al-Alami
MotherLalla Zohra Fernandez[4]
ReligionSunni Islam

Lalla Aisha bint Ali ibn Rashid al-Alami (Arabic: للا عائشة بنت علي بن رشيد العلمي; c. 1491 or 1495 – 1552),[2][5] commonly known as Sayyida al-Hurra (السيدة الحرة, transl. The Mistress, the Free Woman), was a Moroccan privateer who governed the city of Tétouan from 1515 or 1519 to 1542.[6] As the wife of Moroccan king Abu al-Abbas Ahmad ibn Muhammad, who was her second husband, she belonged to the Wattasid dynasty. She is considered to be "one of the most important female figures of the Islamic West in the modern age."[7]

The era of her life and career was largely marked by a widespread struggle between the Christian world and the Muslim world: the Ottoman Empire had conquered Constantinople in 1453, ending the Eastern Byzantine Empire; the Portuguese Empire had begun conquering ports along the western Moroccan coast around 1487; and the Reconquista had returned the Iberian Peninsula to European Christian rule by 1492, eventually leading to the expulsion or forced conversion of Muslims in Spain.

Al-Hurra split control over the Mediterranean Sea with her ally Hayreddin Barbarossa,[8] an Ottoman corsair who operated in the east while she operated in the west.[9] In 1515, she became the last person in Muslim history to legitimately hold the title "al-Hurra" following the death of her first husband Sidi al-Mandri II, who ruled Tétouan. Her marriage to her second husband marks the only time in Moroccan history that a king married away from the capital city Fez, as al-Hurra refused to leave Tétouan.[7][10]

Early life and family

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Sayyida al Hurra was born in Chefchaouen around 1491 and 1495 or precisely in 1491,[5][2] to a prominent Muslim family of Andalusian nobles, who returned to Morocco after the fall of Granada, at the end of the Reconquista and settled in Chefchaouen.[10] Her parents were Ali ibn Rashid al-Alami, the founder and emir of Chefchaouen and Lalla Zohra Fernandez from Vejer de la Frontera near Cadiz.[5] A Sharifian,[11] she was a descendant of the Moroccan sufi saint Abd al-Salam ibn Mashish al-Alami,[7] and through him of Hasan ibn Ali.[12]

Sayyida's childhood was happy and secure, yet clouded by constant reminders of the forced exile from Granada. During her childhood, she was given a first-class education. She was fluent in several languages which included Castilian Spanish and Portuguese. The famous Moroccan scholar Abdallah al-Ghazwani was one of her many teachers.[13] She was married at age 16 to a man 30 years her senior, Sidi al-Mandri II, a grandson or nephew of Ali al-Mandri who was a friend of her father and re-founder and governor of the city of Tétouan, himself an Andalusian Moorish refugee.[14] She was promised to her husband when she was still a child.[7]

Career

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Governor of Tétouan

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An intelligent woman, Al Hurra learned much whilst assisting her husband in his business affairs. She was a de facto vice-governor, with her husband entrusting the reins of power to her each time he made a trip outside the city. When he died in 1515, the population, who had become accustomed to seeing her exercise power, accepted her as a governor of Tétouan, giving her the title of al-Hurra.[10] Spanish and Portuguese sources describe al-Hurra as "their partner in the diplomatic game".[10] Some historians believe that the unusual "degree of acceptance of al Hurra as a ruler" could be attributed to "Andalusian familiarity with female inheriting power from monarch families in Spain such as Isabella I of Castile."[15] Others believe that al Hurra succeeded as governor because she was "the undisputed leader of pirates of the western Mediterranean".[16][17]

In 1541, she accepted a marriage proposal from Ahmed al-Wattasi, a Sultan of the Moroccan Wattasid dynasty, who traveled from Fez to Tétouan to marry her. Her marriage with him was the only recorded instance of a Moroccan king marrying outside of his capital. This occurred because al-Hurra was not ready to give up her role as ruler of Tétouan or even to leave the city for the marriage ceremony, forcing al-Wattasi to come to her.[18] It is believed that Sayyida al-Hurra insisted on this to show everybody that she was not going to give up governing Tétouan despite being married to the Sultan.[10][15]

Sayyida al Hurra lived a life of adventure and romance.[10] She appointed her brother Moulay Ibrahim as vizier to Ahmed al-Wattasi, Sultan of Fez, and this placed the Rashids as major players in the effort to unify Morocco against the fast-growing powers of Spain and Portugal.[19]

Barbary piracy

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Sayyida could neither forget nor forgive the humiliation of being forced to flee Granada. In her wish to avenge herself on the "Christian enemy", she turned to piracy. She made contact with the legendary Ottoman admiral Hayrettin Barbarossa of Algiers.[10] Piracy provided a quick income, "booty and ransom for captives", and also helped to keep alive the dream of returning to Andalusia.[10] She was well respected by Christians as a "queen" who had power over the Mediterranean Sea, and over the release of Portuguese and Spanish captives.[10][15] For example, in The Forgotten Queens of Islam Fatima Mernissi mentions Spanish historical documents of 1540, according to which there were negotiations "between the Spaniards and Sayyida al-Hurra" after a successful pirating operation in Gibraltar in which the pirates took "much booty and many prisoners".[20]

Later life

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After she had ruled for 30 years, her son-in-law Muhammad al-Hassan al-Mandri overthrew her in October 1542.[21] According to the Yemen Times, "she was stripped of her property and power".[18] Accepting her fate, al Hurra retired to Chefchaouen, where she died in 1552.[2]

References

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  1. ^ "Malika VI: Sayyida Al-Hurra". Muslim Heritage. 2018-02-08. Retrieved 2022-04-09.
  2. ^ a b c d e Lebbady, Hasna (2012). Akyeampong, Emmanuel Kwaku; Gates Jr., Henry Louis (eds.). Dictionary of African Biography. OUP USA. p. 300. ISBN 978-0-19-538207-5.
  3. ^ Elbl, Martin (2013-12-27). Portuguese Tangier (1471-1662): Colonial Urban Fabric as Cross-Cultural Skeleton. Baywolf Press / Éditions Baywolf. p. 242. ISBN 978-0-921437-50-5.
  4. ^ Rodolfo Gil. Grimau (2000). Sayyida al-Hurra, mujer marroquí de origen andalusi (in Spanish). Anaquel de estudios árabes.
  5. ^ a b c Lebbady, Hasna (2012). "Women in Northern Morocco: Between the Documentary and the Imaginary". Alif: Journal of Comparative Poetics (32): 127–150. ISSN 1110-8673. JSTOR 41850741.
  6. ^ "Malika VI: Sayyida Al-Hurra". Muslim Heritage. 2018-02-08. Retrieved 2022-04-09.
  7. ^ a b c d Rodolfo Gil (Benumeya) Grimau (January 2000). "SAYYIDA AL-HURRA, MUJER MARROQUÍ DE ORIGEN ANDALUSÍ". Anaquel de Estudios Árabes. 11: 311. Retrieved 24 January 2022.
  8. ^ Klausman, Ulrike (2010). Women Pirates and the Politics of the Jolly Roger. Perseus Book LLC. p. 98. ISBN 978-1282000018. OCLC 892994261.
  9. ^ Qazi, Moin (2015). Women in Islam : exploring new paradigms. Notion Press. ISBN 9789384878030. OCLC 906544767.
  10. ^ a b c d e f g h i Mernissi, Fatima (1997). The Forgotten Queens of Islam. Univ. Of Minnesota Press. p. 18. ISBN 978-0-8166-2439-3. Retrieved 11 February 2011.
  11. ^ Mernissi (1997), p. 115
  12. ^ Kugle, Scott A. (2011). Sufis and Saints' Bodies: Mysticism, Corporeality, and Sacred Power in Islam. Univ of North Carolina Press. p. 300.
  13. ^ "Malika VI: Sayyida Al-Hurra". AramcoWorld. Retrieved 29 January 2018.
  14. ^ Archivos del Instituto de Estudios Africanos, Volume 4. El Instituto, 1950 - Instituto de Estudios Africanos (Consejo Superior de Investigaciones Científicas (Spain)). 1950. pp. 85, 94, 97.
  15. ^ a b c Thomas Kerlin Park, Aomar Boum (January 28, 2006). Historical dictionary of Morocco. The Scarecrow Press, Inc. p. 317. ISBN 978-0-8108-5341-6. Retrieved 11 February 2011.
  16. ^ Ann Marie Maxwell. "The Daring Daughters of Kahena". Archived from the original on 28 April 2016. Retrieved 11 February 2011.
  17. ^ Eugene Sensenig-Dabbous (2003), "Non-Arab Women in the Arab World" (PDF), al-Raida, 20 (101–2), Beirut University College. Institute for Women's Studies in the Arab World: 20, retrieved 11 February 2011
  18. ^ a b "Extraordinary Muslim women". Yemen Times. 6 April 2010. Archived from the original on 18 July 2011. Retrieved 11 February 2011.
  19. ^ Verde, Tom; Solans Verde, Leonor (January–February 2017). "Malika VI: Sayyida Al-Hurra". AramcoWorld. Retrieved 17 July 2018.
  20. ^ Mernissi (1997), p. 193
  21. ^ Daoud, Mohammed (1993). History of Tétouan (تاريخ تطوان) (PDF) (in Arabic). p. 122. Retrieved 7 October 2018.
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