Women, Islam, and Abbasid identity

Upon the death of women in South Arabia responded peculiarly: they rejoiced. On learning the Prophet Muhammad in 11/632, a group of of the Prophet’s death, “they dyed their hands with henna and played the tambourine.” These six women were then joined by some twenty- odd other women, the harlots of Hadramaut. These women seem to have been ecstatic at the passing away of the Prophet, hoping that his demise would lead to the obliteration of his recently established order. When the news reached Caliph Abu Bakr, the fi rst successor to the Prophet, he immediately wrote a missive to his commander, stating: “Certain women of the people of Yemen who have desired the death of the Prophet of God . . . have been joined by singing girls of Kindah and prostitutes of Hadramaut, and they have dyed their hands and shown joy and played on the tambourine. . . .