Aisha Al-Manoubya Explained

Aïsha Al-Manoubya (Arabic: عائشة المنوبية, 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 Tunisian history and a prominent figure in Islam. She is "one of the few females to have been granted the title of saint."[1]

ʿĀʾisha was known for her Sufism and good deeds. She was the supporter and student of Sidi Bousaid al-Baji and Abul Hasan ash-Shadhili. 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).[2]

According to the standard hagiography, ʿĀʾisha was born in the village of Manouba, near Tunis, 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[n] her with the Ṣūfī model of the 'blamable ones" (ahl al-malāma), those who went about transgressing social norms on purpose" (see also: Malamatiyya).

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. 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 (d. 297/910), a Shāfiʿī 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.

Commemoration

In popular memory, ʿĀʾisha represents a powerful and respected saint. One of the souks of the Medina of Tunis, "Souk Es Sida El Manoubya," was named after her.[3]

A few kilometres from the Medina, a gourbiville takes her name.[4] Al-Manoubya used to retire to pray in that neighbourhood.[5]

The inhabitants of Manouba built a second mausoleum to commemorate ʿĀʾisha under the name of "The Mausoleum of As-Saida Al-Manoubya" in her birthplace area.[6] 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.[7] [8] [9] [10] [11]

Primary sources

Secondary studies

Many books[12] [13] and studies[14] have discussed ʿĀʾisha's history. So, too, have cinema and Sufi songs and performances.[15] Key scholarly studies of ʿĀʾisha include:

See also

Notes and References

  1. Masri, Safwan. Tunisia: An Arab Anomaly. New York: Columbia University Press, 2017, 118.
  2. Nelly Amri, La sainte de Tunis. Présentation et traduction de l'hagiographie de ʿĀisha al-Mannūbiyya (Arles: Sindbad-Actes Sud, 2008).
  3. Book: Slyomovics. Susan. The Walled Arab City in Literature, Architecture and History: The Living Medina in the Maghrib. Routledge. 9781135281267. en. 2013-11-05.
  4. Web site: FERJANI. Chérif. LA REHABILITATION DUN GOURBIVILLE : SAtDA-MANMOU6lA A TUNS.
  5. Book: Pacione. Michael. Problems and Planning in Third World Cities (Routledge Revivals). Routledge. 9781134519910. en. 2013-10-18.
  6. Web site: Salafists In Tunisia Target Sufi, The Mystics Of Islam.
  7. Web site: Thirty-Four Mausoleums in Tunisia Vandalized Since the Revolution - Tunisia Live. Tunisia Live. Tunisia live. 24 January 2013. 18 March 2017. https://web.archive.org/web/20170319195708/http://www.tunisia-live.net/2013/01/24/thirty-four-mausoleums-in-tunisia-vandalized-since-the-revolution/. 19 March 2017. dead.
  8. Web site: Saida Manoubia, Tunisia's only female Sufi saint, attracts followers.
  9. Web site: Salafist Arsonists Target Tunisian Heritage Sites. Al-Monitor. en-us. 31 January 2013.
  10. Web site: Unesco condemns the destruction of the Saida Manoubia Mausoleum Islamopedia Online. islamopediaonline.org. en. 18 March 2017. https://web.archive.org/web/20160826122112/http://islamopediaonline.org/news/unesco-condemns-destruction-saida-manoubia-mausoleum. 26 August 2016. dead.
  11. Web site: Saida Manoubia, Tunisia's only female Sufi saint, attracts followers Roua Khlifi . 2023-03-27 . AW . en.
  12. Book: Jacobs. Daniel. Morris. Peter. The Rough Guide to Tunisia. Rough Guides. 9781858287485. en. 2001.
  13. Book: Bessis. Sophie. Sophie Bessis . Les Valeureuses - Cinq tunisiennes dans l'Histoire. Elyzad. 978-9973580900. 2017.
  14. Web site: Planned destruction of Sufi architectural heritage in Tunisia. 18 March 2017. https://web.archive.org/web/20170918065853/http://www.ancbs.org/cms/images/ICOMOS_statement_Tunisia_march_2013.pdf. 18 September 2017. dead.
  15. Web site: The Untold Stories of Muslim Saints in Tunisia - Tunisia Live. Tunisia Live. 7 November 2016. 18 March 2017. https://web.archive.org/web/20170319195751/http://www.tunisia-live.net/2016/11/07/the-untold-stories-of-muslim-saints-in-tunisia/. 19 March 2017. dead.

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