ABSTRACT
Women are often described as invisible in the public life of Islamic communities, yet Middle Eastern and Islamic history is replete with interesting, bold, authoritative and often controversial female characters that ruled as queens, sang the triumphs of their tribes as poets, and fought alongside their warriors or nursed the wounded in battle. The classical period, approximately three centuries after the events of the Quran, is characterized by Abbasid learning which saw itself as a reformation of a corrupt Umayyad dynasty. The apparent differences extend confusion within Muslim culture as well as non-Muslim culture and in some cases lead to polarization of views on women. Barbara Freyer-Stowasser asserts that the female is a symbol for Islamic formulation of self-identity and that the Quranic female figures serve as representations of worldview and identity. Some archaeological evidence suggests that Arabian women played an active role in the public sphere at various stages during pre-Islamic times.
