Fatima.Mernessi_The-Forgotten-Queens-of-Islam-EN

The Little Queens of Sheba 149
first husband al-Mukarram when he fell ill, but that he delegated
his title of da'i, Shi'ite missionary, to his cousin Saba, with whom
'Arwa contracted a second marriage. 36 What is certain is that during
'Arwa's rule Isma'ilism began to spread into the Indian subcontinent
under the influence of missionaries from Yemen. 37 Since the days
of the Shebans, Yemen has always had close commercial ties with
India because of its geographical location: 'Merchandise was brought
by sea from India to Yemen at Hadhramaut, and then the Yemenis
transported it to Ethiopia, Egypt, Phoenicia, etc.' 38 Muslims, as the
propagators of new ideas and intellectual ferment, were inveterate
travellers and made use of the traditional commercial routes, and
Yemen was well placed for that. It was the Yemeni missionaries who
were the originators of today's Indian Isma'ili Bohora community. 39
Ultimately it is not of great moment whether 'Arwa was one of
the champions of Shi'ism. What is indisputable is that her power
came from the triumph of one of the most illustrious branches of
Shi'ism and that in her era the balance of power had tipped to the
side of that vision of Islam which until then had been condemned
by the established Sunni regimes. The access to power of the Sulayhi
dynasty would have been inconceivable if the Fatimids had not
succeeded in orchestrating a Shi'ite offensive on the international
level. Despite her abilities and military successes, 'Arwa none the
less had to suffer from the fact of being a woman. A man more
powerful than she was going to challenge her accomplishments. He
was the supreme imam, Caliph al-Mustansir in Cairo, her superior
in the Isma'ili Shi'ite hierarchy.
The first crisis that al-Mustansir faced her with took place at the
death of her husband. It was a crisis that awaited anybody called
to exercise power; that person had to beg for the benediction of
the caliph, who conferred recognition and legitimacy. This time
the caliph was Shi'ite, and as the Shi'ites always claimed to be
revolutionaries and defenders of the poor and excluded, one could
not imagine that with women they would take a different position,
especially since the Fatimid caliphs asserted their authority as
descendants of Fatima. Was the Fatimid caliph of Cairo going to
behave differently from the Sunni caliph of Baghdad who, as we
have seen, systematically opposed the access of women to power?
The attitude of the Fatimids toward 'Arwa will clarify an essential
question for us: does Shi'ite Islam distinguish itself from Sunni Islam
when it comes to the political rights of women? Does Shi'ite Islam
accept more readily than Sunni Islam that a woman govern a
country? Since Shi'ism is above all the historical expression of