Women and power in Islam. II: The Free Queen sulayhi al-Sayyida (Arwa) bint Ahmad (440-532/1048-9-1138)

Study and biography of the Free Queen al-Sayyida bint Ahmad, of the. Sulayhid dynasty from Yemen. Al-Sayyida al-Hurra was an important political figure of her time and she played a special role in the history of Yemen and the Ismaelism, and above all she was the founder of the. tayyibi Ismaelism, the new religious order. She didn't stand out just as an influential ruler and Arabic and Muslim woman during the Middle Ages, but also as a historical example of feminine Muslim leadership, when the Fatimid imam al-Munstansir appointed her as as huyya of Yemen. Al-Sayyida was forerunner of great social and architectural works and her government entailed a period of splendour in the medieval Yemen.