Sufi women of South Asia: veiled friends of god

In Sufi Women of South Asia: Veiled Friends of God, the first biographical compendium of hundred and forty-one women, from the eleventh to the twentieth century, Tahera Aftab fills a serious gap in the existing scholarship regarding the historical presence of women in Islam and brings women to the centre of the expanding literature on Sufism. The book’s translated excerpts from the original Farsi and Urdu sources that were never put together create a much-needed English-language source base on Sufism and Muslim women. The book questions the spurious religious and cultural traditions that patronise gender inequalities in Muslim societies and convincingly proves that these pious women were exemplars of Islamic piety who as true spiritual masters avoided its public display. About the Author Tahera Aftab, Ph.D. (1986) in History, University of Karachi, is Professor of History and Founding Director of Women’s Studies (retired) at the University of Karachi, Pakistan. She has also taught at Gettysburg College, Gettysburg (PA, USA). She is the Founding Editor and publisher of Pakistan Journal of Women’s Studies: Alam-e-Niswan and has published monographs and articles on South Asia, including Inscribing South Asian Muslim Women: An Annotated Bibliography & Research Guide (Brill, 2007) and A Story of Days Gone by: A Translation of Bītī Kahānī: An Autobiography of Princess Shahr Bano Begam of Pataudi (OUP, 2012).