Sayyida al Hurra

Lalla Aicha al-Alami
للا عائشة العلمي
Sayyida al Hurra, as imagined by a Modern artist.
Hakimat Titwan
Rule1515/1519[1] – 1542
PredecessorSidi Al-Mandri II
Bornc.1485 - 1495[2]
Died14 July 1561
SpouseSidi Al-Mandri II (c.1501; died 1519)[3]
Sultan Ahmad ibn Muhammad (m.1541; died 1549)
Names
Lalla Aicha bint Ali ibn Rashid al-Alami
DynastyWattasid (by marriage)
FatherAli ibn Rashid al-Alami
MotherZohra Fernandez[4]
ReligionSunni Islam

Sayyida al Hurra (Arabic: السيدة الحرة), real name Lalla Aisha bint Ali ibn Rashid al-Alami (Arabic: للا عائشة بنت علي بن رشيد العلمي) (1485 – 14 July 1561),[5] was Hakimat Titwan (Governor of Tétouan) between 1515–1542 and a Moroccan privateer leader during the early 16th century.[6] She became the wife of the Wattasid Sultan Ahmad ibn Muhammad. She is considered to be "one of the most important female figures of the Islamic West in the modern age".[7]

The life of Sayyida al-Hurra can be understood within geopolitical and religious contexts, particularly the struggle between Muslim and Christian empires during her lifetime. The Muslim Ottomans had captured Constantinople in 1453, marking the end of the Roman Empire. Al-Hurra was two years old when the Portuguese started their colonial conquest by capturing some ports at the western coast of Morocco, starting the year 1487. A few years later, Granada fell into the hands of the Catholic Monarchs Isabella I of Castile and Ferdinand II of Aragon and forced conversions of Muslims in Spain followed.

Allied with the Ottoman corsair Barbarossa of Algiers,[8] al-Hurra controlled the western Mediterranean Sea while Barbarossa controlled the east.[9] She was also prefect of Tétouan. In 1515, she became the last person in Islamic history to legitimately hold the title of al Hurra (Female monarch) following the death of her husband, who ruled Tétouan. She later married the Berber King of Morocco, Ahmed al-Wattasi, but refused to leave Tétouan to do so. This marriage marks the only time in Moroccan history a king married away from the capital, Fez.[7][10]

  1. ^ "Malika VI: Sayyida Al-Hurra". Muslim Heritage. 2018-02-08. Retrieved 2022-04-09.
  2. ^ "Malika VI: Sayyida Al-Hurra". Muslim Heritage. 2018-02-08. Retrieved 2022-04-09.
  3. ^ Elbl, Martin (2013-12-27). Portuguese Tangier (1471-1662): Colonial Urban Fabric as Cross-Cultural Skeleton. Baywolf Press / Éditions Baywolf. p. 242. ISBN 978-0-921437-50-5.
  4. ^ Rodolfo Gil. Grimau (2000). Sayyida al-Hurra, mujer marroquí de origen andalusi (in Spanish). Anaquel de estudios árabes.
  5. ^ Cite error: The named reference AramcoWorld was invoked but never defined (see the help page).
  6. ^ "Malika VI: Sayyida Al-Hurra". Muslim Heritage. 2018-02-08. Retrieved 2022-04-09.
  7. ^ a b Cite error: The named reference SAYYIDA AL-HURRA was invoked but never defined (see the help page).
  8. ^ Klausman, Ulrike (2010). Women Pirates and the Politics of the Jolly Roger. Perseus Book LLC. p. 98. ISBN 978-1282000018. OCLC 892994261.
  9. ^ Qazi, Moin (2015). Women in Islam : exploring new paradigms. Notion Press. ISBN 9789384878030. OCLC 906544767.
  10. ^ Cite error: The named reference Mernissi18 was invoked but never defined (see the help page).