This thesis is a comparative study of three spiritual female models recognized in the Islamic tradition: Maryam, the mother of `Isa, Khadija, the Prophet Muh&dotbelow;ammad's first wife, and Fat&dotbelow;ima, the Prophet's daughter. Although comparisons between these three women occur frequently in the Islamic literature of different periods, this research focuses on two works of the famous exegete and historian Abu Ja`far al-T&dotbelow;abari (d. 310/923), i.e., Jami` al-Bayan `an Ta'wil al-Qur'an and Ta'rikh al-Rusul wa al-Muluk . In the light of textual analysis of al-T&dotbelow;abari's depiction of these three women, it appears that their images contribute towards the formation of an ideal type of the believing Muslim woman. Maryam, Khadija and Fat&dotbelow;ima are consistently characterized by their obedience, motherhood and purity. This thesis analyzes al-T&dotbelow;abari's comments on, and understanding of, each of these virtues. It also argues that the comparison between these three women, as found in al-T&dotbelow;abari's works, serves a wider religious purpose. Paradoxically, Khadija's and Fat&dotbelow;ima's comparison with Maryam allowed the early exegetes to establish Islam's continuity with respect to the existing monotheistic religions and, at the same time, to affirm its superiority over them.
| Identifer | oai:union.ndltd.org:LACETR/oai:collectionscanada.gc.ca:QMM.30147 |
| Date | January 1999 |
| Creators | Bénard, Laure-Elina J. |
| Contributors | Turgay, U. (advisor) |
| Publisher | McGill University |
| Source Sets | Library and Archives Canada ETDs Repository / Centre d'archives des thèses électroniques de Bibliothèque et Archives Canada |
| Language | English |
| Detected Language | English |
| Type | Electronic Thesis or Dissertation |
| Format | application/pdf |
| Coverage | Master of Arts (Institute of Islamic Studies.) |
| Rights | All items in eScholarship@McGill are protected by copyright with all rights reserved unless otherwise indicated. |
| Relation | alephsysno: 001746028, proquestno: MQ64129, Theses scanned by UMI/ProQuest. |
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