Queens of the Golden Age

A tribute to the Muslim women scholars, scientists, poets and rulers of the Islamic Golden Age - women whose intellect shaped the world, even as history tried to forget their names.
This piece honours women like Fatima Al-Fihri, founder of the world's first university, Lubna of Cordoba, scholar, librarian, mathematician, Maryam al-Asturlabi, astronomer and astrolabe maker, amongst others who brilliance has been overlooked or erased.

Once upon a time, Arab Muslim women led, taught, healed, discovered, ruled and shaped civilisations. They were influential, visible and central to intellectual and political life - yet their stories were gradually written out of dominant historical narratives, both by the West and by patriarchal retellings within our own cultures.

We come from women of knowledge, power and light. Women who built institutions, advanced science, shaped literature and ruled dynasties.

We come from queens. We carry the torch.