HAÇLI SEFERLERİ SIRASINDA MÜSLÜMAN KADIN (1097-1250)
MUSLIM WOMEN DURING THE CRUSADES (1097-1250)

Summary/Abstract: This study aims to identify the social, intellectual, and political positions of Muslim women during the Crusades period (1097-1250). The historiography of the Crusades has predominantly addressed its military and political dimensions, while its effects on different social groups have not been adequately researched. This study seeks to fill this gap by revealing the role of women in the transformation organized by Muslims against the Crusaders. The research uses historical analysis and literature review methodology. Primary sources of the period such as Ibn al-Athir, Ibn al-Qalanisi, Abu Shama, Sibt Ibn al-Jawzi and Ibn Wāṣil along with modern studies, were examined through cross-reading techniques. Historians' insufficient attention to women's biographies has been identified as the main methodological challenge. To overcome, sources about political and military matters have been systematically scanned, along with death records and works related to institutions such as madrasas. Different findings were evaluated through comparative historical method, and scattered about women mentioned in the period have been compiled and analysed. While Muslim women were associated with political marriages, dowries, and intrigues before the Crusades, during the campaigns they became both victims of war and assumed active roles. Pioneers such as Zumurrud Khatun and Ismat al-Din Khatun established educational institutions, while the sisters Sitt al-Sham and Rabia Khatun engaged in social activities. In the political sphere, Dayfa Khatun governed the state as the "Queen of Aleppo," while Shajar al-Durr was mentioned in the Friday sermons as sultan. At least twelve madrasas have been identified that were founded by women. Muslim women showed steady advancement while struggling against the Crusaders. When men were at war, women filled the void the social sphere, and influenced the future by establishing educational institutions, and reached leadership level in political arenas. This rise was not limited to dynastic families but spread to the general population.

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