When asked to name historic travellers, it’s likely that various men will pop into your mind: Charles Darwin, Christopher Columbus, that colonialist guy holding a British flag in all the old paintings. I’d be hard-pressed to find the name of a female traveller. As for a female Muslim traveller? The game is over before it’s even begun.
Three Centuries of Travel Writing by Muslim Women, co-edited by Sheffield historian Siobhan Lambert-Hurley, addresses this gap in existing literature. It’s an important step towards decentralising the male, colonialist narrative of exploration. As Lambert-Hurley explained in her excellent talk, the book challenges the assumption that Muslim women can’t be travellers.
The book is separated into 45 chapters, each named after a female Muslim traveller. The chapters consist of an introduction, textual analysis and excerpts of women’s writings. There are four thematic sections: travel as pilgrimage, as emancipation and politics, as education, and as obligation and pleasure. Most of the writers consciously identify as Muslim and engage with what it means be a woman. Each of the women have a unique voice, defined not only by their gender and creed, but also race, class, political beliefs and personality. The book reveals the huge diversity within Islam, proving that there is no unified image of what a Muslim woman should look like.
The amount of work that has gone into uncovering these sources should not be understated. Lambert-Hurley and her team researched the book over seven years, collaborating with experts in Arabic sources and visiting private collections in rural Punjab. Three Centuries of Travel Writing by Muslim Women is all the more valuable for rendering visible a previously unwritten history of Muslim women travellers. It deserves a place on your bookshelf!