Joseph C. Miller Memorial Lecture by Elizabeth Urban

How did elite Arab-Muslim households treat unfree women from 600 to 800 CE?
Examining mawlayāt, servile women who were not technically enslaved, this talk examines their scarcity, domestic roles, and social networks. It cautions against uncritical reading of sources, which often convey biased messages. Mawlayāt offer insight into power dynamics in early Islamic society, occupying an intermediate position between enslaved and free.