When Spirit and Intellect Know no Gender Boundaries: Women and the Rise of the Naqshbandiyya-Khalidiyya in the Ottoman Empire during the Nineteenth Century
Khadija bint Yusuf was one of the most powerful women in Syria and the wider Ottoman Empire. She also headed a branch of the Naqshbandiyya-Khalidiyya__the Sufi order founded by her husband, Shaykh Khalid. Beginning with her example, this paper examines how the leading Sufi figures viewed women and their place in society. Ultimately, this type of work will help us better understand the development of Muslim societies during a critical period in the modern history of the Middle East
