Women in Soqotri and Omani folklore

Abstract

Compared with what we know about Omani folklore and history, the specimens collected by our team on the island of Soqotra (Suqutrā) demonstrate clear commonalities related to the role of women in both Soqotra and Oman that have a solid foundation in history. The Omanis appeared on the island earlier than customarily believed, and they were the first ones who had introduced Islam on the island, according to al-Hamdānī's account. The author of a well-known Omani chronicle wrote about dramatic events related to the relatively unknown history underlying the advent of the Omani Kharijites on the island. At the same time, the chronicle provides evidence of an incredible mission carried out by a Soqotri woman, al-ZahrāD, who during the rule of ʿAzzān b. al-Saqr (d. 268/881) wrote a poem to the imam, which narrated to him how much wrongdoing had allegedly been committed by the Christians on the island. Muhammad al-Zarqā believes that al-Zahrāʾ meant the Ethiopians here when she referred to Christians. In a newly recorded Soqotri text, entitled man's advice to his comrade', a woman is the main protagonist.