Effects Of Celibacy And Oneness On Referred Saint Women As “Men” Rabia Adawiya Model

In texts from classical literature and Sufism women who inclined to asceticism are referred as “men”. There is no need to talk about their womanhood since it would not be proper to speak of the sex of an ascetic, it opposes to established moral principles. Although it is said that there is no priesthood in Islam, celibacy could be found in many periods. When asceticism turned into Sufism, abstaining from sexual intercourse was quite a common phenomenon among Sufis. Since distinction between two phenomena, foregoing from sex and the absence of sex in oneness, is not clear, there is an ambiguity in those texts concerning to the ascetic women. The first woman who was called as man in Zuhd movement is Rabia Adawiya. Again, referring to this matter, woman is acknowledged as evil, despicable, profane on one hand and

Keywords

Rabia Adawiya, love, femininity, masculinity, sex-gender.