
The Insight Interviews Ep. 29 | Gender and Succession: The Legacy of Fatima
Jan 25, 2026
56:00
An informative discussion with Dr. Alyssa Gabbay on her book, *‘Gender and Succession in Medieval and Early Modern Islam’* which examines episodes in pre-modern Islamic history in which individuals or societies recognized descent from both men and women, including Fatima.Alyssa Gabbay is Associate Professor Emerita of Religious Studies at the University of North Carolina at Greensboro. Dr. Gabbay received her Ph.D. from University of Chicago’s Department of Near Eastern Languages and Civilizations, specializing in classical Persian literature and medieval Islamic history. Her research interests include women and gender in Islam, Shi‘ism, Sufism in the medieval Persianate world, and the Babi and Baha’i faiths. She is the author of *Islamic Tolerance: Amir Khusraw and Pluralism*(Abingdon: Routledge, 2010) and *Gender and Succession in Medieval and Early Modern Islam: Bilateral Descent and the Legacy of Fatima* (London: I.B. Tauris/Bloomsbury, 2020), as well as several other publications. She is currently working on a critical edition and translation of Amir Khusraw’s preface to the *Full Moon of Perfection* (under advance contract with Murty Classical Library of India, Harvard University Press). Dr. Gabbay is the recipient of a Fulbright fellowship for study in India, a UNCG College Teaching Excellence Award, and the Foundation for Iranian Studies’ Best Ph.D. Dissertation on a Topic of Iranian Studies award, among other honors.Hosted by Dr. Vinay Khetia, this instalment in our series 'The Insight Interviews', promises to be an engaging conversation.The Insight Interviews:An informative series of academic discussions, taking a deeper dive on a variety of unique topics. Learn more at https://shiaresearch.ca/insight-interviewsView the series playlist here: https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PLgu_sYFBPFVV5yBiwTU9snnvMmMlw41gpFollow us on:Instagram: https://instagram.com/ShiaResearchInsTwitter: https://twitter.com/ShiaResearchInsFacebok: https://facebook.com/ShiaResearchInsContribute to the Shi‘a Research Institute to help us continue creating high quality research and content:https://shiaresearch.ca/donate/
