By Tamam Kahn. Untold demystifies the most influential women at the dawn of Islam: Prophet Muhammad's wives (RA). They are presented in all their variety, among them, Khadija, a successful merchant and his only wife for twenty-five years; Umm Salama, who helped forge an important peace treaty; Rayhana and Safiyya, two Jewish captives; and there are others. This unusual book combines short biographies with meticulous research. The reader enters seventh century Arab culture and the first moments of what came to be a new religion. This book is powerful women's storytelling. Monkfish Book Publishing (2010), English, Paperback: 192 pages.
"Finally, we get to meet the first women of Islam. Thank you for this brave book." –Coleman Barks, author of Essential Rumi, and other books on the great Persian Language poet
"Brilliant and illuminating . . . awesome in the depth of its research, the grace of its prose, and the beauty of its poetic voices." Alicia Ostriker, author, poet, and Professor Emerita of English at Rutgers University
"Poet, historian and mystic, Tamam Kahn captures the voices and hearts of women you will never forget. I would gladly sit at these women's feet night after night to hear their stories. "-Elizabeth Cunningham, author of The Maeve Chronicles
About the Author. Tamam Kahn, poet, journal editor and conference speaker is a regular presenter at Sufi Symposiums on both coasts. She has taught for the Sufi Ruhaniat International for over twenty-five years and with her husband, Pir Shabda Kahn, has led pilgrims to sacred sites in Morocco, India, Syria and Andalusia. Tamam Kahn was born outside Chicago, and lives in the San Francisco Bay Area. She is a tenth generation American. Her travels to sacred sites in Morocco, Syria, Andalusia, and India, and her careful research of early Islamic history have informed her attunement to and knowledge of the wives of Prophet Muhammad. In 2009 she was invited by the Royal Ministry of Morocco to read about these first women of Islam at a large conference in Marrakesh. Untold, A History of the Wives of Prophet Muhammad won an International Book Award for 2011. She has studied Classical Arabic, and has an MA in Eastern Art History from San Francisco State University, has attended Stanford University, and has a BA from Sarah Lawrence College. She is also a poet and spoken word performer as well as author, and is married to Shabda Kahn, the spiritual director (Pir) of the Sufi Ruhaniat International, with outreach in 50 countries.
