ACADEMY OF SAINT GABRIEL REPORT 1612
http://www.s-gabriel.org/1612
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04 May 1999
From: Jodi McMaster 

Greetings from the Academy of S. Gabriel!

You asked several questions about <Nisaa' Majaahida> as a 12th century
Arabic woman's name.  First, you wanted to know the meaning of the name;
second, if it was from the 12th century; third, how or if to use
<Sayyida> along with the name; and last, how to document the name.

Before I start, I'd like to clarify the service that the Academy offers.
We try to help Societyfolk in choosing and using names that fit the
historical cultures they are trying to re-create. Our research can
sometimes be used to support submissions to the College of Arms, but
that is not our goal and our results are often incompatible with the    
College's needs. If your main goal is to register a particular name,
then we may not be able to help you. 

We weren't entirely sure if you wanted to use <Nisaa'> as a given name
or as a title.  It is not a title, but it is a modern given name. [1] It
is also a collective noun meaning "women."  We have found no evidence to
suggest that <Nisaa'> was used as a name in medieval times nor
specifically in the 12th century.  Therefore, we cannot recommend it as
a given name for a 12th century Arabic woman.

If you want to browse through some lists of names of medieval Arabic
women, you might want to take a look at the following articles:

    Arabic Naming Practices And Period Names List by Da'ud ibn Auda:
    http://www.panix.com/~mittle/names/daud/arabic-naming/

    A List of Arabic Womens' Names By David Appleton (Da'ud ibn Auda):
    http://www.us.itd.umich.edu/~ximenez/s.gabriel/docs/arabicwomen.html

We did not find <Majaahida> as a name, period or modern.  We're not sure
where you got it; it might be an alternate transliteration of
<Mujahidah>, which is a hypothetical feminine form of the medieval
masculine given name <Mujahid> [2].  There is also a word <mujahidah>,
which means "[female] fighter".

Arabic women's names followed certain patterns of construction.  Arabic
women did not use two given names; Arabs did not use middle names. 
Instead, Arabic women had a given name and was most often identified as
their father's daughter.  An example of this pattern, using the first
name <Naima>, is <Naima bint Mujahid>, 'Naima, daughter of the man named
Mujahid'.  Another possibility is to use a descriptive byname.  An
example of this pattern is <Naima al-Mujahidah>, 'Naima the fighter'. 
If Naima's father was nicknamed "the Fighter," then a possible
construction is <Naima bint al-Mujahid>, 'Naima the daughter of the
fighter'.

As far as we know, <Sayyida> is simply the word the SCA has chosen as
the standard Arabic translation of <Lady> to indicate that rank.  You
can use either <Sayyida> or <Lady>, whichever you prefer.

We hope this letter has been helpful.  Please write us again if any part
of it has been unclear or if you have other questions.  Talan Gwynek,
Da'ud ibn Auda, Arval d'Espas Nord, Pedro de Alcazar, and Sion Andreas
contributed comments and/or research for this letter.

For the Academy,

   AElfwyn aet Gyrwum
   May 5, 1999
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References:

[1]  Qazi, M. A., _What's in a Muslim Name_ (Chicago: Kazi Publications,
1974; Lahore: Kazi Publications, 1978; South Elgin, IL: Library of
Islam, 1995), p. 52.

[2]  Dodge, Baynard, _The Fihirst of al-Nadim_ (New York: Columbia
University Press, 1970), Vol. II, p. 1061.