Born in Chefchaouen at the end of the Reconquista, Aisha bint Ali Ben Rasheed, known as Sayyida Al Hurra, “the free lady”, was for thirty years like a pitbull hanging on to Spanish and Portuguese ships. She was a war leader, at the head of a fleet of privateers, and an excellent administrator who developed Tetouan. She would end her life as a Sufi “saint” at an advanced age.
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Sayyida Al-Hurra was one of Morocco's most formidable women of power. She struck fear into Spain and Portugal with her corsair fleet and openly opposed Isabella I of Spain, refusing to forgive the expulsion of Muslims from Spain. Her significant political role and strong Sufi spirituality challenge stereotypes about Muslim women.
