0:00:03 > 0:00:06In Divine Women, I uncover the remarkable
0:00:06 > 0:00:10and neglected stories of women and religion.
0:00:11 > 0:00:14I head to India where I join hundreds of thousands of Hindus
0:00:14 > 0:00:19in the worship of one of their most formidable goddesses - Durga.
0:00:21 > 0:00:24Back in Europe, I explore the contentious issue of
0:00:24 > 0:00:26whether women should be priests.
0:00:27 > 0:00:31I travel down beneath the streets of Rome to find intriguing
0:00:31 > 0:00:34evidence of women leading worship.
0:00:34 > 0:00:37In Milan, I look at the life of Saint Augustine
0:00:37 > 0:00:39and the doctrine of original sin.
0:00:41 > 0:00:48And I discover the powerful women who were instrumental in the crucial early days of Islam.
0:00:58 > 0:01:00Hinduism is one of the world's
0:01:00 > 0:01:05one of the most ancient religions and the Goddess Durga sits right at it's heart.
0:01:12 > 0:01:15This is Kamakhya Temple, high in the hills of Assam,
0:01:15 > 0:01:18one of the most sacred goddess temples in India.
0:01:23 > 0:01:25For nine days every year,
0:01:25 > 0:01:28hundreds of thousands of Hindus come to worship Durga
0:01:28 > 0:01:32and to celebrate a great festival in her honour, the Durga Puja.
0:01:32 > 0:01:35Hi, nice to meet you. Do you love the Goddess here?
0:01:35 > 0:01:37- Yes.- Yeah. Why do you love her?
0:01:37 > 0:01:42Because she gives us protection and she also loves us very much.
0:01:42 > 0:01:47She gives us many things, like lives,
0:01:47 > 0:01:50and then things to eat, things to wear.
0:01:50 > 0:01:52- So, she really looks after you?- Yes.
0:01:52 > 0:01:56The festival celebrates the birth of the goddess Durga
0:01:56 > 0:01:59and her epic battle with the evil demon king.
0:01:59 > 0:02:04This famous story was first recorded in the 5th or 6th centuries AD,
0:02:04 > 0:02:07in one of the most important religious texts in Hinduism,
0:02:07 > 0:02:09called the Devi Mahatmyam
0:02:09 > 0:02:11According to the sacred text,
0:02:11 > 0:02:14the demon king takes the form of a buffalo
0:02:14 > 0:02:16and terrorises the heavens and Earth.
0:02:16 > 0:02:19Neither man nor god can defeat him,
0:02:19 > 0:02:24so the gods combine their celestial power to create Durga -
0:02:24 > 0:02:27the Shining One.
0:02:27 > 0:02:32She appears riding a lion and carrying a fearsome weapon in each of her many arms.
0:02:32 > 0:02:36After a titanic series of battles, Durga slays the buffalo demon,
0:02:36 > 0:02:39liberating humanity and the gods.
0:02:39 > 0:02:43Each year, all over India, Hindus celebrate Durga's victory.
0:02:47 > 0:02:48I've come to Kolkata in Bengal,
0:02:48 > 0:02:52where her festival - the Durga Puja,
0:02:52 > 0:02:54has taken over the city.
0:02:55 > 0:02:59Like most Bengalis, Tanushree Ghosh is celebrating Durga's festival.
0:03:00 > 0:03:05She's invited me to join her as she gets ready for its finale.
0:03:05 > 0:03:08- So it's a really big day for everyone round here?- Yeah.
0:03:08 > 0:03:11Over here it's a very big day because it happens once a year,
0:03:11 > 0:03:12we wait for these four days.
0:03:12 > 0:03:15And also today is a very woman-centric day
0:03:15 > 0:03:19because today women do the pujas, it's for them.
0:03:19 > 0:03:21So, this is where you do your make-up?
0:03:21 > 0:03:25- We do. This is Lata.- Hi, namaste. - Hi, namaste.
0:03:25 > 0:03:27- Please have a seat.- Thank you.
0:03:27 > 0:03:31And this is where all the make-up happens for the four days
0:03:31 > 0:03:35that we get ready for the Puja, all the saris, everything.
0:03:35 > 0:03:37So, this is where we get dressed and all the heavy make-up.
0:03:37 > 0:03:40This is the only time when we put on very heavy make-up
0:03:40 > 0:03:42and heavy jewellery, not before this.
0:03:42 > 0:03:45It's important for Tanusharee to follow traditional customs,
0:03:45 > 0:03:49but this is also an opportunity to keep up with the latest fashions.
0:03:58 > 0:04:01Tanushree is taking me to her community's pandal,
0:04:01 > 0:04:04a temporary shrine built especially for the festival.
0:04:06 > 0:04:10When you think of the Goddess, what's in your mind?
0:04:10 > 0:04:14Do you think she actually exists as a creature with eight or ten arms?
0:04:14 > 0:04:16She does exist.
0:04:16 > 0:04:20For us, she's a living being who's always around us, blessing us,
0:04:20 > 0:04:23protecting us, taking care of us.
0:04:23 > 0:04:27So, for us, we've seen her drawn like this throughout...
0:04:27 > 0:04:30Yet, actually, we don't believe she has ten arms, but it shows that,
0:04:30 > 0:04:34you know, she's multi-tasking, a woman who's multi-tasking.
0:04:34 > 0:04:36So, really she's a kind of role model goddess?
0:04:36 > 0:04:38She controls the world,
0:04:38 > 0:04:41so she's a role model for men and for women because,
0:04:41 > 0:04:47in a different way, she shows women how to control and she also shows men
0:04:47 > 0:04:50that even if women can be quiet, but still, you know,
0:04:50 > 0:04:54don't meddle with her too much, don't mess with her,
0:04:54 > 0:04:57then she can take up ten weapons in ten hands and kill you,
0:04:57 > 0:04:59and can be the monster.
0:05:05 > 0:05:08- Are we a bit late? - Yeah, we are late.- OK.
0:05:09 > 0:05:13Every year, thousands of different neighbourhoods all over Kolkata
0:05:13 > 0:05:17come together to create their own special Durga shrine.
0:05:20 > 0:05:24- Are you married?- I am married, yeah. - So, then we put it in our hair.
0:05:24 > 0:05:29Clay and water from the sacred Ganges are used to make the image of Durga.
0:05:30 > 0:05:34Described by many as the Mother of India, for nine days,
0:05:34 > 0:05:38she is celebrated, worshipped and treated with the greatest respect.
0:05:40 > 0:05:42She's not a goddess to be messed with, is she?
0:05:42 > 0:05:46She's the power god. Everybody finds solace and power, everything.
0:05:46 > 0:05:50And everybody come and pray, give us the power to sustain another year.
0:05:50 > 0:05:53At the end of the festival, Durga will return home.
0:05:53 > 0:05:55She'll be taken to the sacred Ganges,
0:05:55 > 0:05:58which flows from the Himalayas, the seat of the gods.
0:05:58 > 0:06:00But first, she must be prepared.
0:06:00 > 0:06:03So, the idea is that I've given the Goddess food for her journey,
0:06:03 > 0:06:06I've looked after her, that's why I'm smoothing her cheeks,
0:06:06 > 0:06:10and because she's married I'm giving her the red mark on her forehead.
0:06:10 > 0:06:15But, all the time, I have to remember just how powerful she is and do it right.
0:06:29 > 0:06:32The paint is the colour of blood and reflects not only Durga's
0:06:32 > 0:06:37life-giving qualities, but also the brutal terror she can bring.
0:06:37 > 0:06:39Do one.
0:06:39 > 0:06:41- BANG! - Oh!
0:06:41 > 0:06:42LOUD BANGS
0:06:42 > 0:06:45- Hi, are you enjoying yourselves today?- Very much.
0:06:45 > 0:06:48I hear that some girls come here and you meet up with young boys,
0:06:48 > 0:06:51- is that true, at this festival? - ALL: Yeah!
0:06:59 > 0:07:03The festivities carry on throughout the rest of the day and well into the night.
0:07:09 > 0:07:11Now we're on the way to the Ganges,
0:07:11 > 0:07:13where the idol's going to be immersed in the river.
0:07:13 > 0:07:17So, how many of these idols will go down? How many pandals?
0:07:17 > 0:07:20- Around 100,000. - Will you be sorry to see her go?
0:07:20 > 0:07:21Yes, it's very emotional,
0:07:21 > 0:07:26because you're going to wait another year for her to come back, so it's like your mother going away.
0:07:26 > 0:07:29- Like your mother leaving for a year? - Absolutely.
0:07:29 > 0:07:32- Bolo Durga mai-ki.- Jai.
0:07:32 > 0:07:33What are they saying?
0:07:33 > 0:07:37"Bolo Durga mai-ki" is to the glory of Mother Durga.
0:07:37 > 0:07:40And "aashchhe bochhor abar hobe" is we will celebrate again next year.
0:07:40 > 0:07:41OK.
0:08:09 > 0:08:12We're actually on the banks of the Ganges now
0:08:12 > 0:08:15and it's heading down to the sacred water.
0:08:15 > 0:08:19Durga's journey home is about to begin.
0:08:22 > 0:08:26This is the moment Hindus think she's starting to return to heaven,
0:08:26 > 0:08:28to her husband Shiva.
0:08:45 > 0:08:48Across the globe, the Goddess has pretty much been consigned to history.
0:08:48 > 0:08:52But, just like those great ancient goddesses of antiquity,
0:08:52 > 0:08:54here, she's celebrated and worshipped
0:08:54 > 0:08:57with a wild and heartfelt passion.
0:08:57 > 0:08:59And also, just like them
0:08:59 > 0:09:03and, I suspect, like the women who've worshipped her for centuries,
0:09:03 > 0:09:06she's thought to be both protective and threatening.
0:09:06 > 0:09:11Someone who demands respect and inspires devotion.
0:09:18 > 0:09:21There are some Christians who believe women are not made to
0:09:21 > 0:09:25be priests and yet in the early days of Christianity,
0:09:25 > 0:09:29it appears they played vital roles.
0:09:31 > 0:09:33There's long been an underlying assumption that to be a true
0:09:33 > 0:09:38representative of the Christian god, you really need to be a man.
0:09:41 > 0:09:44In the Church of England and across the world,
0:09:44 > 0:09:49the issue of whether women should be bishops has caused turmoil,
0:09:49 > 0:09:52and most Catholics believe that women shouldn't even be priests.
0:09:54 > 0:09:58Amongst them is Catholic writer and broadcaster Joanna Bogle.
0:09:58 > 0:10:02God became incarnate as a man. That's not an accident.
0:10:02 > 0:10:05Christ was born and grew up in a world
0:10:05 > 0:10:07where every religion had priestesses.
0:10:07 > 0:10:09He knew what he was doing. He's Almighty God.
0:10:09 > 0:10:12This was the plan from the beginning, that men would be priests.
0:10:12 > 0:10:16Priests are there to serve the Church,
0:10:16 > 0:10:18but it's not a question of allowing women to be priests.
0:10:18 > 0:10:21It's in the nature of woman that she has another task to do.
0:10:21 > 0:10:25So God loves you, He just doesn't want you to give the sacred Eucharist?
0:10:25 > 0:10:29I could if I needed to distribute Holy Communion, but no.
0:10:29 > 0:10:32A priest in the person of Christ, who was male,
0:10:32 > 0:10:35will preside saying, "This is my body".
0:10:35 > 0:10:37And I think that's very profound.
0:10:37 > 0:10:39So you think for the future of the Church,
0:10:39 > 0:10:42it's entirely appropriate that there are no female priests,
0:10:42 > 0:10:45there are no female bishops?
0:10:45 > 0:10:47It's not that we MAY not, we CANNOT have them.
0:10:47 > 0:10:51That's a bit like saying, "What a pity men can't give birth."
0:10:51 > 0:10:55There are not going to be, there cannot be women priests.
0:10:55 > 0:10:59It's not in the nature of womanhood. That's the deal.
0:10:59 > 0:11:00That's the deal.
0:11:07 > 0:11:10I have to admit that I find Joanna's position hard to accept.
0:11:10 > 0:11:14But she reflects the views of no lesser an authority
0:11:14 > 0:11:16than the Pope himself.
0:11:20 > 0:11:26In 2010, the Vatican declared that to ordain a woman was a serious crime.
0:11:26 > 0:11:28Now that seems to me to be very shocking,
0:11:28 > 0:11:31but, also as a historian, it's just rather odd,
0:11:31 > 0:11:34because if you investigate the foundations of Christianity,
0:11:34 > 0:11:37they tell a very different story.
0:11:37 > 0:11:43Questo e il mio corpo offerto in sacrificio per voi.
0:11:47 > 0:11:51Father Scott Brodeur is a Catholic priest and respected theologian
0:11:51 > 0:11:55at the prestigious Gregorian University in Rome.
0:11:56 > 0:11:59He prepares men for the priesthood.
0:12:00 > 0:12:03He believes that key evidence
0:12:03 > 0:12:05about the role women should play in the Church
0:12:05 > 0:12:08can be found in the Bible itself,
0:12:08 > 0:12:12in a letter St Paul wrote to the citizens of Rome.
0:12:14 > 0:12:17And what he has to say may come as a surprise to some.
0:12:17 > 0:12:21St Paul in... May I read this verse?
0:12:21 > 0:12:24..in the Letter To The Romans, Chapter 16, Verse 1,
0:12:24 > 0:12:26St Paul is writing, of course, and he says,
0:12:26 > 0:12:31"I commend to you our sister Phoebe, a deacon of the church at Cenchrea."
0:12:31 > 0:12:36And Paul, by sending her to Rome, is saying,
0:12:36 > 0:12:40"Look at this extraordinary woman and I'm sending you one of our best
0:12:40 > 0:12:42"and because I trust her,
0:12:42 > 0:12:45"she's going to interpret this letter for you.
0:12:45 > 0:12:49"So if you have any questions, ask Phoebe."
0:12:49 > 0:12:52It is significant that, because that's pretty much
0:12:52 > 0:12:55the most important job that you can give someone -
0:12:55 > 0:12:58to ask Phoebe to take the teachings of Christ,
0:12:58 > 0:13:01the message of Jesus, to Rome, to the centre of the Roman world.
0:13:01 > 0:13:07Absolutely. Paul is so aware of the importance of this letter.
0:13:07 > 0:13:09So she has a crucial role.
0:13:09 > 0:13:13So do you think he's consciously making a point by choosing a woman?
0:13:13 > 0:13:17Absolutely. The entire Letter To The Romans is about
0:13:17 > 0:13:20that there is now this common equality among us,
0:13:20 > 0:13:23that we all share the same value and worth.
0:13:28 > 0:13:30It's interesting though, isn't it?
0:13:30 > 0:13:33It's not the commonly held opinion. When you talk to people, they say,
0:13:33 > 0:13:37"Oh, you know, Christianity just caused terrible problems for women."
0:13:37 > 0:13:41Precisely. Or that St Paul was very much anti-women or so forth,
0:13:41 > 0:13:44but nothing could be further from the truth.
0:13:44 > 0:13:47You spent your life studying the teachings of Jesus.
0:13:47 > 0:13:51Do you think he would have wanted to have seen a church develop
0:13:51 > 0:13:53where women played a key role?
0:13:53 > 0:13:57The early disciples of Jesus were both men and women, that there
0:13:57 > 0:14:01was a very special and important group of women who closely
0:14:01 > 0:14:04followed him, all through his public ministry.
0:14:04 > 0:14:09An important role of service to him and I do think that's
0:14:09 > 0:14:13important for the Church in every age, including ours.
0:14:13 > 0:14:15Women were essential in the early Church.
0:14:20 > 0:14:24Hidden beneath the streets of Rome lies an intricate labyrinth of tunnels,
0:14:24 > 0:14:26known as the Catacombs of St Priscilla.
0:14:30 > 0:14:34They date to between the second and fourth centuries AD,
0:14:34 > 0:14:38when to be a Christian in Rome was to be a criminal.
0:14:43 > 0:14:47Down here lies a neglected piece of early Christian history.
0:14:50 > 0:14:53This is where Christians were brought to be buried
0:14:53 > 0:14:56and where they came when they were being persecuted.
0:14:59 > 0:15:02The catacombs were carved out of the bare rock.
0:15:02 > 0:15:07You can still see all the pickaxe marks on the ceilings and the walls.
0:15:07 > 0:15:10It's almost as if you're being transported back
0:15:10 > 0:15:13to the very moment of Christianity's inception.
0:15:18 > 0:15:20This was only discovered a few years ago,
0:15:20 > 0:15:22and it dates from the second century AD,
0:15:22 > 0:15:26which makes it the oldest surviving image anywhere in the world
0:15:26 > 0:15:29of the Virgin Mary and Jesus.
0:15:29 > 0:15:31And that's what's so fantastic about coming down here,
0:15:31 > 0:15:34because you're absolutely up, face to face,
0:15:34 > 0:15:37with the very earliest days of Christianity.
0:15:42 > 0:15:45But what I find especially fascinating about these tunnels
0:15:45 > 0:15:48is what they tell us about the role of women.
0:15:50 > 0:15:54In one corner, we find an image detailing what appears to be
0:15:54 > 0:15:56women presiding over a religious ritual,
0:15:56 > 0:16:01what today we might recognise as the Eucharist or Holy Communion.
0:16:03 > 0:16:05In another alcove
0:16:05 > 0:16:09is an image which some people would consider incendiary.
0:16:11 > 0:16:15There are two things that strike you about this particular painting.
0:16:15 > 0:16:19The obvious one is that the scene is dominated by a figure of a woman.
0:16:19 > 0:16:23But then just have a look at this little group of three in the corner.
0:16:23 > 0:16:25There's a bishop,
0:16:25 > 0:16:28and he's got his hand on the shoulder of a woman.
0:16:28 > 0:16:32Now, she's wearing a piece of white cloth called an alb
0:16:32 > 0:16:38and that was a vestment that could only be worn by ordained priests.
0:16:41 > 0:16:44All over this subterranean world there are images
0:16:44 > 0:16:48of not just men leading worship, but women.
0:16:51 > 0:16:53Being here, it appears to me
0:16:53 > 0:16:57that the early Christians had an inclusive, egalitarian take
0:16:57 > 0:17:00on who should lead their faith.
0:17:01 > 0:17:04A view at odds with that of many Christians today.
0:17:16 > 0:17:19I'm on my way to a city in Northern Italy to find out why
0:17:19 > 0:17:25women were pushed to the margins of the Christian faith.
0:17:25 > 0:17:29Our evidence reveals that Christianity began by championing women,
0:17:29 > 0:17:33but not everyone was happy with this situation.
0:17:33 > 0:17:37Many eminent theologians were deeply uncomfortable
0:17:37 > 0:17:40with women taking such a prominent position.
0:17:41 > 0:17:44How dare women presume they could play a leading role
0:17:44 > 0:17:48when their very essence was an affront to God?
0:17:48 > 0:17:50One Christian, Clement of Alexandria,
0:17:50 > 0:17:53wrote in the 3rd Century AD,
0:17:53 > 0:17:55"The very consciousness of their own nature
0:17:55 > 0:17:58"must evoke feelings of shame."
0:17:58 > 0:18:01And another said that women were not created in God's image,
0:18:01 > 0:18:06but instead they destroyed God's image.
0:18:09 > 0:18:12But there would be one man
0:18:12 > 0:18:15whose glittering intellect and powers of persuasion
0:18:15 > 0:18:18would make this hotchpotch of women-hating bile stick.
0:18:32 > 0:18:36I've come to the place where, for him, it all started.
0:18:52 > 0:18:57Beneath Milan's cathedral lie the ruins of a 4th-century baptistry.
0:18:57 > 0:19:02It's where people once came to be baptised into the Christian faith.
0:19:06 > 0:19:08What happened here was perhaps
0:19:08 > 0:19:12one of the most critical developments in Christian history.
0:19:13 > 0:19:18Here, in 387 AD, a man called Augustine became a Christian.
0:19:20 > 0:19:22And he'd go on to be one of the most brilliant
0:19:22 > 0:19:24Christian theologians of all time,
0:19:24 > 0:19:28but his attitudes would cause trouble for women
0:19:28 > 0:19:32for the next 1,700 years.
0:19:37 > 0:19:39We know an awful lot about Augustine's life,
0:19:39 > 0:19:43thanks to his detailed autobiography, his Confessions.
0:19:57 > 0:19:59Augustine tells us that in his younger days,
0:19:59 > 0:20:03he was obsessed with sex and that, as a teenager,
0:20:03 > 0:20:07he spent every waking hour hungry with desire.
0:20:08 > 0:20:12"To love and to be loved was sweet to me,
0:20:12 > 0:20:15"particularly when I enjoyed the body of the one I desired.
0:20:15 > 0:20:18"And so I polluted the spring of friendship
0:20:18 > 0:20:22"with the filth of concupiscence and I dimmed its lustre
0:20:22 > 0:20:25"with the slime of lust."
0:20:29 > 0:20:31But after becoming a Christian,
0:20:31 > 0:20:35Augustine embraced a life of celibacy.
0:20:35 > 0:20:38His preoccupation with sex, however, was far from over.
0:20:40 > 0:20:42He'd go on to develop a theory
0:20:42 > 0:20:46which would shape how humanity viewed itself.
0:20:46 > 0:20:48It was a theory so powerful,
0:20:48 > 0:20:51we're still living with its consequences today.
0:20:52 > 0:20:55Augustine developed the concept of original sin.
0:20:55 > 0:20:58He believed that the crimes committed by Adam and Eve
0:20:58 > 0:21:01in the Garden of Eden, when they ate the forbidden fruit,
0:21:01 > 0:21:04would be perpetuated down the generations,
0:21:04 > 0:21:07thanks to the act of sex.
0:21:07 > 0:21:10In other words, when any of us are born,
0:21:10 > 0:21:17we're already creatures infused with sin to the very core of our being.
0:21:20 > 0:21:23Women, in particular, come out of this very badly.
0:21:25 > 0:21:28Carved into the wall of Milan's cathedral
0:21:28 > 0:21:30is the moment when Augustine believed
0:21:30 > 0:21:32it all went wrong for humanity.
0:21:34 > 0:21:37It was Eve who'd encouraged Adam to sin.
0:21:40 > 0:21:44Eve becomes an archetype for all women, weak and easily fooled,
0:21:44 > 0:21:47but also a temptress who leads men astray.
0:21:49 > 0:21:52Rather than eroticism and sexual desire
0:21:52 > 0:21:56being considered a gift of the gods as they were in the classical world,
0:21:56 > 0:22:00now these things were thought of as unremittingly dark and sinful -
0:22:00 > 0:22:03a betrayal of God himself.
0:22:09 > 0:22:13@In Islam today we find few female leaders of the faith.
0:22:13 > 0:22:17But at the beginning, the story was very different.
0:22:17 > 0:22:20Two women in particular played a crucial role.
0:22:20 > 0:22:25Islamic sources tell us that Khadija bint Khuwaylid was the daughter
0:22:25 > 0:22:30of a merchant who built the family business into a commercial empire.
0:22:30 > 0:22:33Her caravans travelled thousands of miles
0:22:33 > 0:22:35to the great cities in the Middle East.
0:22:35 > 0:22:39From all accounts, Khadija was a powerful
0:22:39 > 0:22:41and independent-minded woman.
0:22:41 > 0:22:45Once she was widowed, she vowed she would never marry again.
0:22:45 > 0:22:49She was clearly accustomed to making her own way in the world.
0:22:49 > 0:22:52In fact, it was her business acumen that would set her on a path
0:22:52 > 0:22:57that would eventually change the history of the world.
0:22:57 > 0:23:00I'm meeting Professor Leila Ahmed from Harvard University,
0:23:00 > 0:23:02to find out about Khadija's relationship with a young man
0:23:02 > 0:23:06she hired to help her with her business.
0:23:06 > 0:23:09His name was Muhammad.
0:23:09 > 0:23:12She was a powerful woman, a merchant, with a lot of money
0:23:12 > 0:23:16and she hired Muhammad because he had a reputation for honesty
0:23:16 > 0:23:17and she admired him.
0:23:17 > 0:23:20She was very impressed and actually proposed marriage to him.
0:23:20 > 0:23:23He was a 25-year-old. She was 40.
0:23:23 > 0:23:24That does seem to be key though,
0:23:24 > 0:23:27the fact that she is choosing this young man.
0:23:27 > 0:23:28You know, she spots him,
0:23:28 > 0:23:32she thinks he's got potential and then she decides to make him hers.
0:23:32 > 0:23:33That's right.
0:23:33 > 0:23:37From all accounts, their early years were a partnership,
0:23:37 > 0:23:40both emotionally and in business.
0:23:40 > 0:23:43But gradually Muhammad withdrew,
0:23:43 > 0:23:46growing more interested in spirituality, and often leaving his home
0:23:46 > 0:23:49to seek solitude in the hills above Mecca -
0:23:49 > 0:23:52the city destined to become the centre of the Islamic faith.
0:23:53 > 0:23:59Muhammad had begun his transformation from man to prophet.
0:23:59 > 0:24:03We know that when he first began to experience Quranic revelations
0:24:03 > 0:24:06he even doubted himself
0:24:06 > 0:24:11but it was Khadija who affirmed the reality of his prophethood.
0:24:11 > 0:24:14So we know that she was critical to Muhammad.
0:24:14 > 0:24:17She became his first convert. She was the first Muslim.
0:24:17 > 0:24:20Fascinating it was a woman who was the first convert to Islam.
0:24:20 > 0:24:21That's right.
0:24:21 > 0:24:24The fact that she was a major figure in society meant the tribe
0:24:24 > 0:24:27respected him, even if they didn't like his message.
0:24:27 > 0:24:29Her support was extraordinarily important to him.
0:24:31 > 0:24:35For the next ten years, Khadija used her family connections
0:24:35 > 0:24:38and all her wealth to support her husband
0:24:38 > 0:24:40and fund the fledgling faith,
0:24:40 > 0:24:44a religion built on the controversial principle of one god
0:24:44 > 0:24:47in a society that believed in many.
0:24:47 > 0:24:50Now Muhammad decided it was time for action.
0:24:50 > 0:24:56In defiance of the tribal elders, he was going to publicly preach his new faith.
0:24:56 > 0:24:58"There is one god, Allah," he said.
0:24:58 > 0:25:02"To worship all others is blasphemy."
0:25:04 > 0:25:07Khadija did everything possible to help her husband and Islam
0:25:07 > 0:25:10but, in 619, she fell ill with fever and died.
0:25:14 > 0:25:17Muhammad was heartbroken.
0:25:17 > 0:25:22For 25 years, Khadija had been his best friend and his closest ally.
0:25:22 > 0:25:28Muslims still remember the year of her death as the Year of Sorrow.
0:25:28 > 0:25:31As was the tradition, he took other wives,
0:25:31 > 0:25:36but we're told his favourite was called Aisha.
0:25:36 > 0:25:38Controversies surround Aisha,
0:25:38 > 0:25:42not least rumours of her tender age when she married.
0:25:42 > 0:25:46I'm meeting academic Myriam Francois-Cerrah to find out
0:25:46 > 0:25:50why this young woman became so central to Islam.
0:25:50 > 0:25:54She understood the religion. She understood the context.
0:25:54 > 0:25:56She's scholarly, she's smart. She's eloquent.
0:25:56 > 0:25:59She wants to be part of the public sphere and very much is.
0:25:59 > 0:26:02This was not a shy and cowering woman.
0:26:02 > 0:26:04She really took to the front and if she had something to say,
0:26:04 > 0:26:07she said it.
0:26:08 > 0:26:12Muhammad's new faith made him many enemies and he was forced out of Mecca.
0:26:12 > 0:26:17After several years in exile, he returned to defeat his opponents and took control of the city.
0:26:18 > 0:26:22But a few months later, he was dead.
0:26:22 > 0:26:25And the person instrumental in maintaining his legacy
0:26:25 > 0:26:28was his wife, Aisha.
0:26:29 > 0:26:31In its early years,
0:26:31 > 0:26:35Islam depended on word of mouth to record its core beliefs.
0:26:35 > 0:26:38Called "Hadith", which literally means "sayings",
0:26:38 > 0:26:41these accounts of the words and deeds of Muhammad
0:26:41 > 0:26:45were eventually written down to help believers to understand the Quran.
0:26:45 > 0:26:49We're told Aisha's intimate knowledge of the Prophet
0:26:49 > 0:26:52made her central to this development.
0:26:52 > 0:26:55She was known for having memorised thousands of Hadith,
0:26:55 > 0:26:58or the sayings of the Prophet,
0:26:58 > 0:27:00peace be upon him, throughout her lifetime.
0:27:00 > 0:27:02Scores of men learnt from her.
0:27:02 > 0:27:05There's a saying that you can get half of your religion
0:27:05 > 0:27:06just from Aisha.
0:27:06 > 0:27:10Today, the position of women in Islam is one of the most hotly debated topics
0:27:10 > 0:27:13from Baghdad to Bradford.
0:27:13 > 0:27:16Many see Muslim women as oppressed.
0:27:16 > 0:27:20If you think of these great role models, Khadija and Aisha,
0:27:20 > 0:27:22what do you think they would think of Islam
0:27:22 > 0:27:24as it's developed in the 21st century?
0:27:24 > 0:27:27I'm not entirely sure that they would recognise
0:27:27 > 0:27:28the practices that we have today.
0:27:28 > 0:27:32I'm certainly not sure that Aisha would take very well to being told
0:27:32 > 0:27:35to move to the back of the room and not speak up.
0:27:35 > 0:27:37You know, she was very much used to teaching men, educating men.
0:27:37 > 0:27:40If she had something to say, she would say it.
0:27:40 > 0:27:44And the idea that Khadija, again a very powerful figure,
0:27:44 > 0:27:46would somehow be curtailed in her voice, in her rights,
0:27:46 > 0:27:48I'm not sure that this would be anything
0:27:48 > 0:27:51that they would be willing to accept or recognise.
0:27:52 > 0:27:54It's easy to see how Aisha
0:27:54 > 0:27:57and Khadija can be role models for Muslim women.
0:27:57 > 0:28:01These powerful figures were key to the early days of Islam
0:28:01 > 0:28:04and they challenged many people's perceptions
0:28:04 > 0:28:06of women's role in the faith.
0:28:06 > 0:28:08Shocking really that, outside Islam,
0:28:08 > 0:28:13so few of us have even heard their names.
0:28:22 > 0:28:26I've discovered compelling proof that the female of the species
0:28:26 > 0:28:30and religion have always been inseparable.
0:28:31 > 0:28:36Forget or ignore them and we impoverish history and ourselves.
0:28:48 > 0:28:53Subtitles by Red Bee Media Ltd