Perfect wedding, penniless life: Ali and Fatima in a Sri Lankan Malay text

Literary depictions of central figures in Muslim history offer telling glimpses of gender roles and expectations, however ideal. Fatima, the Prophet Muhammad's daughter, and her pious and courageous husband and fourth Caliph Ali are among the most beloved and venerated of such figures across time and place. The Hikayat Siti Fatima, an 1865 Malay manuscript from Sri Lanka that depicts their heavenly marriage and earthly hardships, serves as the focus of a comparative analysis, offering insight into the circulation of gender images in Muslim South and Southeast Asia.