Dayfa Khatun (Arabic: ضيفة خاتون; died 1242) was a Kurdish Ayyubid princess, and the regent of Aleppo from 26 November 1236 to 1242, during the minority of her grandson An-Nasir Yusuf.
She acted as regent during the minority of her grandson, which was a highly unusual position for a woman in an Islamic dynasty, and played a major role in architectural patronage in Aleppo, being responsible for the construction of the Firdaws Madrasa.
"[3] This marriage also allowed Khatun's status to be elevated as a female member of the Ayyubid court, while also enjoying the protection provided by her and her husband’s prestigious families.
Khatun's status as an important lady of the court solidified when she gave birth to a son and future heir to the throne of Aleppo, al-Aziz Muhammad.
[4] When her husband died in 1216, Aleppo was passed on to al-Aziz Muhammad and his atabek, Shihab al-Din Toghril, who ruled until his son was of age in 1231.
The noblewomen of this dynasty “commanded a status rarely accorded to court women before them.” [5] Ayyubid princesses often went on processions to Friday prayer, accompanied by servants, and completely obscured from commoners.
In 1237 Al-Ashraf persuaded most of the Ayyubid rulers in Syria to join a coalition against Al-Kamil, the object of which was to confine him to Egypt and assure the continued autonomy of their Emirates.
However that same year Al-Ashraf died unexpectedly and although Dayfa Khatun and several other rulers renewed it under the leadership of another brother, as-Salih Ismail, the coalition was weakened by the defection of some emirates to Al-Kamil.
He intended to embark on the pacification of all the other emirates in Syria, including Aleppo, but they were spared by his death in March 1238 (Rajab 635) shortly after he took Damascus.
[9] After this Khatun was careful to keep Aleppo out of the fratricidal wars which were the norm among the Ayyubids, turning down proposals for alliance from al-Jawad Yunus, the new ruler of Damascus, who wanted to revive the anti-Egyptian coalition, and later from As-Salih Ismail, who succeeded him.
A small Aleppan force of 1,500 cavalry led by Al-Muazzam Turanshah was defeated in November 1240 (Rabi' II) and the city lay exposed.
[citation needed] “Architectural patronage of women in Damascus surpassed that in Aleppo during the twelfth century, although the rise of Dayfa Khatun and the foundation of the madrasa al- Firdaws in the first half of the thirteenth century seems to have reversed this situation.”[15] As ruler of Aleppo, Khatun exercised her power by dedicating her efforts to civic affairs and the patronage of scholars and mystics.
Both were privileged locations and thus especially desirable for pious foundations: the former was the residential quarter of the city's notables; the latter already contained several other Ayyubid madrasas and mausoleums.
[17] This practice was very common for court women of the Ayyubid dynasty to found mausoleums, khanqahs, and madrasas in order to promote religious learning and as a means for enhancing their prestige and commemorating their names.
She favored jurists, ascetics, scholars, and people of religion, and extended to them many charities.” This testimony is confirmed by Khatun's architectural patronage, which perpetuated her Sufic beliefs.
[17] Dayfa’s adoption of Sufism during this time was also important as it offered women possibilities for participation in their religious and social lives as well as leadership positions.
The mausoleum in particular was meant to house the bodies of the queen and her family which upheld traditional Ayyubid architectural standards of being located at a raised site with no dirty water or waste nearby.
[14] Khatun died in 1242 (640) and the leading figure in the regency thereafter was Shams al-Din Lu'lu' until her grandson An-Nasir Yusuf began to rule independently.