AZZA AL-MAILA
(†707)> SONGSTRESS · COMPOSER
AZZA AL-MAILA Arabian songstress and composer. ca. 707. A Christian freed woman of Medina and one of the first important professional woman musicians in Islam. She was given the name Maila (Swaying) for her distinctive gait; although according to other sources, the name came from ‘milaye’ meaning the cloak in which she sometimes disguised herself as a man and indulged in her inclination to drink. She was taught the music of older days by Ra’iqa and later learned Persian airs from Nashit and…