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YusufNoor
05-07-2013, 06:47 PM
:sl:

i thought some of the sisters here might find this inspirational. it is the 1st part of 10th Chapter of Usool Al-Hadeeth by Dr Abu Ameena Bilal Philips

http://www.kalamullah.com/Books/Usool%20al-Hadith.pdf


TEN: Women Scholars of Hadeeth
History records few scholarly enterprises, at least before modern times, in which women have played an important and active role side by side with men. The
science of hadeeth forms an outstanding exception in this respect. The texts of the Qur’aan and teachings of the Prophet (r) always stressed the importance of
women and defended their rights against pre-Islaamic customs. As a result, the Muslim community was happy to entrust matters of the greatest religious
responsibility to women, who, as sisters to men, were of equal worth in God’s sight. Only this can explain why, uniquely among the classical Western religions,
Islaam produced a large number of outstanding female scholars, on whose testimony and sound judgment much of the edifice of Islaam depends.

Since Islaam’s earliest days, women had been taking a prominent part in the preservation and narration of hadeeth, and this function continued down throughthe centuries. At every period in Muslim history, there lived numerous eminent female-traditionists, treated by their brethren with reverence and respect. Biographical notices on very large numbers of them can be found in the last sections of the virtually all biographical dictionaries.

During the lifetime of the Prophet (r), many women had been not only the cause for prophetic many traditions, but had also been their transmitters to their sisters and brethren in faith. After the Prophet’s death, many women Companions, particularly his wives, were looked upon as vital custodians of knowledge, and were approached for instruction by the other Companions, to whom they readily dispensed the rich store that they had gathered in the Prophet’s company. The names of Hafsah, Umm Habeebah, Maymanah, Umm Salamah, and ‘Aa’ishah, are familiar to every student of hadeeth as being among its earliest and most distinguished transmitters. In particular, ‘Aa’ishah is one of the most important figures in the whole history of hadeeth literature - not only as one of the earliest reporters of the largest number of hadeeth, but also as one of their most careful interpreters.

In the period of the Successors, too, women held important positions as traditionists. Hafsah, the daughter of Ibn Seereen, Umm al-Dardaa the Younger (d. 81/700), and ‘Amrah bint ‘Abdir-Rahmaan, are only a few of the key women traditionists of this period. Iyaas ibn Mu‘aawiyah, an important traditionist of the time and a judge of undisputed ability and merit, considered Umm ad-Dardaa to be superior to all the other traditionists of the period, including the celebrated masters of hadeeth like al-Hasan al-Basree and Ibn Seereen.1 ‘Amrah was considered a great authority on traditions related by ‘Aa’ishah. Among her
students, Aboo Bakr ibn Hazm, the celebrated judge of Madeenah, was ordered by the Caliph ‘Umar ibn ‘Abdil-‘Azeez to write down all the traditions known on
her authority.


After them, ‘Aabidah al-Madaniyyah, ‘Abdah bint Bishr, Umm ‘Umar ath-Thaqafiyyah, Zaynab the granddaughter of ‘Alee ibn ‘Abdillaah ibn ‘Abbaas, Nafeesah bint al-Hasan ibn Ziyaad, Khadeejah Umm Muhammad, ‘Abdah bint ‘Abdir-Rahmaan, and many other women excelled in delivering public lectures on hadeeth. These devout women came from the most diverse backgrounds, indicating that neither class nor gender were obstacles to rising through the ranks
of Islaamic scholarship. For example, ‘Aabidah who started life as a slave owned by Muhammad ibn Yazeed, learnt a large number of hadeeth with the teachers in
Madeenah. Her master gave her to Habeeb Dahhoon, the great traditionist of Spain, when he visited the holy city on his way to the Hajj. Dahhoon was so
impressed by her learning that he freed her, married her, and took her back to Andalusia. There she related over ten thousand traditions on the authority of her
Madeenan teachers.

On the other hand, Zaynab bint Sulaymaan (d.142/759) was a princess by birth. Her father was a cousin of as-Saffaah, founder of the ‘Abbaasid dynasty, and had been a governor of Basra, Oman and Bahrain during the caliphate of al-Mansoor. Zaynab, who received a fine education, acquired a mastery of hadeeth and gained a reputation as one of the most distinguished women traditionists of her time. She counted many important male traditionists among her pupils. This partnership of women with men in the cultivation of the Prophetic Traditions continued in the period when the great anthologies of hadeeth were compiled. A survey of the texts reveals that all the important compilers of traditions from the earliest period received hadeeths from female shuyookh. Every
major hadeeth collection gives the names of many women as the immediate authorities of the author. And when these works had been compiled, the women
traditionists themselves mastered them, and delivered lectures to large classes of pupils, to whom they would issue their own ijaazahs.

In the fourth century, we find Faatimah bint ‘Abdir-Rahmaan (d. 312/924), known as as-Soofiyyah because of her simple dress her great piety; Faatimah,
granddaughter of Aboo Daawood of Sunan fame; Amatul-Waahid (d. 377/987), daughter of the distinguished jurist al-Muhaamilee; Umm al-Fat’h Amatus-
Salaam (d. 390/999), daughter of the judge Aboo Bakr Ahmad (d.350/961); Jumu‘ah bint Ahmad, and many other women, whose classes were always well attended
by reverential audiences.

The Islamic tradition of female hadeeth scholarship continued in the fifth and sixth centuries of the Hijrah. Faatimah bint al-Hasan ibn ‘Alee ibn al-Daqqaaq (d.480/1087), wife of the famous mystic and traditionist Abul-Qaasim al-Qushayree, was celebrated not only for her piety and her mastery of calligraphy, but also for her knowledge of hadeeth and the high quality of isnaads that she knew. Even more distinguished was Kareemah al-Marwaziyyah (d. 463/1070), who was considered the best authority on the Saheeh al-Bukhaaree in her time. Aboo Dharr of Herat, one of the leading scholars of the period, attached such great importance to her authority that he advised his students to study the Saheeh under no one else, because of the quality of her scholarship. She thus figures as a central point in the transmission of this seminal text of Islaam. “As a matter of fact,” writes Goldziher, “her name occurs with extraordinary frequency in the ijaazahs for narrating the text of this book.”7 Among her students were al-Khateeb al-Baghdaadee and al-Humaydee (428/1036-488/1095).

Aside from Kareemah, a number of other women traditionists occupy an eminent place in the history of the transmission of the text of the Saheeh. Among these, one might mention in particular Faatimah bint Muhammad (d. 539/1144); Shuhdah bint Ahmad ibn al-Faraj (d.574/1178), and Sitt al-Wuzaraa bint Umar (d.716/1316). Faatimah narrated the book on the authority of the great traditionist Sa‘eed al-‘Ayyaar and she received from the hadeeth specialists the proud title of Musnidah Isbahaan (the great hadeeth authority of Isfahan). Shuhdah was a famous calligrapher and a traditionist of great repute. The biographers describe her as the calligrapher, the great authority on hadeeth, and the pride of womanhood. Her great-grandfather had been a dealer in needles, and thus acquired the title al-Ibree. But her father, Aboo Nasr (d. 506/1112) had acquired a passion for hadeeth, and managed to study it with several masters of the subject. In obedience to the sunnah, he gave his daughter a sound academic education, ensuring that she studied under many traditionists of accepted reputation. She married ‘Alee ibn Muhammad, an important figure with some literary interests, who later became a companion of the Caliph al-Muqtafee, and founded a college which he endowed most generously. His wife, however, was better known. She gained her reputation in the field of hadeeth scholarship, and was
noted for the quality of her isnaads. Her lectures on Saheeh al-Bukhaaree and other hadeeth collections were attended by large crowds of students as a result of
her great reputation.


Also known as an authority on Saheeh al-Bukhaaree was Sitt al-Wuzaraa, who, besides her acclaimed mastery of Islamic law, was known as the musnidah of her time. She delivered lectures on the Saheeh and other works in Damascus and Egypt. Classes on Saheeh al-Bukhaaree, were likewise given by Umm al-Khayr Amatul-Khaaliq (811/1408-911/1505), who is regarded as the last great hadeeth scholar of the Hijaaz. Still another authority on Saheeh al-Bukhaaree was ‘Aa’ishah bint ‘Abdil-Haadee.

Apart from these women, who seem to have specialized in the great Saheeh al-Bukhaaree, there were others, whose expertise was centred on other texts. Ummul-Khayr Faatimah bint ‘Alee (d. 532/1137) and Faatimah ash-Shahrazooriyyah, both delivered lectures on the Saheeh Muslim. Faatimah al-
Jawzdaaniyyah (d. 524/1129) narrated to her students the three Musnads of at-Tabaraanee. Zaynab of Harran (d. 688/1289), whose lectures attracted a large
crowd of students, taught them the Musnad of Ahmad ibn Hambal, the largest known collection of hadeeths. Juwayriyyah bint ‘Umar (d. 783/1381), and Zaynab
bint Ahmad ibn ‘Umar (d. 722/1322), who had travelled widely in pursuit of hadeeth and delivered lectures in Egypt as well as Madeenah, narrated to her
students the collections Sunan ad-Daarimee and ‘Abd ibn Humayd work. Students travelled from far and wide to attend her discourses. Zaynab bint Ahmad
(d. 740/1339), usually known as Bint al-Kamaal delivered lectures on the Musnad of Aboo Haneefah, Shamaa’il at-Tirmithee, and the Sharh Ma‘aanee al-Aathaar
of at-Tahaawee, the last of which she had read with another woman traditionist, Ajeebah bint Abee Bakr (d. 740/1339). Goldziher said: “On her authority is based
the authenticity of the Gotha codex... in the same isnaad a large number of learned women are cited who had occupied themselves with this work.” With her,
and various other women, the great traveller Ibn Battootah studied traditions during his stay at Damascus. The famous historian of Damascus, Ibn al-‘Asaakir, who tells us that he had studied under more than 1,200 men and 80 women, obtained the ijaazah of Zaynab bint ‘Abdir-Rahmaan for the Muwatta of Imaam Maalik. Jalaalud-deen as-Suyootee studied the Risaalah of Imaam al-Shaafi‘ee with Haajar bint Muhammad. ‘Afeefud-deen Junayd, a traditionist of the ninth century AH, read Sunanad-Daarimee with Faatimah bint Ahmad ibn Qaasim. Other important female traditionists included Zaynab bint ash-Sha‘ree (524-615/1129-1218). She studied hadeeth under several leading traditionists, and in turn lectured to many students, some of who gained great repute including Ibn Khallikaan, author of the well-known biographical dictionary Wafaayaat al-A‘yaan. Another was Kareemah the Syrian (d. 641/1218), described by the biographers as the greatest authority on hadeeth in Syria of her day. She delivered lectures on many works of hadeeth on the authority of numerous teachers.

ma salaama
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