السلام عليكم ورحمة الله وبركاته

Women in Islam: Through the Lens of Classical Texts

Muslim women today are caught between two competing misreadings: one from outside the ummah, casting them as inherently oppressed, and one from within, reducing their roles to narrow domesticity. But what if the Islamic tradition itself — in its earliest, most authoritative sources — offers a more empowered, complex, and dignified vision of womanhood than either pole admits?

This post explores that forgotten richness — not through modern ideological lenses, but by returning to classical works where Muslim women appear not as props in someone else's argument, but as scholars, jurists, transmitters of knowledge, and moral exemplars.

Classical Books That Center Women's Contributions

1. Ibn al-Jawzī’s Akhbār al-Nisā’

Ibn al-Jawzī compiled this book as a biographical register of women known for piety, learning, and public virtue. His aim was partly moral — offering role models — but the result is a striking portrayal of how visible and influential women were in early Islamic societies.

He includes:

Women who gave fatwas.
Female poets and ascetics.
Hadith transmitters, including those who corrected male narrators.

2. Al-Khaṭīb al-Baghdādī’s Tārīkh Baghdād

Among the thousands of biographies in this monumental work are dozens of female scholars. One of the most celebrated is Karīmah al-Marwaziyyah, a transmitter of Ṣaḥīḥ al-Bukhārī.

She was:

Described by Ibn Ḥajar as "thiqah" (reliable).
Sought out by male scholars who traveled to Makkah to hear hadith from her directly.

Her example alone challenges the notion that classical Islam barred women from public or scholarly life.

3. Ibn Saʿd’s Ṭabaqāt al-Kubrā

The first volumes are dedicated to the female Companions of the Prophet ﷺ. We find:

Women present at battles like Badr and Uḥud.
Women who gave bayʿah (allegiance) to the Prophet.
Those consulted in legal and ethical matters.

Their entries are often rich, showing them as narrators, counselors, and active participants in community life.

4. Ibn Ḥajar’s al-Iṣābah fī Tamyīz al-Ṣaḥābah

This encyclopedic work includes over 700 women — each a Companion of the Prophet ﷺ. Many were:

Trusted hadith transmitters.
Known for bravery, intellect, or political insight.
Referred to in matters of fiqh.

Scholarly Affirmations: Women as Trusted Authorities

Hadith Transmission

Al-Shāfiʿī, in al-Risālah, outlines the conditions for accepting a narrator — and makes no gender distinction. Female transmitters like Umm Dardā’ al-Ṣughrā were considered more knowledgeable than many men.
Ibn Ḥajar and al-Dhahabī both include women in their hadith compilations, affirming their reliability.

Legal Agency in Classical Fiqh

Hanafī jurists, like those in al-Hidāyah and al-Mabsūṭ, affirm that a mature, sane woman may:
- Own property
- Enter contracts
- Testify in financial cases
- Even contract her own marriage (though doing so without a suitable match is discouraged)
Mālikī and Shāfiʿī positions also acknowledge female legal autonomy in many domains.

Religious Obligation to Learn

Ibn Taymiyyah, in Majmūʿ al-Fatāwā (32/239), writes that women are obligated to seek knowledge related to their religious duties. He frames this as a shared obligation, not a secondary one.
The Prophet ﷺ said: “Seeking knowledge is obligatory upon every Muslim” — which classical scholars understood to include men and women.

Reflective Questions — Not Preaching

What do we lose when we view our tradition only through the binaries of East vs. West, conservative vs. progressive?

How do we protect from ideological distortions — both modern and inherited — without reducing our tradition to nostalgia?

The answer isn’t to modernize Islam, but to remember it properly.

A Call to Serious Readers

Want to go deeper?

Start reading these classical works — many are available in Arabic online or in partial English translations:

Akhbār al-Nisā’ (Ibn al-Jawzī)
Ṭabaqāt al-Kubrā (Ibn Saʿd)
al-Iṣābah (Ibn Ḥajar)
Selections of Tārīkh Baghdād (al-Khaṭīb)

If you’re not ready to tackle Arabic, try curated books like “Al-Muhaddithat: The Women Scholars in Islam” by Mohammad Akram Nadwi — based on research into classical biographical dictionaries.

Conclusion

Recovering the legacy of Muslim women isn’t about responding to Western critique — it's about honoring the depth of our own tradition. These women were not exceptions. They were part of the scholarly backbone of Islam.

It’s time we remembered them on their own terms — not just as symbols in modern arguments, but as real contributors to Islam.

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في امان الله.