Al-Hafiz Ibn Hajar al-Asqalani (d. 852 AH / 1448 CE) translated - in his book "The Pearls in the Notables of the Eighth Hundred" - of 170 female scholars, including 54 of his sheikhs, and Imam Najm al-Din Ibn Fahd al-Makki (d. 885 AH / 1480 CE) said that he took knowledge from 130 sheikhs And his student, Imam Al-Sakhawi (d. 902 AH / 1496 CE), has about 85 sheikhs, whom he mentioned in his book “The Bright Light for the People of the Ninth Century”, and the sheikhs of his contemporaries Al-Hafiz Al-Suyuti (d. 911 AH) reach 44 sheikhs.

These numerical statistics indicate the well-established presence of women in Islamic scientific life and the strength of their influence in its circles, as those extensive female samples - translated by those scholars - illustrate the keenness of the scientific community to highlight, document and mention this feminist knowledge contribution. Those who sign for God” from the people of fatwa and feminist scientific knowledge will find a justification for it and room for the strength of the scientific base of women in Islamic civilization, as well as for the acceptance of the men’s society of this feminist scientific presence and even pride in it and taking from its mistresses.

Thus, the presence of female muftis and female jurists in the Islamic public sphere was part of this abundant women's knowledge, as Qatar was not devoid of Islamic countries in an era of ages from female faqihs who "signatures of God."

Perhaps one of the reasons for this distinguished presence is that the empowerment of women was not waiting for a political decision, nor an authority to issue a law authorizing them to practice it and enjoy its advantage, because there is no legal restriction on women in learning and teaching, but rather there is a duty placed upon them in seeking knowledge and spreading it, and also the looks of The scientific woman whose main practical basis was the scientific experiences of the mothers of the believers and their counterparts among the companions of the scholars and their female disciples.

All of them were among the pillars of knowledge on which the early renaissance of Islamic sciences was based, including men and women of knowledge, and based on that great scientific push in the era of female companions and followers, this legitimacy of women's societal activity, including their knowledge contribution, was rooted.

Imam Ibn al-Qayyim (d. 751 AH / 1350 CE) reported that “those from whom the fatwa was preserved among the companions of the Messenger of God, may God’s prayers and peace be upon him, are one hundred and thirty souls, between a man and a woman,” and he mentioned about twenty-two of them.

And if some legitimate positions - such as the judiciary - need political permission even for the men who hold them;

The practice of issuing fatwas in particular and teaching in general does not require permission for either the man or the woman, and it is sufficient only for his or her practitioner to be known for his competence and integrity within the scientific community, just as the validity of the scientific opinion is not due to the gender of the speaker, but rather to the strength of his argument and his legitimacy.

These objective conditions are what qualified the Islamic civilization to be a fertile space for hundreds of female jurists, muftis, female scholars, female writers, female poets... etc., as the numbers indicate that the number of female jurists who had a relationship with Makkah Al-Mukarramah - residence, neighborhood or visit during the ninth century AH / 15 AD alone - He reached about 270 faqihs!!

However, despite this strong presence of women in the circles of Islamic knowledge, the books of jurisprudence neglected to mention their jurisprudential sayings and their doctrines, except for the sayings of the mothers of the believers - especially Aisha - and some of the women of early Islam.

There are several reasons for this neglect, perhaps the most famous of which is the asceticism of many female jurists in writing and scientific authorship, and other reasons related to the jurists’ curricula and their dealings with the “famous” scientific sayings and jurisprudential opinions, which was impossible for women under the conditions of ancient Islamic societies.

All of this made men prevail over women in mentioning the recorded jurisprudential opinion.

Despite those negative aspects that afflicted the scientific path of most of the "signatures of the Lord of the Worlds," their impact on the Islamic cognitive mind remained an undeniable fact.

Hence, there is no justification for the controversy that sometimes rages in the Arab and Islamic countries regarding the assignment of the role and institutions of the official fatwa to women "muftis" between supporters and opponents.

It is a controversy reinforced by multiple factors, including the control of the authority of custom, considering that most of the muftis and jurists throughout history were men, as well as the confusion in people’s minds between the functions of fatwa and the judiciary, as there was a dispute between the ancients in the permissibility of women assuming the position of the judiciary, and the fatwa was not like that.

Perhaps what makes the need to return to the days of scientific glory of Islamic civilization;

To reveal the close relationship established between women, fatwas, jurisprudence, and the various arts of forensic science in general, and to identify the manifestations of that relationship in theory and practice.

This is exactly what this study seeks - which documented the great contribution of 20 female scholars and fatwas - by names, monitoring the manifestations of the feminist influence in the scientific life of Islamic societies, and their prominent and distinguished presence crowding out imams from men, and even contributing to it - many times - in the formation of these imams.


An early feminist fatwa


Imam Ibn Qayyim al-Jawziyyah (d. 751 AH / 1350 CE)

calls

The fatwa and its practice of conditions summarized by the Imam al -Nawawi (d. 676 AH/1277 CE) by saying in the "etiquette of the fatwa and the mufti and the mufti": "The one who is the one who has a kind of trust is a trustworthy, and we have a park from the causes The free, the slave and the woman are equal in it.”

So the orbit of the fatwa, then, in Islam is due only to the scientific faculty, the moral motive, and the validity of consideration and deduction.

The response to the fatwa in Islamic history did not require a political decision to appoint, unlike the judiciary, because the fatwa in the definitions of the jurists is: “Information of the Shari’a ruling, not in an obligatory manner,” just as the informing of the Shari’a ruling did not require permission except from scholars who testified to the student and The student is entitled to this academic degree, whose holder is called in their convention the title of "Mufti" or "the scholar" or "faqih".

Giving titles to the ancients was not easy, especially the titles that entail responsibilities the size of the fatwa, whose owner bears the responsibility of "signing on behalf of the Lord of the Worlds."

Therefore, we find Imam Al-Qadi Ayyad Al-Yahsabi (d. 544 AH / 1149 CE) saying in “Tarteeb Al-Madarik”: “We do not see that the seeker of knowledge is called a jurist until he becomes old, completes his age, strengthens his sight, and excels in memorizing opinion, narrating and insightful hadith, and distinguishing the classes of his men, He judges the contract of documents, knows their causes, reads the difference, and knows the doctrines of the scholars, the interpretation and the meanings of the Qur’an.

From this we know that every woman who is described as a fiqh in the books of biographers deserves to issue fatwas, just as these books stipulate that many women are responsible for giving fatwas.

‏

The scholar Ibn al-Qayyim mentioned that “those from whom the fatwa was preserved among the companions of the Messenger of God, may God’s prayers and peace be upon him, are one hundred and thirty souls, between a man and a woman.” And he mentioned about twenty-two of them. Salama, Umm Attia, Umm Al Muminin Safia, Umm Al Muminin Hafsa, Umm Al Muminin Umm Habiba, Layla bint Qanaf Al Thaqafiya, Asma bint Abi Bakr, Umm Sharik, Al Hawla bint Tuwait Al Asadiyah, Umm Al Darda Al Kubra, Aatika bint Zaid bin Amr, Sahla bint Suhail, Juwayriyyah, the mother of the believers, Maymouna, the mother of the believers, Fatima, the daughter of the Messenger of God, peace be upon him, Fatima the daughter of Qais, Zainab the daughter of Umm Salama, the mother of Ayman, the Abyssinian, the incubator of the Messenger of God, may God’s prayers and peace be upon him, and the mother of Yusuf, an Ethiopian who served the Messenger of God, peace be upon him, and Al-Ghamdia.

And the researcher in the history of fatwas throughout the Islamic ages realizes that this number - with its high percentage - of the "signatures of the Lord of the Heavens" reflects the extent of the presence of women and their role in jurisprudence and fatwas in the prophetic era, and this presence or prosperity confirms to us the saying of Abdul Halim Abi Shaqqa (d. 1416 AH). / 1995 AD), which he made the title of his pioneering encyclopedia: 'Women's Liberation in the Age of the Message'.

Women and the fatwa industry


The qualitative presence of women among the fatwa practitioners in the first century AH / seventh century AD was evident in the jurisprudence of the mother of the believers, Aisha (d. women of the nation at all", as described by Ibn al-Qayyim in 'I'lam al-Muqawqi'in'.

And Imam Al-Dhahabi (d. 748 AH / 1347 CE) said about her in “Biography of the Flags of the Nobles”: “I do not know in the ummah of Muhammad, may God’s prayers and peace be upon him - and not even among women at all - a woman more knowledgeable than her.”

And because it is also, as proven by the owner of the “al-Tabaqat al-Kubra” Ibn Saad al-Basri (d. 230 AH / 845 CE), she became independent with the fatwa in the succession of Abu Bakr (d. 13 AH / 635 CE), Umar (d. 23 AH / 645 CE), Uthman (d. 35 AH / 656 CE), and so on until She died,” and “the most senior among the companions of the Messenger of God, may God’s prayers and peace be upon him, Omar and Othman after him, would send to her and ask her about the Sunnahs.”

The closeness of Aisha - may God be pleased with her - to the Messenger of God, may God’s prayers and peace be upon him, had a great role in the abundance of her narrations in hadith and fatwas, and she multiplied the narration of jurisprudential rulings until Al-Hakim Al-Nisaburi (d. 1396 AD) in his book that follows - that "a quarter of the Sharia law was carried on it."

And the totality of Aisha’s narrations from Sahih Al-Bukhari and Muslim is about “two hundred and seventy-odd hadiths, from which only a few rulings came out.” Sheikh Saeed Fayez Al-Dakhil collected her jurisprudence and fatwas in a huge volume called: “Encyclopedia of Aisha’s jurisprudence, the mother of the believers .. her life and jurisprudence.”

Aisha was famous for her independent fatwas and jurisprudential opinions that she was unique to, including her unique fatwa not to differentiate between a child of adultery and others in leading the prayer as long as he is the most read of the Book of God and the jurisprudence in the law, as she sees that “he does not have anything from the sin of his parents, {And no bearer of burdens bears a burden.” Others} (Surah Fatir, verse: 18)

According to what was reported by Ibn Abi Shaybah (d. 235 AH / 849 CE) in his book Al-Musannaf.

And one of her uniqueness of feminism is her saying that a woman may travel without a mahram at all if she secures herself from sedition. forbidden.”

And Sheikh Saeed Al-Dakhil notes - in his book on Aisha's jurisprudence mentioned earlier - that many of her fatwas "start from her in her capacity as a distinguished female jurist, because she lived with the Messenger, may God bless him and grant him peace, under one roof, and learned from him what other men did not teach."

‏

Aisha's jurisprudential role was not limited to issuing fatwas and updating the Sunnah only;

Rather, she debated with the Companions and sought advice on the fatwas of their elders, such as her father, Abu Bakr Al-Siddiq and Umar Al-Farouq.

Imam Al-Zarkashi (d. 794 AH / 1392 CE) collected her corrections on the honorable companions in an enjoyable book entitled: “The Answer to State What Aisha Remedied on the Companions.”

Aisha also issued muftis who practiced fatwa after her, and jurisprudence and knowledge were taken from her by many of the women of her household, such as: her sister Umm Kulthum and Hafsa, the daughter of her brother Abd al-Rahman bin Abi Bakr (d. 58 AH / 679 CE).

And according to al-Dhahabi in “Biography of the Flags of the Nobles”;

For among those who graduated from Aisha’s hand and carried the banner of fatwa after her: “Amrah bint Abd al-Rahman al-Ansariyya (d. 98 AH / 718 CE) … Aisha’s tribune and her student … and she was a scholar of jurisprudence with a lot of knowledge.”

And "Safia bint Shaybah (d. 86 AH / 706 CE) ... the scholarly jurist, Umm Mansur al-Qurashi."

Among them is "Umm al-Darda' al-Sughra ... the jurist (d. after 81 AH / 701 CE), and she was famous for her knowledge, work, and asceticism," and the scholars agreed "to describe her with jurisprudence, reason, understanding, and majesty";

As Imam Al-Nawawi says in 'Refining names and languages'.

female scholars who produced


famous people during the era of the followers;

Seven venerable scholars became famous in the Prophet’s city with the title of the Seven Jurists of the City, and the books of translations tell us that each of these seven famous scholars took knowledge from jurists;

So Saeed bin Al-Musayyib (d. 94 AH / 714 CE) took it from Aisha and Umm Salamah.

And Urwa bin Al-Zubayr (d. 74 AH / 694 CE) took from his mother Asmaa bint Abi Bakr Al-Siddiq (d. 73 AH / 693 CE) and from his aunt, the Mother of the Believers, Aisha, who “necessitated her and learned from her”;

As in “Biography of the Flags of the Nobles” by Al-Dhahabi, who also mentions that Al-Qasim bin Muhammad bin Abi Bakr Al-Siddiq (d. 107 AH / 726 CE) was raised “in the custody of his aunt, the mother of the believers, Aisha, and learned from her and more about her”;

And the seventh among them is the jurist and poet Obaidullah bin Abdullah Al-Hudhali (d. 98 AH / 718 CE), who took knowledge on the authority of Aisha and Umm Salamah.

The four imams were not affected by significant learning at the hands of women.

However, the imam of Madinah Malik bin Anas (d. 179 AH / 795 CE) took from Aisha bint Saad bin Abi Waqqas (Aisha al-Sughra, who died in 117 AH / 736 CE), and his daughter Fatima, who was mentioned by al-Hafiz Ibn Nasser al-Din al-Dimashqi (d. 842 AH / 1440 CE) in The narrators of her father's 'Muwatta', and he said: "Malik had a daughter who memorized his knowledge..., and she was standing behind the door. If the reader made a mistake [who asked him], she would knock on the door, and Malik would notice and respond to him."

The reason for the departure of the greatest imam Abu Hanifa (d. 150 AH / 768 CE) to jurisprudence and fatwa was a question addressed to him by a woman.

In subsequent ages, we find that a great jurisprudential figure such as Imam Abu Muhammad Ibn Hazm Al-Andalusi (d. 456 AH / 1065 CE) - who was known for his apparent doctrine and sophistication in all sciences - tells us - in his book 'The Dove's Collar' - about the role of women in his initial scientific formation;

He says: “I watched women and learned from their secrets what hardly anyone else knows, because I was brought up in their laps, and I grew up in their hands, and I did not know anyone else…;

And this early companionship of this unique science of women made him one of the greatest analyzes of the human psyche in ancient history, especially matters related to women.

And when we head east - in the fifth century AH / the same 11th century AD - we find a man of the size of “Hafez al-Mashreq” Imam al-Khatib al-Baghdadi (d. (d. 571 AH / 1175 CE) - in his book 'The Lexicon of Women' - for 80 sheikhs who are apprenticed to them.

Al-Dhahabi said - in "Biography of the Flags of the Nobles" - that Al-Hafiz Al-Salafi (d. 576 AH / 1180 CE) "he heard from women in Isfahan ... and only eight sheikhs were heard in Baghdad from women." One of his students compiled a dictionary of his sheikhs;

And Imam Al-Dhahabi himself narrated on the authority of several women whom he mentioned in the dictionary of his sheikhs.

Imam Umar bin Fahd al-Makki al-Hashemi (d. 885 AH / 1480 CE) also stated that he took the authority of 130 sheikhs, and he translated - in his book “Al-Durr al-Kamin with the tail of the precious necklace in the history of the honest country” - of 286 women who were known in the public sphere in Makkah Al-Mukarramah, and many of them are sheikhs of a number of Flags of scholars.

Al-Hafiz Ibn Hajar Al-Asqalani (d. 852 AH / 1448 CE) translated 170 women of hadith in his book “Al-Durar Al-Kamanah in the Notables of the Eighth Hundred”, including 54 of his sheikhs, and in his book “Al-Taqreeb” he translated 824 women who were famous for the novel.

And his student Al-Sakhawi (d. 902 AH / 1497 CE) has about 85 elders, whom he mentioned in “The Bright Light of the People of the Ninth Century”, and the sheikhs of his contemporary, Al-Hafiz Jalal Al-Din Al-Suyuti (d. 911 AH / 1505 CE), they reach 44 elders.

And if Imam Ibn Shihab al-Zuhri (d. 124 AH / 743 CE) was famous for his saying: “Hadith is a masculine that males love and their females hate,” as narrated by Ibn Qutayba al-Dainuri (d. 276 AH / 889 CE) in his book ' different interpretation of hadith';

For Imam Al-Dhahabi entrenched in people’s minds his saying in “The Balance of Moderation”: “I did not know of women who were accused of [fabricating the hadith] nor who left them” for a reason in her narration.

These two sayings express the times of their sayings culturally.

In the time of al-Zuhri, hadith was a pure craft for men, and in the time of al-Dhahabi, the hadiths spread in the Islamic world, especially in scientific families, because the journey in seeking knowledge and hadith was not available to the housewives.

And the language of numbers says that the number of female speakers - in the seventh and eighth centuries AH / the 14th and 15th centuries AD - reached about 334 female speakers in Egypt and the Levant, from whom famous speakers of that era were taken from whom we cited proverbs such as Ibn Asaker, Ibn Hajar and others.

In general, there is no one engaged in hadith in those ages without taking - at least - from a woman who had hadith.

Fatwas over the centuries,


and if we touch on the field of jurisprudence and the fatwa industry specifically;

We will find that not one of the countries of Islam in any of the ages was devoid of the presence of women who “signed on behalf of God”;

In the third century AH, we meet in Kairouan “the two faqihs of Tunisia” - according to the expression of the historian of Tunisian culture, Hassan Hosni Abd al-Wahhab al-Samadhi (d. Her father was a scholar, an imam and a great judge, and she participated in the debate and question councils that he held, and she understood the doctrine of Abu Hanifa, of which her father was an expert despite his fame in the Maliki school.

As for the second jurisprudence of Tunisia, she is Khadija, the daughter of Imam Sahnoun (she died around 270 AH / 883 CE), the second founder of the Maliki school of thought and its spreader in the Islamic West. Judge Ayyad, the translator of the Maliki jurisprudence, described her - in 'Arrangement of Perceptions' - as: "from the people's choice."

Not far from Tunisia and in the same era;

We find in Egypt the jurist, the sister of Ismail bin Yahya Al-Muzni (died 264 AH / 878 CE) - Nasser Al-Shafi’i school (d. 204 AH / 819 CE) - who was competing with him and discussing him, and it is interesting that the effect of her competition with him was that he neglected to mention her, so she was known only as "Sister Al-Muzni".

And Al-Suyuti stated - in the 'Good Lecture' - that she "was attending the Shafi'i council";

The Shafi'i jurist Abu al-Qasim al-Rafi'i (d. 623 AH / 1226 CE) commented - in 'Al-Aziz Sharh al-Wajeez' - on the saying "It was narrated by al-Muzani in 'al-Mukhtasar' on the authority of those who trust him on the authority of al-Shafi'i."

By saying: “Some of the commentators mentioned that his sister narrated that to him on the authority of Al-Shafi’i … and he did not like to name her.”

As her brother Al-Muzani neglected her name;

The books of biographies neglected her news and the date of her death, except for what Al-Suyuti said that she was "mentioned by Ibn al-Subki and al-Asnawi in al-Tabaqat."

It seems that she is the mother of Imam Abu Jaafar al-Tahawi al-Azdi al-Hanafi (d. 321 AH / 933 CE);

As Al-Muzni is his maternal uncle, and no other sisters are mentioned to him.

in Andalusia;

Its historian Ibn Omaira Al-Dhabi (d. 599 AH / 1203 CE) mentioned - in “The Pursuit of the Petitioner” - Fatima bint Yahya bin Yusef Al-Maghami (d. 319 AH / 931 CE), describing her as “a pious scholar of jurisprudence. What was seen on her coffin" from the large number of mourners.

in Iraq;

Ibn al-Jawzi translates - in 'Al-Muntazim' - to Umm Isa bint Ibrahim Al-Harbi (d. 328 AH / 940 CE), who "was a virtuous scholar who gave fatwas in jurisprudence." / 988 AD) “She excelled in the Shafi’i school of thought, and she used to issue fatwas with Abi Ali bin Abi Huraira.” Sheikh Al-Shafi’i (d. 345 AH / 956 AD).

in Khorasan in the far east;

Books of biographers tell us about Umm al-Fadl Aisha bint Ahmad al-Kamsani al-Marwaziyya (d. 529 AH / 1135 CE), who was described by Abu Saad al-Samani (d. 562 AH / 1167 CE) - in 'Inking in the Great Dictionary' - as "a woman of knowledge and jurisprudence ... her grandmother heard my eyes The daughter of Zakariya al-Makki al-Hilali.

In the same century, we read about the "scientist ... the pious Shahada bint Ahmad" al-Abri (d. 574 AH / 1178 CE), and she "excelled in the sciences ... her virtue was famous in the horizons and grew in Iraq, and she had participation in many sciences, especially jurisprudence ..., And she used to sit behind a veil and read to the students, and she learned a great deal from her.”

Among the most famous female jurists who practiced fatwas and left imprints in the Hanafi school of thought: Mufti Fatima, daughter of Alaeddin al-Samarqandi (died around 580 AH / 1184 CE), author of the book “The Masterpiece of Jurisprudence” who died in 540 AH / 1145 CE, and the wife of Imam Alaeddin Al-Kasani (d. 587 AH / 1193 CE). 'Bada'i al-Sana'i'.

So the historian of the layers of Hanafi jurists Muhammad ibn Muhammad ibn Nasrallah al-Qurashi al-Hanafi (d. 775 AH / 1373 CE) tells us - in 'The Luminous Jewels in the Hanafi layers' - that this Fatima al-Samarqandi "understood her father and memorized his work 'The Masterpiece' .. [and] she was transmitting the doctrine نقلا جيدا، وَكَانَ زَوجهَا الكاساني رُبمَا يهم ‏في الْفتيا فَتَردهُ إِلَى الصَّوَاب وتعرّفه وَجه الخطأ فَيرجع إِلَى قَوْلهَا.. وَكَانَت تُفْتِي… وَكَانَت الْفَتْوَى أَولا يخرج عَلَيْهَا خطها وَخط أَبِيهَا السَّمرقَنْدِي، فَلَمَّا تزوجت ‏بالكاساني صَاحب 'الْبَدَائِع' كَانَت الْفَتْوَى تخرج بِخَطِّ الثَّلَاثَة"‏ ie their signatures.


Meaningful titles, and


according to the Lebanese writer Zainab Fawaz Al-Amili (d. 1332 AH / 1915 CE) in her book “Al-Durr Al-Manthur fi Tabaqat, Housewives of Nudity”;

Fatima, the daughter of Imam Al-Sayyid Ahmed Al-Rifa’i Al-Kabir (d. 609 AH / 1212 CE), was a “faqih in the religion of God”, as well as the great hadeeth Zainab bint Abd al-Rahman ibn al-Hasan al-Nisaburi, famous as “Zainab al-Sha’ariyyah” (d. 615 AH / 1218 CE), who “ I realized a group of notable scholars, and took from them a narration and approval..., and from those who authorized it.. Al-Zamakhshari (d. 539 AH / 1144 AD) author of [interpretation] 'Al-Kashshaf', and among those who approved them from among the great scholars, the scholar and historian.. Judge of Judges Ibn Khalkan (d. 681 AH / 1282 AD).

Al-Dhahabi translated it - in Al-Seer - and said: “The venerable sheikha is the supporter of Khorasan…, and I heard that it was approved by a group” of hadith scholars!!

The eighth century AH / 14th century AD was famous for the abundance of hadith scholars and encyclopedic jurists, and the encyclopedia in which al-Hafiz Ibn Hajar translated the notables of this century - which is his book 'Al-Durar al-Kamanah fi'l-Noayat of the Eighth Hundred' - helps us with translations of many jurists, scholars and hadith scholars, as previously.

It was common in this era to give names and titles to female scholars with a funny significance, and among those names and titles: six scholars, six jurists, six judges, six scribes, six ministers, and six kings.

Among those who were given these titles: Sitt al-Ulama, daughter of Sheikha Ribat Darb al-Mahrani (d. 712 AH / 1312 CE);

And the six jurists are Amat al-Rahman, the daughter of Ibrahim al-Salihiya al-Hanbali (d. 726 AH / 1326 CE);

Sitt al-Fuqaha, daughter of al-Khatib Sharaf al-Din al-Abbasi (d. 765 AH / 1364 CE), she and her brother Alaeddin spoke with Hafiz Abi al-Hajjaj Jamal al-Din al-Mazi (d. 742 AH / 1341 CE) with parts of 'Amali al-Jawhari';

And her sister, Sitt al-Qudah, daughter of al-Khatib.

Al-Hafiz al-Dhahabi also translated - in the 'History of Islam' - for the hadith, "Halal, the daughter of Sheikh Abi al-Makarim Mahmoud bin Muhammad bin Muhammad bin al-Sakan al-Baghdadiyya, and she is called Sitt al-Muluk (d. 621 AH / 1224 CE)". Kings Fatimah bint Ali bin Ali bin Abi Al-Badr (d. 710 AH / 1310 CE)", and her contemporary, "Musnadat al-Waqt, Sitt al-Wazzar bint Umar bin Asaad bin al-Manji al-Tanukhiyya (d. 716 AH / 1316 CE)", which he described - in his book 'History of Islam' - as " Our sheikh is the six ministers!!

What is remarkable is that we find councils for female scholars and scholarly scholars that were open to students in this holy month.

As the scholar and historian Alam al-Din al-Barzali (d. 739 AH / 1338 CE) tells us that he heard the hadith from his sheikh, Asma bint Muhammad al-Dimashqiyya (d. 733 AH / 1333 CE).

And in that, Al-Safadi says - in Aayan Al-Asr - quoting Al-Barzali: “I read to her the month of Ramadan in Ramadan in the year eighty-three [six hundred (683 AH / 1284 AD)], and I read to her four days before her death. Between the two dates there are more than fifty years. And she was A blessed, vigilant woman, abundant in benevolence, almsgiving, and favor.”

Some researchers have counted the number of female jurists who have a relationship with Makkah Al-Mukarramah alone as residence, neighborhood or visit - during the ninth century AH / 15th AD - so they reached about 270 jurists, and by reading the last part of the book “The Bright Light of the People of the Ninth Century” it becomes clear to us that the number of women Those for whom Al-Sakhawi translated reached 1080 women in this century alone, and whose news reached him, and most of them were among the modern jurists.

This indicates that women's effort in the field of jurisprudence and fatwa needs to be re-monitored, codified and evaluated.

Among the notables of the tenth century AH / 16th century AD;

The "Sheikha ... the working scholar" Umm Abd al-Wahhab Aisha bint Yusuf al-Ba'uni al-Dimashqiyya (d. 922 AH / 1516 CE), who became famous as "Aisha al-Ba'uniyya", was described by the historian Najm al-Din al-Ghazi (d. 1061 AH / 1650 CE) - in 'The Walking Planets with Notables of the Tenth Hundred' '- That she is one of the "persons of eternity...she was carried to Cairo and obtained abundant knowledge from the sciences, and was permitted to issue fatwas and teach."

In the eleventh century AH / 17 AD;

In Makkah, we met the hadith scholar Quraysh bint Abd al-Qadir al-Tabari (d. 1107 AH / 1695 CE), who was "a jurist ... from a house of great knowledge ... books of hadith were read to her in her house";

As the historian Al-Zarikli (d. 1396 AH / 1976 CE) says in Al-Alam.

It was also mentioned that the Moroccan scholar Muhammad Abd al-Hay al-Kattani (d. 1382 AH / 1962 CE) counted it - in the 'Index of Indexes and Proofs' - as one of the "seven Musnads of Hijaz with whom the thorn of hadith was strengthened in the eleventh century [Hijri / 17th CE] and beyond."

Preachers on pulpits


Historians of the eighth century AH / 14th century AD stopped a lot on the life of Umm Zainab Fatima bint Abbas Al-Baghdadiyya (d. 714 AH / 1314 AD), which was called the “Ribat Al-Baghdadiya” in Cairo when it was established in the year 684 AH / 1285 AD.

Al-Dhahabi described her - in "Biography of the Flags of the Nobles" - as "Sheikha Mufti, the jurist, the scholar ... the Hanbali", and said - in his book "Lessons" - that she was "the mistress of the women of her time."

The historian Salah al-Din al-Safadi (d. 764 AH / 1362 CE) mentioned - in 'Nobles of the Age' - that she "would ascend the pulpit and preach to women... [and] a group of women in Damascus reformed her..., [then] she turned after the seven hundred to Egypt, and he benefited There is a group of women in Egypt, and after its reputation.

One of the functions of that bond, which was named after her, was that “women who were divorced or abandoned were deposited in it, until they remarried or returned to their husbands in order to protect them, because of the severity of control and the utmost precaution and perseverance in the functions of worship.”

And about the relationship of this Hanbali-Baghdadi mufti to jurisprudence;

Al-Safadi says: "I studied at the sanctuary (= a Hanbali family whose generations inherited knowledge) with Sheikh Shams al-Din (al-Maqdisi Abu Muhammad "Sheikh of the Hanbali" who died in 682 AH / 1283 CE) and others ... and she knew jurisprudence and its subtle ambiguities and difficult issues."

And she reached from her scholarly and jurisprudential presence that a man of the size of Imam Ibn Taymiyyah (d. 728 AH / 1328 CE) was “astonished at her knowledge and intelligence,” as his golden student informs us, who inherited admiration for this scholarly lady until he said about her in “lessons”: “And she had acceptance Plus, it fell into the souls.” And he said in “Al-Seer”: “I visited it, and I liked its reputation and humility.”

As for Al-Hafiz Ibn Hajar, he asserted - in “Al-Durar Al-Kamina in the Notables of the Eighth Hundred” - that “few women gave birth like her”!!

And before this venerable Al-Baghdadi;

We find another Damascene sheikha whose ascension to the pulpit caused her to be called "the scholar", and she is the mother of the Shafi'i jurist Shihab al-Din al-Ansari (d. 672 AH / 1273 CE), the judge of Hebron, who benefited from his mother's scholarly status, so he became famous among people - before his scientific leadership - as "the son of the scholar." .

And the historian Qutb al-Din al-Yunini (d. 726 AH / 1326 CE) narrates - in “The Tail of the Mirror of Time” - that “the reason for calling her the scholar: that King Al-Adil Al-Kabir [Al-Ayyubi] when he died in the year fifteen and six hundred (615 AH / 1218 CE) looked at a woman speaking in Condolences, so they mentioned her and that she was one of the righteous, so they came to her request, and she disavowed that for her lack of experience with what befits that situation, so they bound her and took her forcibly, and she memorized many of the “vegetarian sermons” (= the sermons of Sheikh Ibn Nabata Al-Farqi, who died in the year 374 AH / 985 CE).

She said: And I was asking God Almighty on the way not to expose me in that assembly while I was shivering from that.

So he agreed in that council from crying.. unless he agreed in others.

She was known as the scientist.

According to al-Dhahabi’s translations in the “History of Islam”;

For he was called “the son of the scholar” by two other scholars, the first of which was: “Ahmed bin Al-Hassan bin Hibatullah Abu Al-Fadl Ibn Al-Alamah, known as Al-Iskaf (d. A reciter, an imam, a jurist, an expert, content, benevolent, well-recited, a speaker.

And the brilliant physician Najm al-Din Ahmad bin Saad bin Helwan (d. 652 AH / 1252 CE), who was “known as the scholar’s ​​son: Dahn al-Lawz (the daughter of Nurangan, d. 614 AH / 1217 CE), who was the scholar of Damascus” at all, and singled out this translation for his mother, saying that she is “the sheikh of scholars in Damascus.” And she was fortunate.”

And Ibn Katheer mentioned her - in 'The Beginning and the End' - describing her as "the righteous, worshiping, ascetic sheikha, the sheikh of scholars in Damascus ... and made her money an endowment" for the sake of God Almighty.

Asceticism

in writing

Despite


this remarkable scientific presence of women in different eras;

If the books of jurisprudence neglected to mention the sayings of these scholars of jurisprudence, except for the sayings of the mothers of the believers, especially Aisha, just as it neglected to mention the doctrines of many of them.

And that negligence is due - in our opinion - to four things.

The first: that the jurists relied in transmitting the sayings on the fame and forefront of the speaker, and therefore they did not transmit in the books of disagreement except on “famous imams of the regions.”

The second: that most of the female jurists were in the care of the father or husband of two great scholars, so their fame and status overshadowed that feminist distinction.

Third: Women scholars rarely write books, and books alone have the power to keep sayings alive and immortal.

And the fourth: that women - in the culture of Arab society - are considered "awrah", and some scholars believe that the Arabs quickly restored pre-Islamic customs in women's and social issues, and therefore we found Imam Al-Muzani - as previously said - he did not state the name of his sister, and he is a man From Muzaina Al-Mudharia tribe.

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Some researchers were able - after a hard effort - to list only the names of 36 authors from the second century AH / the eighth century AD until the twelfth century AH / the 18th century AD, and most of these works are not available, but their titles are mentioned in the books of translations as a digression.

This very small number reflects the asceticism of female scholars in writing books that preserve their knowledge, and that asceticism made the books of biographers - especially the books of the layers of jurists - neglect to mention them.

The researcher, Muhammad Khair Ramadan Yusuf, was amazed - after his tours in the books of biographies of jurists of schools of thought - at her neglect of women jurists and their news.

The book “The Luminous Jewels in Hanafi Translations” - by Muhyi al-Din Ibn Nasrallah al-Qurashi al-Hanafi (d. 775 AH / 1373 CE) - contains about 2115 translations. For any woman!!

Likewise, the book “Tabaqat al-Shafi’i al-Kubra” by al-Subki (d. 771 AH / 1370 CE), because it narrowed down its ten volumes to mentioning any Shafi’i jurist, and only Al-Asnawi mentioned the “sister of Al-Muzni,” whose name is not known.

And there is no mention in the “Tabaqat al-Hanbali” of Ibn Abi Ya’la (d. 526 AH / 1132 CE) mentioning any Hanbali jurist, and he compensated for that by mentioning the women who were asking Imam Ahmed bin Hanbal (d. Ahmad".

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This neglect of the scientific history of women is also glimpsed in several Andalusian cases.

The first: the news of Umm Al-Imam Abi Al-Walid Al-Baji (d. 474 AH / 1071 CE), as she was a jurist and was not mentioned in the books of biographers except in connection with her relationship with her son, who corrected the date of his birth, as was reported by Ibn Asaker Al-Dimashqi in “The History of Damascus”.

And the second issue: we find it in the translations that al-Maqri singled out al-Talmisani (d. 1041 AH / 1632 CE) - in "Nafah al-Tayyib" - about twenty famous women from Andalusia.

In those Andalusian translations, the forms of negligence are clearly and unfortunately evident, with a few exceptions.

Most of those mentioned by al-Maqri used to mention her name alone, similar to a surname, with her attribution to one of the Andalusian cities, with complete omission of the rest of the information related to the triple name, date of birth, those who were polite and educated, and when they died.

The strangest thing about that neglect is the story that Al-Maqri told in the form of nursing at the end of his mention of the famous Andalusians, he said: “It was narrated that some of the judges of [the city of] Lusha had a wife who exceeded the scholars in knowledge of rulings and calamities … and he was in his judicial council with which calamities descended. So he stands up to her, and she points out to him what he judges!!

As for the third case;

It is evident in the advantage that the people of the Islamic West are famous for, which is their collection of the various fatwas of their scholars in one book, such as “The Arabized standard and the Western collector on the fatwas of the people of Ifriqiya, Andalusia and the Maghrib” by Abu al-Abbas al-Wansharisi (d. 914 AH / 1508 CE), and his twelve volumes were not mentioned. Any fatwa for any jurist, and so the encyclopedias of fatwas that were collected after his era followed him!!