During the centuries after the death of the Prophet (s), Islam spread as far as Central Asia, India, Southeast Asia and into parts of Europe and became the foundation of several cultures. On the other hand, foreign influences made themselves felt. Rather soon, the caliphate was converted into some kind of hereditary monarchy, following the example of the Roman and Persian empires, and it became a focal point for power struggle, intrigues and civil wars. Social and political structures were often just taken over without asking whether they could be harmonized with the principles and values of Islam. This, of course, also affected the social position of women.
Another factor lies in the fact that the main interest of modern historians is in power structures, wars and conquests. In most history books, the names of the most important caliphs and rulers are mentioned together with the dates of battles, revolts and conquests in such a way that the stereotype of Islam as being spred by "fire and sword" is reinforced even though serious reserchers long ago have disproved this view, pointing out the forces that really brought about the decline of those empires and promoted the spread of Islam. Only a few experts are interested in the intellectual history, and even then they rarely go beyond famous names like Abu Hanifa, Ahmad bin Hanbal, Ibn Sina, al-Ghazzali and other well-known scholars and thinkers. Since researchers often have an androcentric approach, they tend to overlook references to female students and even teachers of those great men (who were of course mentioned in the contemporary biographical works) and more often than not fail to follow up these informations.
Nafisa was a great-granddaughter of the Prophet's grnadson Hasan bin Ali. She was born about 762 C.A. and grew up in Medina where she had good possibilities to acquire knowledge. She profited both from the education within her own family and from the numerous centres of scholarship that had been established in the city in the meantime. We know about her that she knew the Qur'an by heart and was familiar with its explanations and commentaries. Besides, she had a profound knowledge of the principles of Islamic law that were, at that time, treated systematically to be the foundation for jurisprudence.
After her marriage with Ishaq, a son of Ja'far as-Sâdiq's, Nafisa moved to Cairo. The couple had a son and a daughter. Nafisa taught her knowledge in public lectures and classes and was soon well-known as a great scholar. Even ash-Shâfi'i to whom one of the Muslim schools of law is traced back was among her regular audience, profiting from her knowledge. They used to discuss various theological and legal issues, and we are told that they prayed together in Ramadan and shared part of their spiritual life.
The Islamic ideal of scholarship is not restricted to technical knowledge and intellectual exchange but includes everyday behaviour and spiritual practice. In this fied, Nafisa's example became famous not only where prayer, fasting and her numerous pilgrimages are concerned but especially because of her friendly, open and generous manner. She was respected and loved far beyond the circles of scholars and students. When she died at the age of 63 years, a huge crowd assembled from everywhere and persuaded her husband not to have her buried back home in Medina but right there among them in Cairo where her tomb is still visited today. Her biography is entwined with many legends telling us about her knowledge, devotion and even miracles.
No account on Islamic mysticism can be imagined without mentioning Râbi'a al-Adawîya. Her name has become proverbial for the exclusive love of God. Her biography is so entwined with legends that it is difficult to reconstruct the historical facts. But even the legends have a value of their own for they witness the high regard that Râbi'a enjoyed among Muslims of all ages.
Râbi'a was born around 717 C.A. in Basra where she spent the greater part of her life. She came from a poor family and lost her parents at an early age. Captured in a holdup, she was sold as a slave. Her master who had ambitious plans with her was, in the course of time, so impressed with her conscientiousness and religious devotion that he set her free. She performed the pilgrimage to Mecca and then settled in Basra, leading an ascetic life, studying and teaching. However, her asceticism was based on her love for God rather than on the fear of the divine judgement as prevalent among the contemporary mystics.
Râbi'a had several students and companions. Legends often connect her with Hasan al-Basri; he is even said to have been her student. However, it is more likely that she was his student because there are reliable reports of her attending his lectures. Among her companions, there were numerous well-known scholars and mystics like Sufyan ath-Thawri who used to challenge her with complicated questions. Among her female students, Maryam from Basra und 'Abda bint Shuwal are the most famous. Some of her prayers and poems are still available today.
Râbi'a was one of the first to teach the pure love for God as well as the path that leads there through repentance, patience, gratefulness, fear and hope, renunciation and trust. The aim is to love God for His sake rather than for the sake of His gifts. However, this love must not lead to any kind of self-deification but remains a love between the Creator and the creatur even when the creature has become "annihilated" in God.
Râbi'a is sometimes criticised because she never married. In fact, Islam does not regard celibacy as desirable for men or women. However, she explained her attitude with her devotions and her love for God that took her up to such an extent that she was unable to give the necessary attention to a husband. Legends even ascribe a proposal to Hasan al-Basri to which she is said to have replied with four questions about her fate after death and said, "Since I am so occupied with these questions, how can I have a husband and be occupied with him?"
The famous mystic Ibn al-Arabi (1165-1240 C.A.) remebers, with deep respect and gratefulness, two of his teachers. One of them is Shams Umm al-Fuqarâ' who already had reached a very old age when he first met her. We do not know much about her life and background, but we are told that she had a highly developed spiritual insight and a profound knowledge of human nature. She is even said to have been able to read a persons mind and to contact a person by telepathy. Many people asked her for advice and blessings.
The other one wasNunah Fatima bint al-Muthanna. She was old, too, when Ibn al-Arabi met her, and lived in Sevilla. In younger years, she had earned her livelihood by spinning, but then her fingers failed her. For twenty-four years she had been married with a pious man who later on died of leprosy. In spite of her ascetic life - she lived on whatever others gave her or left to her - she looked much younger and more beautiful than her real age. She lived in a hut made of palm branches by her students. She never used her immense spitiual power for her own advantage but only to help others with it. People came to her with all kinds of problems. Thus, we are told of an example where a woman complained to her about her husband who had left her to get married with a younger woman. Fatima used her spiritual influence to bring him back, while he never came to know what had suddenly made him change his mind.
In spite of many limitations that have been imposed on women in the course of time, we find, even in later centuries, accounts about woman mystics. Among them, there is Jahan-Ara, the daughter of the Moghul emperor Shah Jahan and his wife Mumtaz Mahall for whom the famous Taj Mahal was built. Jahan-Ara was a student of the famous mystic Mullah Shah who appreciated her qualities, and she wrote a number of mystical texts that are still available today. From the 17th century, we know a Turkish mystic called Sidqi. Only very few personal data have been transmitted from her, but some of her poems have been preserved and have even been translated into other languages.
In the Muslim world, Mosques were not only places of prayer but important centres of intellectual and spiritual life. The big mosques in Mecca, Medina, Jerusalem, Damascus, Baghdad and many other cities developed, already during the first centuries of Islam, into academies and universities with lively activities of teaching and research, the influence of which reached even distant places, last but nor least Europe. From contemporary accounts, we get a rather clear idea of the everyday life in these universities. Among other things, we learn about women who studied there. Compared with modern expectations, their percentage was certainly not very high, but on the other hand, it was not so low that a woman student would have been considered a sensation or even a scandal, and nobody would ever have thought about questioning the capability of these women. Like her male fellow students, the women students mostly but not exclusively came from educated families. They were often motivated and supported by their parents or siblings, and we have many accounts where a scholarly parent, grandmother or aunt laid the foundation for a young woman's education and introduced her into the circles of scholars. It was also quite common for married couples to share their intellectual interests. While a strict segregation of the sexes gradually prevailed in other spheres of social life, exchange and cooperation still existed in the sphere of scholarship. When it was not possible for women tro travel in search of knowledge like their male collegues, they often overcame this obstacle by accompanying male family members on their journeys, by motivating them to come along, or to meet scholars from all over the world during the pilgrimage to Mecca.
Part of the regular studies in theology was, of course, a profound knowledge of Qur'an, Hadith, Tafsîr (Exegesis), Fiqh (Jurisprudence) Kalâm (systematic theology) as well as Arabic language and philosophy. In the traditional system, there were no fees for the students so that the possibilities were open to everyone.
But there were women not only among the students but also among the teachers. They were highly respected. One of them, for example, was Shuhda, nicknamed Fakhr an-Nisâ' (Glory of Women). Another nickname, al-Kâtiba (the Writer), was given her because of her brillian matery of Arabic calligraphy, an art that was carefully cultivated and only taught by real experts. Shuhda taught a large number of students Baghdad university in various branches of theology, especially in the sciences of Hadith where she was an important link between the former and later generations of scholars. She was one of the most significant scholars of her time until she died in 1178 C.A. at a very old age.
A younger contemporary was Zeinab bint Abil-Qasim Abdurrahman ash-Shari who lived and taught in Nishapur. She was, among others, a student of Abul-Ghafur al-Fârisi the hafiz as well as the famous commentator of the Qur'an Zamakhshari. But among her students, too, there were some who were to become famous later on, like Ibn Khallikan, who wrote her biography..
Throughout history, there have been many women who made a name for themselves in the sciences of hadith. Essentially, this branch consisted in much more than tranmitting texts and the names of their authorities: teachers and students were required to understand them fully, to see them in their context, and to use them as a foundation for legal and theological conclusions. Karîma al-Marwazîya (d. 1070 C.A.), for example, was known as the best contemporary expert for the hadith collection ba al-Bukhari, so many teachers sent their students to her and came to listen to her lectures themselves. Zeinab from Haran (d. 1289 C.A.) reached a similar fame with Ahmad bin Hanbal's Musnad, and she had numerous students of both sexes. Zeinab bint Ahmad (d. 1322 n.C.) who were fortunate enough to be able to travel in order to complete her studies, taught in Egypt and Medina, and the students came from far away to attend her lectures. Another Zeinab (d. 1339 C.A.) is said to have aquired "a camel load of certificates" for her knowledge. She and some other women teachers at the universities of Damascus, Jerusalem and Baghdad were mentioned by the famous world traveller and author Ibn Battuta who studied with them. These are only a few examples. There were well-known women hadith researchers as late as the 19th century. When, in the course of time, it became less usual for women to teach in public, theological women's colleges were founded that still exist in a number of Muslim countries
However, women's possibilities were neitner restricted to subjects like Qur'an, tafsir, calligraphy, languages, hadith, philosophy and history nor to teaching at academies, universities and colleges. Some women became known as preachers, the audience, however, consisting mostly of women. In some places, especially in Andalusia, women scholars opened salons for the cultivation of sciences and literature. We also know a large number of women poets and their works.
In early centuries, quite a number of women were experts for Islamic law, starting from Aisha, the Mother of the Faithful. Even where women were denied the practice of law as judges (while significant scholars like e.g. Abu Hanifa demanded "women judges in every city so that women are guaranteed their rights"), it was quite usual that women muftis (legal experts) were asked for fatwas (legal expert's opinion).
We are told of one well-known scholar who used to ask his wife in cases of doubt about legal issues. As yet, the question is unsettled since when and why women's activities in this field were not considered appropriate any more.