Muslim Women as Religious Scholars: A Historical Survey

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Muslim Women as Religious Scholars: A Historical Survey

By Zainab Alwani, Ph.D. 

Abstract: This paper is concerned with the role and general impact of women’s scholarship in
the arena of religious sciences. I provide a concise overview of the foundational sources of
Islamic knowledge followed by an overview of women’s engagement therein. I then examine
ޏƖގisha’s commentaries which seek to correct particular narrations by the Prophet’s companions,
and I argue that ޏƖގisha’s methodological contribution is a potential model for how to engage
তadīth holistically in the light of the QurގƗnic message and objectives. I conclude by stressing
that women’s concerted participation within the realm of religious scholarship is essential for
enhancing religious scholarship in general and for advancing the role and status of women in
spheres where Islamic knowledge is applied.
Introduction
Since the inception of the Islamic community in the earliest decades of the seventh century,
women have been taking a prominent role in the cultivation and preservation and cultivation of
the main sources of Islamic knowledge, i.e. the QurގƗn, and sunna. This legacy of women’s
scholarly activism was later suppressed and weakened, but never entirely extinguished. Through
an analysis of women’s contributions to the realm of religious sciences, this paper argues for the
need for increased women’s engagement with the foundational sources of Islamic scholarship. I
argue that just as women’s voices and intimate engagement with the religious sciences were
vibrant and influential in the nascent Muslim community, women scholars of the present should
follow the footsteps of their foremothers. Women’s concerted participation within the realm of
religious scholarship is essential for enhancing religious scholarship in general and for advancing
the role and status of women in spheres where Islamic knowledge is applied.
My essay begins a concise overview of the foundational sources of Islamic knowledge,
followed by an overview of women’s engagement therein. Here, I call attention to the early vigor

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