Female Transmission of Ḥadīth in the Mamluk Period: An Annotated Edition and Study of Ibn ...

276 Pages·2014·3.67 MB·English

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The handle http://hdl.handle.net/1887/25398 holds various files of this Leiden University
dissertation.

Author: Khalifa, Mohsen Abdelaty Haredy
Title: Female Transmission of Hadith in the Mamluk Period : an annotated edition and
study of Ibn Hajar's Mu`jam Ash-Shaykhah Maryam
Issue Date: 2014-04-29
Female Transmission of Ḥadīth in the Mamluk Period

Female Transmission of Ḥadīth in the Mamluk Period:
An Annotated Edition and Study of Ibn Ḥajar's
ʿ
Mu jam Ash-Shaykhah Maryam

Proefschrift
ter verkrijging van de graad van Doctor aan de Universiteit Leiden
op gezag van de Rector Magnificus Prof. Mr. C.J.J.M. Stolker ,
hoogleraar in de Faculteit der Rechtsgeleerdheid volgens het besluit van
het College voor de Promoties te verdedigen op dinsdag 29 april 2014 te
klokke 11.15 uur

door
Mohsen Abdelaty Haredy Khalifa

Geboren te Bani Ebeid, Minia, Egypte
in 1974
Promotiecommissie:

Prof. Dr. H. L. Beck (Universiteit van Tilburg)
Prof. Dr. M. Ghaly (University of Hamad bin Khalifa, Doha, Qatar)
Dr. N. J. G. Kaptein (Universiteit Leiden)
Prof. Dr. P. S. van Koningsveld (Universiteit Leiden, promotor)
...ﻰﻝإ
نﻴﻴﻝﺎﻐﻝا يدﻝاو
ّ
راﻴﻐﺼ ﻲﻨﺎﻴﺒر ﺎﻤﻜ ﺎﻤﻬﻤﺤرا بر
راﻴﺒﻜ ﺎﻤﻬﻴﻝإ نﺎﺴﺤﻹاو ﺎﻤﻫرﺒ ﻰﻠﻋ ﻲﻨﻋأو
ﺔﺒﻴﺒﺤﻝا ﻲﺘﺠوز
لﻴﺼﻷا تﺒﻨﻤﻝاو لﻴﻤﺠﻝا قﻠﺨﻝا تاذ
ﻲﺘﺎﻨﺒ مأو ﻲﺘﺎﻴﺤ ﺔﻜﻴرﺸ
ﺎﻨﺒوﻠﻗ قﺤﻝا ﻰﻠﻋ فﻝأ مﻬﻠﻝا
ﺎﻨﻌﻤﺠ رﻴﺨﻝا ﻰﻠﻋ ﺎﻨﻝ ظﻔﺤاو
ةرﺎﺴو رﺠﺎﻫو مﻴرﻤ ﻲﺘﺎﻨﺒ
ﻲﻨﻴﻋ ةرﻗو يدﺎﺒﻜأ تاذﻠﻓ
ﺔﻤﻴرﻜ ﻲﺘﺨأو دﻤﺤﻤ ﻲﺨأ
ﻲﺌﺎﻗدﺼأو ﻲﺘﺠوز لﻫأو ﻲﻠﻫأ
.نﺎﻓرﻌﻝاو بﺤﻝا لﻜ ﻊﻤ ﺔﻌﻀاوﺘﻤﻝا ﺔﻝﺎﺴرﻝا ﻩذﻫ يدﻫأ
Table of Contents
Acknowledgments ................................................................................................................... iii
Introduction .............................................................................................................................. 1
Chapter One .............................................................................................................................. 9
The Manuscript, Its Printed Editions, and Its Copyist ............................................................... 9
1.1. The Manuscript ............................................................................................................. 9
1.2. Printed Editions .......................................................................................................... 12
1.3. Biography of the Copyist ............................................................................................ 16
Chapter Two............................................................................................................................ 21
Authorship, Composition, and Contents ................................................................................. 21
2.1. Authorship .................................................................................................................. 21
2.2. Composition ............................................................................................................... 22
2.3. Ibn Ḥajar's Sources ..................................................................................................... 23
2.4. Structure and Contents ................................................................................................ 24
Chapter Three ......................................................................................................................... 39
The Place of the Muʿjam Among Ibn Ḥajar's Writings and Some Similar Contemporary Works
............................................................................................................................................. 39
3.1. Ibn Ḥajar al-ʿAsqalānī: A Biographical Sketch ............................................................ 39
3.2. Ibn Ḥajar as an Author ................................................................................................ 39
3.3. Ibn Ḥajar’s Care for Women’s Biographies ................................................................. 42
3.4. A Comparison Between Ibn Ḥajar's Muʿjam Ash-Shaykhah Maryam and ad-Durar al-
Kāminah ............................................................................................................................ 43
3.5. The Muʿjam Ash-Shaykhah Maryam and Similar ContemporaryWorks ....................... 48
Chapter Four ........................................................................................................................... 50
The World of the Muʿjam .................................................................................................. 50
4.1. An Overview of the Development of Mashyakhah, Muʿjam, Fahrasah, and Barnāmij . 51
4.2. General Definitions ..................................................................................................... 53
4.3. Different Structures of Muʿjams and Mashyakhahs ..................................................... 54
Chapter Five ............................................................................................................................ 59
Women and Ḥadīth During the Mamluk Period ..................................................................... 59
5.1 Introduction: Women's Authority as Ḥadīth Transmitters ............................................. 59
i
5.2 Women’s Education in the Mamluk Period: An Overview ............................................ 61
5.3 Women and the Transmission of Ḥadīth in the Mamluk Period .................................... 66
5.4. Methods of Transmission ............................................................................................ 68
5.5 Conclusion................................................................................................................... 70
Chapter Six .............................................................................................................................. 71
The Life and Career of Ash-Shaykhah Maryam ..................................................................... 71
6.1. A Biographical Sketch ................................................................................................ 71
6.2. The Collections Transmitted by Ash-Shaykhah Maryam ............................................. 73
6.3. Transmission of Certain Ḥadīth Collections to Ash-Shaykhah Maryam ....................... 76
6.4. The Beginning of Ash-Shaykhah Maryam’s Education ............................................... 78
6.5. Ash-Shaykhah Maryam’s Students .............................................................................. 81
6.6. Elevation (ʿuluww) ...................................................................................................... 83
6.7. Methods of Receiving Ḥadīth ...................................................................................... 85
6.8. Ibn Ḥajar and Reading Certain Ḥadīths in the presence of Ash-Shaykhah Maryam ...... 89
6.9. Ash-Shaykhah Maryam's Death .................................................................................. 89
Edited Text .............................................................................................................................. 90
Appendices in Arabic ............................................................................................................ 229
References of Edition in Arabic ............................................................................................ 254
Bibliography in English ........................................................................................................ 260
Summary and Conclusions ................................................................................................... 265
Curriculum Vitae .................................................................................................................. 268

ii
Acknowledgments

I wish to express my gratitude to my close friend Dr. Umar Ryad for providing me with
relevant materials from the Library of Leiden University as well as for his encouragement
in general.

My special thanks also go to Mr. Mahmoud Hasan from the library of the American
University in Cairo for providing me with relevant materials.

I am very grateful to A. Sayeed for her stimulating advice. I am also grateful to Ruth
Roded for her support.

I would like to extent my thanks to Marwa Elnaggar for editing the thesis.

I am indebted as well to Mr. Attiyah Sulayman who hosted me at his place in Leiden
during my travels to the Netherlands.

I would like also to thank my parents, my brother and sister, my parents-in-law, and other
family members whose love, support and encouragement made this work possible.

Finally, I am especially grateful to my wife, Basma Sayyid, for being beside me
throughout the difficult period while I was working on this dissertation, as well as for
providing the atmosphere to do research and study. Her patience with me while I was
spending so much time doing research and traveling was exemplary. The same goes for
my beloved daughters, Maryam, Hagar and Sarah, whose love and humor eased the
tension of study.
iii
Introduction

Of the four main sources of Islamic Sharīʿah, Ḥadīth occupies a place second only
to the Qurʾān. It is, therefore, not surprising to note that the Ḥadīth debate is not new.
Towards the end of the twentieth century the study of Ḥadīth made considerable progress
and received increased attention in both Muslim and Western worlds. This is due to the
discovery of new sources and to developments in the field of methodology.1 Prophetic
Traditions and their transmitters have been subject to scholarly investigation throughout
Islamic history. This also holds true for the role of women in Ḥadīth transmission.
Women's participation in Ḥadīth transmission is, in fact, one of the few areas of early and
Medieval Muslim women's history for which we have considerable source material.2
Information on female participation in Ḥadīth transmission can be found mainly in
biographical dictionaries, chronicles, legal compendia, Ḥadīth collections, as well as
certificates of reading sessions (samāʿāt) and diplomas (ijāzāt).
Studying at the hands of a certain teacher is one of the key features of Islamic
education. The educational sessions (Ḥalaqah), which the scholars of Ḥadīth used to
hold, started very early in Muslim history and with the emergence of Islamic Traditions
(Ḥadīth), several genres of Islamic literature developed. In order to accept a certain
Ḥadīth, the isnād (chain of transmission) had to be authentic and the content (matn) had
to be in conformity with the Qurʾān and other authentic Ḥadīths. In the early stages, both
isnād and the text were written down but disseminated orally. But with the expansion of
Islam and the enormous diversification of the different disciplines of learning, it was
impossible to maintain oral transmission as the only vehicle for passing on knowledge.3
At a later stage, historical and Tradition texts were written in all sorts of personal
notebooks of transmitters, and later, in more organized collections that were intended for
a larger audience. Though, in the end, books became accepted as the ordinary medium,
the individual and personal approach nevertheless remained intact. Biographical literature
emerged as one of the consequences of this individual and personal approach.4 ʿIlm ar-
Rijāl (the science of men) developed into a critical method for the assessment of
scholarly authority. Many biographical works were concerned with describing networks
of scholarship and chains of transmission.5 Other individual and personal genres
developed, like the fahrasah, the mashyakhah, the maʿājim, and so on. This highlights the
significance of studying with teachers and its role in preserving the Ḥadīths of the
Prophet.

1 Harald Motzki, "The Collection of the Qurʾān: A Reconsideration of Western Views in the Light of
Recent Methodological Developments," Der Islam 78 (2001): 16.
2 Asma Sayeed, Shifting Fortunes: Women and Ḥadīth Transmission in Islamic History (first to eighth
centuries), unpublished doctoral dissertation (Princeton University Press, 2005), 2.
3 Jan Just Witkam, "The Ijāza in Arabic Manuscripts," in Codicology of Islamic Manuscripts, ed. Yasin
Dutton (London: 1995), 124-125.
4 Ibid.
5 Ibid.
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