Female Transmitters in the Six Canonical Books
Kalsoom Rashid
Women have been an integral part of the hadith tradition from its inception. During the era of the Prophet ﷺ, he specifically allocated time for instructing the female companions1, highlighting their role in disseminating his teachings. The words and teachings of the Prophet ﷺ were always revered, but it was not long after his demise that the purity of hadith transmission became compromised by the infiltration of fabrications, albeit often well-intended. Consequently, to preserve the teachings of the Prophet ﷺ, the science of al-jarḥ wa-al-taʿdīl (narrator criticism) developed. This rigorous approach aimed to ascertain the credibility of hadith transmitters by meticulously evaluating their ʿadālah (integrity) and ḍabṭ (precision in memory).
The origins of al-jarḥ wa-al-taʿdīl can be traced back to the companions, who scrutinized the reliability of individuals making claims about the Prophet ﷺ. This discipline burgeoned into a comprehensive science by the third hijri century. Yaḥyá b. Saʿīd al-Qaṭṭān (d. 198 A.H.) and ʿAbd al-Raḥmān b. Mahdī (d. 198 A.H.) are its early trailblazers who laid the groundwork for its formalization; their efforts were built upon by eminent scholars like Abū Ḥātim al-Rāzī (d. 277 A.H.).2 While each of these giants contributed to the field through their unique grading system, for this particular study, I will be using Ibn Ḥajar's work to analyze the biographical accounts and grading of female narrators. This study aims to highlight their contributions and reliability, and offer a comparative assessment with a sample of male narrators, thereby shedding light on their important but often overlooked role within the rich tapestry of the hadith tradition.
Ibn Ḥajar's Taqrīb
Ibn Ḥajar al-ʿAsqalānī (d. 852 A.H.) left an indelible mark on the field of hadith sciences. Following his authorship of Tahdhīb al-Tahdhīb, a synthesis of and supplement to Jamāl al-Dīn al-Mizzī's (d. 742 A.H.) Tadhīb al-Kamāl fī Asmāʾ al-Rijāl — renowned for being the most exhaustive work on biographical accounts of hadith transmitters across the six canonical books — he compiled one of his most distinguished works, Taqrīb al-Tahdhīb. This monumental work, which condensed al-Mizzī's opus to one-third of its original size, introduced two pivotal concepts: ṭabaqāt (generational strata) of the narrators and their marātib (grading). Each of these is divided into twelve distinct levels.
In delineating the ṭabaqāt, Ibn Ḥajar places the companions in one ṭabaqah, divides the successors into five ṭabaqāt, and the following two generations into three ṭabaqāt each. These classifications, especially among the successors, are based on many factors, such as the teachers of the successors —whether exclusively companions or otherwise— and whether the successors directly narrated from the companions or only had encounters with them.3
The participation of women in hadith transmission experienced a decline following the post-companion era, eventually fading away almost entirely from the 200s onwards.4 Hence, these divisions help map trends in women's participation over different chronological periods.
Since this paper will focus on the twelve marātib — six of which are levels of taʿdīl (approval) and the remaining six of jarḥ (criticism) — it is important to note that Ibn Ḥajar has a unique system of grading hadith transmitters. Beginning with the companions, he puts them in the highest tier of taʿdīl. Even though having ṣuḥbah (companionship) is not an expression of accreditation, Ibn Ḥajar uses it as such to honor the companions since their ʿadalah has been established by Allah ﷻ Himself. Consequently, the grading commences from the level of thiqah thiqah.
Additionally, Ibn Ḥajar broadens the category of jarḥ to encompass theological deviations, thereby grouping such narrators alongside those with faulty memory. For the sixth category, maqbūl and layyin al-ḥadīth, he introduces three distinct conditions. Similarly, his terminology and criteria for the eighth, ḍaʿīf, and tenth, matrūk, levels are also exclusive to his Taqrīb and cannot be found elsewhere.5
Figure 1 lists the twelve marātib.
Grading of Female Transmitters
Taqrīb al-Tahdhīb, serving as a concise rendition of al-Mizzī's Tadhīb al-Kamāl, focuses on the narrators found in the six canonical books (al-kutub al-sittah), occasionally bringing others to distinguish between individuals sharing the same names. In its entirety, the Taqrīb includes approximately 300 entries on female transmitters. While this number might appear relatively small compared to the extensive 8,000 male entries, it still provides valuable information.
After examining these 300 entries, I narrowed the female transmitters down to those exclusively mentioned in the six canonical books, resulting in 265 transmitters. Each of these is placed under one of the following five categories outlined by Ibn Ḥajar: ṣaḥābah, thiqah, maqbūl, majhūl al-ḥāl, and majhūl al-ʿayn. It is noteworthy that 45% (119) of these female transmitters are companions, while 8% (20) are recognized as reliable (thiqah), and 22% (59) are deemed acceptable (maqbūl). Those females subject to criticism are assessed as such due to the ambiguity (jahālah) surrounding them, which is manifested in two forms: ʿayn and ḥāl. Given the historical context of women predominantly transmitting and acquiring knowledge within their families, it is not surprising that limited information is available to evaluate their reliability.
Table 1 illustrates the numbers and percentages of female transmitters that appear in the six canonical books. Out of the twelve marātib outlined by Ibn Ḥajar, female narrators are found only in the five mentioned above.
Biographical Accounts
Among the female companions of the Prophet ﷺ, ʿĀʾishahؓ (d. 58 A.H.) stands out as the most prolific. Along with being a legal authority, she holds a distinguished position among the seven mukthirūn, the companions who transmitted more than 1,000 hadiths – precisely 2,210 in her case. Imam al-Dhahabī acknowledges her unparalleled knowledge, stating that no other woman surpasses her in wisdom.6 Imam al-Zuhrī states that, "If the knowledge of ʿĀʾishah ؓ was gathered against the knowledge of the rest of the wives of the Prophet ﷺ and that of all other women, her knowledge would be unmatched."7 Her narrations cover various topics, including fiqh, tafsīr, and ʿaqīdah. ʿĀʾishah ؓ was a multi-talented expert, excelling in fields such as Quranic exegesis, poetry, history, genealogy, and medicine. She ranks second after Abū Hurayrah ؓ in the number of narrations recorded in the six canonical hadith collections, with a total of 1,081 narrations.8 She was a renowned teacher to whom people of all ages would travel to seek knowledge from. Amongst her noteworthy female students are ʿĀʾishah b. Ṭalḥa (d. 101 A.H.) and ʿAmrah b. ʿAbd al-Raḥmān (d. 98 A.H.). Both are graded as thiqah9 and had special access to ʿĀʾishah ؓ in whose custody they were raised.10 Ibn Ḥibbān and Ibn Ḥajar consider ʿAmrah b. ʿAbd al-Raḥmān as the most knowledgeable regarding ʿĀʾishah's hadiths.11
ʿAmrah was a tābiʿīyah who contributed to the core of Islamic knowledge, similar to her male contemporaries.12 Imam al-Dhahabī describes her as "a scholar, a jurist, authoritative, and very knowledgeable."13 ʿAmrah's transmissions attracted the attention of the Caliph ʿUmar b. ʿAbd al-ʿAzīz; he is reported to have said, "There is no one left who is more knowledgeable of the Prophetic transmissions from ʿĀʾishah than ʿAmrah."14 Ibn Saʿd includes ʿAmrah among the top eight jurists of her generation, along with the two nephews of ʿĀʾishah, al-Qāsim b. Muḥammad and ʿUrwah b. al-Zubayr.15 ʿAmrah transmits 161 narrations in the six most esteemed hadith collections on the authority of ʿĀʾishah ؓ. She served as a resource within the Muslim community, especially when tending to women's private concerns. Her hadiths are considered ḥujjah (authoritative) by Ibn Maʿīn and cover subjects from legal punishments to Hajj and medicine.16
Zaynab b. Kaʿb is the wife of the companion Abū Saʿīd al-Khudriؓ, whom she predominantly narrates from. The question of her status as a companion of the Prophet ﷺ remains a subject of debate. While the majority identify her as a tābiʿīyah, Ibn al-Athīr asserts her rank as a companion.17 Ibn al-Madinī, however, considers her "majhūlah" (unknown), stating that her narrations are exclusively transmitted through Saʿd b. Isḥāq. Nevertheless, Ibn Ḥajar grades her as "maqbūlah" (acceptable), mentioning at least three individuals who transmit from her. In addition, Imam al-Tirmidhī has graded her hadith as ṣaḥīḥ.18
Comparing the female narrators with a sample of the male narrators
For this study, I compared 265 female narrators in Taqrīb al-Tahdhīb with a sample of 2,000 male narrators. In terms of the overall percentage, 74% of the females are characterized with the verbiage of taʿdīl compared to 84% of their male counterparts. Even though the percentage of female narrators subjected to jarḥ is significantly higher than that of the male narrators, this disparity primarily arises from the lack of information about them rather than from any apparent deficiencies in their reliability.
Table 2 shows a comparison between a sample of the male transmitters and all of the females in terms of the overall categories of jarḥ and taʿdīl.
When comparing the number of weak (ḍaʿīf) and abandoned (matrūk) narrators among males and females, there are 120 weak and 37 abandoned amongst the males, and none among the females. From the female narrators mentioned in al-kutub al-sittah, there is only one who has some weakness in her chain, Umm Saʿd.19 Very little is known about her, leading to discrepancies among biographical sources regarding her relationship with the companion Zayd b. Thābitؓ, debating whether she was his wife or daughter.20 Despite this ambiguity, Imam al-Dhahabī recognizes her as a companion.21 In addition to narrating from Zayd b. Thābitؓ, Umm Saʿd also narrates from the Prophet ﷺ and ʿĀʾishah ؓ. The weakness in her chain stems from her narrators, ʿAnbasah and Muḥammad b. Zādhān, both categorized as ḍaʿīf (weak) and matrūk (abandoned).22 Consequently, the narration of Umm Saʿd in Sunan al-Tirmidhī is considered weak due to these narrators, though she has been graded as majhūl rather than daʿīf. Even though the obscurity of a hadith narrator poses a challenge to hadith critics in determining their ʿadālah, scholars opt for suspending judgment rather than declaring them weak due to the lack of sufficient information to make that judgment.
Table 3 shows a comparison between the male and female narrators in the six levels of jarḥ. The percentage of female transmitters in the majhūl categories is significantly higher than that of males; however, there are no female transmitters in the remaining four categories, contrary to the males.
Conclusion
Women have made great contributions in the preservation of hadith, especially those who developed under the direct tutelage of ʿĀʾishah ؓ. Although the female narrators cannot match the quantity of the male narrators, none of the female narrators mentioned in al-kutub al-sittah have been graded as ḍaʿīf, let alone abandoned or accused of fabrication. Even beyond the six books, Imam al-Dhahabī states, "I do not know of any transmitters amongst the females who have been accused of lying or been abandoned."23 However, due to the obscurity surrounding many women narrators, it is plausible that while some are reliable, others may exhibit weakness in their narrations; the lack of information makes it impossible to discern. Nevertheless, the jarḥ against women is generally less severe compared to their male counterparts, as their weakness is not established.
Endnotes
1. Al-Bukhārī, Al-Jāmiʿ Ṣaḥiḥ, 9:101; Muslim, Al-Musnad al-Ṣaḥīḥ, 45:47:151, #2633.
2. Muntasir Zaman. "The Science of Al-Jarh Wa al-Ta'dīl: Separating Wheat from Chaff." Hadith Notes, 4 Sept. 2016, hadithnotes.org/the-science-of-al-jarh-wa-al-tadil-separating-wheat-from-chaff/.
3. Asma Sayeed, Women and the Transmission of Religious Knowledge in Islam (Cambridge University Press, 2013), 80.
4. Ibid., 82-83.
5. Muḥammad ʿAwwāmah, Introduction to Taqrīb al-Tahdhīb, 23-31.
6. Al-Dhahabī, Siyar Aʿlām al-Nubalāʾ, 2.
7. Al-Mizzī, Tahdhīb al-Kamāl, 35:235.
8. Akram Nadwi, Al-Wafāʾ bi-Asmāʾ al-Nisāʾ, 2:351.
9. Al-Mizzī, Tahdhīb al-Kamāl 35: 238, 242.
10. Al-Mizzī, Tahdhib al-Kamal 35: 238, 241.
11. Akram Nadwi, al-Wafāʾ bi-Asmāʾ al-Nisāʼ, 12:.
12. Mona Hassan, "Relations, Narrations, and Judgments: The Scholarly Networks and Contributions of an Early Female Muslim Jurist", no. 22 (2015): 325.
13. Al-Dhahabī, Siyar, 4:507.
14. Al-Mizzī, Tahdhīb al-Kamāl, 35: 365.
15. Ibn Saʿd, Al-Ṭabaqāt, 2:292, 295.
16. Mona F. Hassan, “Relations, Narrations, and Judgments: The Scholarly Networks and Contributions of an Early Female Muslim Jurist.” Islamic Law and Society 22, no. 4 (2015): 342.
17. Ibn Ḥajar, Tahdhīb al-Tahdhīb, 12:422.
18. Akram Nadwi, Al-Wafāʾ bi-Asmāʾ al-Nisāʼ, 11:.
19. Ibn Ḥajar, Taqrīb al-Tahdhīb, 1381.
20. Al-Mizzī, Tahdhīb al-Kamāl, 35: 362.
21. Al-Dhahabī, Tahdhīb al-Tahdhīb, 11:204.
22. Al-Dāraquṭnī, Al-Duʿafāʾ wal-Matrūkūn, 469.
23. Al-Dhahabī, Mīzān al-Iʿtidāl, 4:604.
