Women and Education in Islam: the Right to Knowledge and Prophetic Tradition

 

Knowledge in Islam

In Islam, education is a divine command for both men and women. The Qur'an as well as the ahadith leave no doubt that women, like men, are obligated to increase their knowledge and pursue it.

The Quran, the holy book of Islam, indicates that men and women are spiritually equal. The Qur'an states:

Those who do good, male or female, and have faith will enter Paradise and will never be wronged; not even as much as the grain on a date stone . (Sura AN-NISÂ’, 124).

Knowledge occupies a prominent place among the tenets of Islam. It is an obligation for every Muslim to learn and to know.

After all, Islam incites the pursuit of science and elevates the rank of scholars well above others:

…Allah will raise the standard of those who believe and who have received science… (Sura AL-MUJADILA, 11).

…Say: “Are those who know and those who do not know the same?” Only men endowed with intellect reflect (Sura AZ-ZUMAR, 9).

Read! In the name of your Lord who he created, He created man from a clot. Read, for your Lord is the Most Generous, He who taught by means of the quill, who taught man what he did not know. (Sura AL-‘ALAQ, 1-5).

These verses prove that Islam is based on knowledge.

It should be emphasized that the first verse of the Revelation, pronounced by the Angel Gabriel [Jibril] was:

Read… (Sura AL-‘ALAQ, 1).

Thus, the first commandment from Allah [ﷻ] to the prophet Muhammad [ﷺ] was to read.

After all, it is understandable why the Messenger of Allah [ﷺ] offered the prisoners, captured during the battle of Badr, to restore their freedom, if each of them, in exchange, would teach 10 Muslims to read and write. The prophetic vision clearly manifested itself through this greater concern to propagate science and knowledge, starting with the fight against illiteracy.

Islam preceded the whole world in urging education and knowledge, making it a religious obligation for Muslims.

Women’s Education in Islamic Tradition

Therefore, the education and instruction of women are of capital importance, since they give birth to, protect and educate the men and women who will build tomorrow's society; she is the first school in which the child receives the first teachings of life and acquires the first moral lessons.

It is no exaggeration to say that, through her, society can achieve progress and well-being or stagnation and misfortune.

The women of the early days of Islam became aware of the importance of education and its usefulness.

After all, the Prophet [ﷺ] encouraged them and allowed them to attend the meetings of the wise.

Also, Muslim women know the hadith of the Prophet [ﷺ]: “When Allah ﷻ wishes good for someone, he teaches them Religion” [Sahih Bukhari].

Of course, this hadith concerns both men and women.

It will not be surprising, then, to learn that Muslims learned the teachings of their Religion by rivaling in efforts towards good, to the point that 'Aisha [رضي الله عنها] said: “What wonderful women, those of the Ansar! Their modesty did not prevent them from learning the teachings of their religion" [Sahih Bukhari].Che meravigliose donne, quelle degli Ansar! Il loro pudore non impedì loro di apprendere gli insegnamenti della loro Religione” [Ṣaḥīḥ al-Bukhārī].

Women and the Prophet’s Teaching ﷺ

Women, at the time of the prophet [ﷺ], questioned him on questions relating to their religion, studied with him every question that directly concerned them and attended the meetings of the scholars.

A questo proposito, Abū Saʿīd al-Khudrī [رضي الله عنه] riportò: “Le donne chiesero al Profeta ﷺ: “Gli uomini ti hanno accaparrato a nostro svantaggio; riservaci un giorno!”. Egli ﷺ glielo promise, ed effettivamente, un giorno, le incontrò per rispondere alle loro domande…”.

The account, reported in Ṣaḥīḥ al-Bukhārī — one of the principal collections of prophetic tradition, also explored in the EuroIslam Hadith — shows that the Prophet ﷺ set aside a specific time for women’s instruction and for answering their questions.

We underline the benevolence of the noble Prophet [ﷺ] towards women, whom he [ﷺ] encouraged, in every circumstance, to learn, following all the access routes to Knowledge.

It is undeniable that Islam has clearly incited men and women to acquire knowledge. The women gathered, in large numbers, to listen to the prophet [ﷺ] and perform the prayer led by him in the mosque, to increase their knowledge.

ʿĀʾisha: an Authoritative Voice of Islamic Knowledge

The great merit of the Mother of Believers 'Aisha [رضي الله عنها] consisted in teaching the precepts of Religion; she learned the hadith and brought them back to posterity.

The wise collectors of ahadith wrote a lot about 'Aisha [رضي الله عنها] which, moreover, she had amply deserved it.

For example, ʿAṭāʾ ibn Rabāḥ [رضي الله عنه] said: “ʿĀʾisha [رضي الله عنها] was the most knowledgeable in religious matters, the most educated, and the one who expressed the soundest opinions among the people.”

al-Zuhrī said that if ʿĀʾisha’s knowledge were compared with that of the other Mothers of the Believers [رضي الله عنهن] and all other women, hers would still be preferred.

Hishām ibn ʿUrwa said that there was no one more knowledgeable than ʿĀʾisha [رضي الله عنها] in religious, medical, or poetic matters” [al-Iṣābah – Ibn Ḥajar al-ʿAsqalānī].

A Contemporary Issue: Education and Madrasas

The topic remains concretely relevant to the debate on the forms and quality of education in diverse Muslim contexts, as EuroIslam’s in-depth article on the madrasa system in South Asia.

Extract from Fatima Naseef, Rights and duties of women in Islam, 2005