The Successors 9 1 The salient points regarding female baditb transmission among the generations of post-Companion women up to the early fourth/tenth century are as follows: the isnad data from the selected Sunni collections indicate that women’s transmission was recorded or incorporated primarily in the first two links of chains of transmission (ca. 11-95). To a greatly reduced extent, there are women who appear as the third and fourth links of these chains (ca. 95-180). There are no women who occur beyond the fourth link up to the time of the compilers of the selected collections (ca. 180-311). Thus, the isnad data strongly suggest that women’s contributions to baditb transmission diminished over the course of the first/seventh century and were negligible thereafter until the early fourth/tenth century. Additional historical sources corroborate isnad data and confirm a steep decline in the numbers of female baditb transmitters from the end of the first/seventh century onward. Whereas the isnad data cover the period up to the early fourth/tenth century, biographical works, such as Ta ’rikb Dimashq, extend our purview and suggest minimal female participation into the early fifth/ eleventh century. EXPLAINING THE DECLINE The rapid decline and disappearance of women’s baditb participation in early Islam is related to the following factors: 1. The evolution of baditb transmission into a specialized field with higher standards for and greater scrutiny of the qualifications of baditb transmitters. 2. The debate between the proponents of Prophetic traditions (ahl al-hadith) and their opponents over the use of baditb as a primary source of law and creed. 3. The proliferation of journeys to collect traditions (nh la fi talab al'ilm) as a mainstay of baditb transmission. Each of these developments has been examined in previous scholarship with a view toward understanding the sciences of baditb , Islamic theology, and the authenticity of baditb literature. Extending the analysis to social history, I posit a correlation between the specified trends and the decline of women's baditb participation. In doing so, I advance the central thesis of this book that evolving social uses of religious knowledge throughout Islamic history dramatically impacted women’s roles, alternately promoting or inhibiting their religious participation in the public arena.