IOO Women and the Transmission of Religious Knowledge in Islam Al-Bukhari, Sahih Abu Dawud, Sunan Link #1 29 64 Link #2 13 89 Link #3 2112 12 Link #4 0 1 fi gure 4 : Comparison of Female Narrators in al-Bukhari’s Sahih and Abu Dawud’s Sunan who are not as well known. Yet in the Successor generation and beyond, al-Bukhari limits himself to the traditions of women known to have superior reputations as transmitters. These include Mu'adha al-‘Adawiyya, ‘Amra bint ‘Abd al-Rahman, and Hafsa hint Sirin. His selection criteria result in a decline of female representation of almost 50 percent between link one and link two (mainly corresponding to the Companion and Successor generations, respectively). As for link three, the only two women are Zaynab bint Abl Salama, who also narrates as links one and two in al-Bukhari’s Sahib , and Mu'adha al-'Adawiyya, who also narrates as a link two. Thus, there are no women beyond the early Successor generation who are chosen as transmitters by al-Bukhari. In contrast to al-Bukhari’s choices of female Successors with established renown, Abu Dawud’s female narrators range from the trustworthy (thiqat) to the entirely unknown ( majhulat ). Further, many of Abu Dawud’s female transmitters are not prolific, being credited with only one or two traditions. Abu Dawud’s lower level of diligence in selecting narrators probably extended to male transmitters as well, yet it is relevant to this study because his standards result in greater female representation than those of al-Bukhari. The fact that al-Bukhari included any women at all reveals that he was not opposed to women’s transmission as such. Rather, he was probably opposed to the transmission of those who were not deemed highly qualified. Similarly, Abu Dawud’s greater inclusion of female narrators probably does not signal a more gender egalitarian perspective on his part, but rather less demanding criteria for judging narrators. In other words, Abu Dawud has not unearthed prolific and accomplished female transmitters whom al-Bukhari overlooked. 112 Both of these women, namely Zaynab bint Abl Salama and Mu‘adha bint ‘Abd Allah, also narrate in the first or second link position.