130 Women and the Transmission of Religious Knowledge in Islam influenced her own scholarly outlook on matters such as Qur’anic interpretation and the correct practice of Sufism. Biographers consistently list Fatima’s teachers, but there is little mention of what she actually heard and transmitted from these scholars. While this holds true for many biographical notices of both men and women, we cannot attribute these omissions simply to expediency. The inattention to the specific texts that Fatima heard at sessions with al-Sulam! and other scholars suggests that the value of these contacts went beyond the texts read in the assemblies. Rather, the contacts signaled Fatima’s initiation into a Shafi'I-Sufl culture of religious learning and piety. It was this culture that she was expected to embody and transmit to subsequent generations. It is in this light that we can best understand her marriage to Zayn al-Islam al-Qushayri, which, al-Farisi points out, took place after her vita already comprised a number of virtues (ba'da an istajma ‘at amva‘ al-fada’il).'1 Al-Qushayri, fifteen years her senior, was one of her father’s leading students and the one who inherited the leadership of his Sufi circle. The marriage of al-Qushayri to Abu ‘All’s highly accomplished daughter confirmed his standing as the most favored student of Abu ‘All and as his heir apparent, who ultimately took over the leadership of his madrasa. 68 This relationship, binding a father, daughter, and son-in-law, emphasizes that in the ‘ulamd ’ culture of fourth/tenth- and fifth/eleventh-century Nishapur, the accomplishments of daughters could also transmit prestige and status within a kinship circle. A brief examination of al-Qushayri’s career enables us to appreciate further the significance of his marriage to Fatima. Al-Qushayri came upon his career as an ‘alim serendipitously. Unlike Fatima, it was only during his adult life that he assimilated the culture of the scholarly elite of Nishapur. Raised by his parents in the tradition of the landed aristocracy, al-Qushayri learned horsemanship and the use of weaponry and was also 67 His full name is Abu al-Qasim ‘Abd al-Karim b. Hawazin b. 'Abd al-Malik b. Talha alQushayrL For his biography, see al-Sarlflnl, al-Muntakhab, 334-35; Taj al-Dln al-Subkl (d. 771/1370), Tabaqat al-Skafi'iyya al-Kubra (Cairo: Matba‘at ‘Isa al-Babl al-Halabl, 1967), 5:153-62; and al-Dhahabl, Siyar , 18:227-33. 68 I was unable to locate a definitive statement regarding the transfer of Abu ‘All’s madrasa to al-Qushayri. 69 Fatima did have a brother, Isma‘il, about whom we know very little. Al-Farisl’s notice points out that during Fatima’s early upbringing, Abu ‘All did not have a son (al-Sarifml, al-Muntakhab, 419). Bulliet notes that Isma‘Il and Fatima did not share the same mother, and that Isma‘Il’s mother may have been of a more humble background. See Bulliet, Patricians , 153.