The Classical Revival 141 Women contributed to the efforts of 'ulamd’ families in a number of ways. One of these was the endowment of their own institutions and charitable contributions, which helped make property inalienable and less vulnerable to division, taxation, and confiscation by ruling authorities. Women were also central to scholarly networks. Their participation as students and as teachers cemented ties of religious learning. And their marriages created stronger bonds of kinship and forged dynasties of ‘ulamd which raised the chances of survival of a scholarly clan across generations. Fatima’s family, which exercised pervasive influence for seven generations, is only one example of a dynasty wherein the efforts of women mitigated challenges confronted by ‘ulamd ’ families.102 Women were central to the survival of ‘ulamd ’ kinship networks in two other respects. As women, they were more sheltered from the political and factional violence that claimed the careers and lives of many male scholars. Women could thus help preserve the tradition of hadith transmission, which was critical to the culture of religious learning and piety that distinguished the ‘ulamd ’ class. Also, because of their natural longevity compared to men, they were more likely to perpetuate short chains of transmission - a point taken up further in Chapter 4. Intriguingly, the women of Nishapur who appear in the historical records are for the most part Shafi‘I, and there are no Hanafl women among the prominent mubaddithas .' Yet hadith learning and dissemination were integral to religious life in fourth- and fifth-century Nishapur for Hanafls and Shah ‘is alike. Indeed, al-FarisI includes biographical notices for both Hanafi and Shafi‘I male scholars. Valued by the rulers and the ‘ulamd hadith transmission was perhaps the only activity that unified an 102 Studies of ’ulamd ’ dynasties in different periods include Kamal Salibi, “Banu Jama'a: A Dynasty of Shafi‘I Jurists of the Mamluk Period,” Studia Islamica 9 (1958): 97-109; William Brinner, “The Banu Sasra: A Study on the Transmission of a Scholarly Tradition,” Arabica 7 (May 1960): 167-95; Muhammad b. ‘Azzuz, Buyutdt al-Haditb fi Dimashq (Damascus: Dar al-Fikr, 2004); and Muhammad Zayn al-‘Abidm Rustam, Buyutdt al-‘Ilm wa’l-Hadith fi’l-Andalus (Beirut: Dar Ibn Hazm li’l-Tiba‘a wa’l-Nashr wa’l-TawzT, 2009). 103 It is important to note that though women were not victims of political and sectarian violence as often as men were, they were nonetheless just as susceptible as men to other types of violence, such as that resulting from the Mongol invasions. The following Hanafl biographical works do not contain entries for women: ‘Abd alQadir b. Abl al-Wafa’ al-Qurashl, al-Jawahir al-Mudiyya fi al-Tabaqat al-Hanafiyya (Hyderabad: Matba‘at Majlis Da’irat al-Ma‘arif al-‘Uthmaniyya, 1989); and al-Taql alTamlml, al-Tabaqat al-Saniyya fi Tarajim al-Hanafiyya (Riyad: Dar al-Rifa‘I, 1983).