I52 Women and the Transmission of Religious Knowledge in Islam introduction, Talal Asad’s conceptualization of orthodoxy as relationships of power is useful for understanding how traditionalism fostered women’s badith participation. To reiterate here, Asad asserts that with respect to Islam, “wherever Muslims have the power to regulate, uphold, require, or adjust correct practices, and to condemn, exclude, undermine, or replace incorrect ones, there is the domain of orthodoxy.”1 The principal arena of exchange among traditionalists, that of badith transmission, drew together scholars irrespective of their theological, madbbab, and even sectarian affiliations, men and women, young and old, and rulers and ruled in the common pursuit of piety and hope of eternal reward. By way of contrast, Mu’tazilism, a rationalist theology, was premised on dialectic and intense intellectual rivalry amongst a highly educated elite and was associated with a more exclusivist culture. 1 8 The profiles of the muhaddithas selected here affirm that certain practices of intellectual exchange and modes of manifesting inclusion in traditionalist culture were particularly amenable to the participation of women. Indeed, two primary signifiers of status, namely the isnad 'all (a short chain of transmission) and ijazas (in this case, certifications for badith transmission), were gender-blind. These mechanisms (isnad ‘ali and ijazas ) supported the impulse to propagate traditionalist literature and also helped create “textual communities” that were independent of institutional affiliations and thereby vital to women’s successes. This female participation in the central task of preserving the memories of the Prophet and earlier generations without regard to their gender, madbbab affiliation, or age (as I explain later, women’s natural longevity was perceived as an advantage) ultimately strengthened the traditionalists’ cause. Women’s centrality to the domestic sphere meant that their mobilization in the service of this orthodoxy enabled it to permeate both the public and private domains of its adherents. The career of Shuhda al-Katiba, beginning in her youth, is a template for the ideal traditionalist woman. Her father, Abu Nasr Ahmad b. al-Faraj al-Ibri (d. 506/1 1 12), was an essential agent in her success. He himself had migrated from Dlnawar to Baghdad and established his reputation there as a Shafi‘1 muhaddith affiliated with the ruling elite. Al-SanTan! counts 17 Talal Asad, “Anthropology of Islam,” 15. 18 See Ahmed El Shamsy, “Social Construction of Orthodoxy,” 105-6, for a similar description of the cultures of the traditionalists and the theologians (especially the Mu‘tazills). See also Mottahedeh, Loyalty and Leadership, 20, for his characterization of the inclusiveness of the “consensus-minded Muslims” (those to whom I refer as “traditionalists”). For his biography, see al-Sam'am, Ansdb, 1:73-74; Ibn al-jawzl, al-Muntazam, 17:129; and Ibn al-Athlr, al-Kdmil, 10:494. While the nisba “al-Ibri” generally denotes the