A Culmination in Traditionalism 181 Ibn al-Tmad’s Sbadbarat al-Dbabab, encompassing the first ten centuries of Islamic history, offers a view of this development affirming patterns noted in earlier chapters of this book and also attesting the drop-off in women’s participation beginning in the tenth/sixteenth century. Whereas there are notices for thirty-eight women, most of them badith transmitters, in each of the seventh/thirteenth and eighth/fourteenth centuries (seventy-six in total), only twenty-one women are commemorated as badith transmitters in the ninth/fifteenth century. In the tenth/sixteenth century, a mere seven are granted obituary notices. Of those seven, only two are noted primarily for their skills as badith transmitters. Of these two, Amat al-Khaliq bint al-Khayr (d. 902/1496f.) appears to have attained fame as the last transmitter of the Sahib of al-Bukhar! on the authority of the companions of al-Hajjar. ' ' ' Umm al-Hana’ bint Muhammad alMisriyya (d. 911/1505) is the other woman known primarily for her badith activity.1 However, Ibn al-Tmad provides few details of her accomplishments, suggesting that her renown was limited. The five women who are not primarily transmitters stand out because their entries either hint at or explicitly reveal a broader range of women’s educational engagement beginning in the tenth/sixteenth century. Ibn al-‘Imad praises Khadija bint Muhammad (d. 930/1524) as a pious shaykha learned in fiqh ( mutafaqqiba ). Her legal reasoning is evident in her choice of the HanafT madhbab for herself, even though her father and brothers were Shaft1! According to Ibn al-‘Imad, she favored the Hanafi interpretation on a matter related to her marriage and had memorized a legal work on these issues. Zaynab bint Muhammad (d. 980/1572) also extended her learning beyond badith transmission to poetry and calligraphy. Ibn al-'Imad accords high praise to her poetry (fi gbayat al-riqqa wa ’l-matana). Fatima bint Yusuf al-Tadafi (d. 925/1519f.) is the final example of a woman who attracts attention for achievements other than learning badith. Ibn al-'Imad notes that she performed the Hajj twice and decided to “give up the dress of women of the world.” She donned a robe (presumably one in keeping with her ascetic 131 132 133 134 135 In her obituary, Ibn al-‘Imad laments that after her death, the transmission of the Sahib al-Bukbari diminished by a degree since she was the last to transmit from the companions of al-Hajjar ( nazala abl al-ard darajatan fi riwayat al-Bukbari bi-mawtiha). See Ibn al-‘Imad, Sbadbarat al-Dbabab , 10:21. Amat al-Khaliq heard the Sabib on the authority of ‘A’isha bint Muhammad. As noted in ‘A’isha’s biography, she was the last to transmit the Sahib on al-Haj jar’s authority. Ibn al-‘Imad, Sbadbarat al-Dbabab, 10:73. Ibn al-‘Imad, Sbadbarat al-Dbabab, 10:239. Ibn al-‘Imad, Sbadbarat al-Dbabab, 10:574. Ibn al-‘Imad, Sbadbarat al-Dbabab, 10:190.