74 Women and the Transmission of Religious Knowledge in Islam for her students, a total of eleven men, ascetics as well as those with expertise in exegesis and law, are named in her isnads and biographical sources. Hafsa’s renown is amplified over time in the historiographical tradition. Ibn Sa‘d, in the third/ninth century, does not dwell on her virtues as a narrator or as an ascetic for that matter. Rather, he simply informs us of her genealogy and provides a few anecdotal reports about her. But by the eighth/fourteenth century, following the revival of women’s participation in hadith transmission, she is commemorated as one of the most trusted Successors. For example, al-Mizzi cites a report that Iyas b. Mu‘awiya deemed Hafsa more trustworthy than al-Hasan al-Basri and her brother, Muhammad b. Sirin. Al-DhahabI bestowed on her the epithet al-faqiha (the jurist), and Ibn al-‘Imad (d. 1089/1679) continued this tradition in her obituary notice. As in the case of Umm al-Darda’, the use oifaqiha for Hafsa indicates that her scholarly reputation exceeded that of most of her female contemporaries. More recently, Rkia Cornell has concluded that Hafsa’s extensive influence suggests that she led her own school of female ascetics in Basra. The final transmitter presented here is the Meccan Safiyya bint Shayba. She is a rare, if not unique, female Successor who established herself as a reliable traditionist without the benefits of kinship to a female Companion or connection to an ascetic network.42 Credited with thirty-four reports on 38 For example, she is said to have transmitted to Iyas b. .Vln'awiya (d. 122/740), a qadi of Basra and a jurist, as well as Qatada b. Di'ama (d. 118/736), known as an exegete and jurist (for their biographies, see Ibn Hajar, Tahdhib, 1:354-55 and 8:306-8, respectively). 39 Ibn Sa‘d, al-Tabaqat, 8:355-56. 40 al-Dhahabl, Siyar, 4:507; and Ibn al-'Imad, Shadharat, 2:12. 41 Cornell, introduction to al-Sulaml, Early Sufi Women , 62. 42 Biographical notices for her are available in the following sources: Ibn Sa‘d, al-Tabaqat, 8:344; Ibn Hibban, Kitab al-Thiqat, 2:240-4 1 ; Abu Nu‘aym al-Isbahani, Ma'rifat al-Sahdba, 6:3378-79; Ibn ‘Abd al-Barr, al-Isti‘db, 4:1873; Ibn al-Athlr, Usd al-Ghdba, 5:492; al-Mizzi, Tahdhib, 35:211-12; al-Dhahabi, Siyar, 3:507-9; Ibn Hajar, al-Isdba, 12:18; and Kahhala, A 'lam al-Nisa ’, 2:338-39. Ibn Hibban counts her among the traditionists of Medina (Kitab alThiqat, 2:240-41 ). It is probably more accurate to assign to her a Meccan provenance, as does al-Dhahabl, Siyar, 3:508. Like Zaynab bint Abl Salama, Safiyya is listed among the Companions by some scholars and as a Successor by others. Her status is disputed since she would have been very young when Muhammad died. At best, she would have seen him (la-ha ru ’ya) but would not have reached the age of legal maturity before his death. Ibn Hajar records disagreement as to whether she actually saw Muhammad (see Ibn Hajar, al-Isdba, 12:18). Safiyya’s status as a young Companion is conveyed in one hadith which describes her direct encounter with Muhammad during his Farewell Pilgrimage. This hadith is at times classified as mu 'allaq or mursal. Such traditions are not considered as strong as the marfu ‘ traditions (those narrated with an uninterrupted chain from Muhammad onward). In view of this debate regarding her Companion status and due to her reliability as a transmitter, al-Dhahabl labels her tradition from Muhammad as “one of the strongest of the mursal traditions” (min aqiva al-marasil); see al-Dhahabi, Siyar, 3:508. 1 include her with the Successors due to her young