Female Shakyhs

[Haqqani_]

Peaceful greetings,

Do female sheikhs exisit? are they allowed to teach both male and female murids?? just something i was reading about a tariqah in the USA where there head of the tariqah is a woman...confusion :confused: Someone please enlighten me on this topic, much appreciated, may Allah please you for your generosity and patience.

Masalaama

I send love and peace to you all :)

[godilali]

I read somewhere that Shaykh Nuh Keller said that one of the qualities of being a shaykh of tariqa is to be a male. I may be wrong though.

[Aaisha]

Allahu'allem!

[Muhammed Bahauddin]

As Salamun Alaikum

A spiritual guide is the inheritor of the Prophet. He has the same job like the prophet, with a different, that he is not getting Wahy. So says the prophet Muhammad: "A Shaykh between my Ummah is like a prophet between his Ummah."

So it is not imaginable that a woman can be a shaykh and in the islamic history it was never seen. That seems like the Imam show in NY.

A Woman is not able to be a spiritual guide. Did u ever read a book of a woman in Fiqh? Or in other categories of islam?

And Shaykh Nuh Ha Mim Keller is right, he has to be a MAN.

Attention: Today are much misguided ppl around and most times between the Ahlu Tasawwuf.

Salamu Alaikum

[Muawiyah]

I think there have been shaykhahs of tasawwuf in the past, but it's very rare. Ref. to Dr. Haddad's article "Sufism of Putative "Salafi" References"

[Haqqani_]

Salam

Was Rabiah adiwiyah a sheikh??? :D

[Muawiyah]

Here's the relevant part of Dr. Haddad's article


9. AL-SUYUTI-a Shadhili, Ahmadi, Qadiri, Suhrawardi, Uwaysi Sufi:
----------------------------------------------------------------

Al-Suyuti took many Sufi chains of transmission:
1. from Kamal ibn Imam al-Kamiliyya he received the Ahmadi, Qadiri, and Suhrawardi paths
2. from Muhammad al-Maghribi he received the Shadhili.
3. from Muhammad al-Halabi he received the Akbari-Uwaysi.
4. from Taqi al-Din al-Subki's daughter, from her father(*), from Ibn `Ata' Allah he received the Shadhili.

(*) Shaykh al-Islam al-Taqi al-Subki, he also took the Shadhiliyya from Abu al-`Abbas al-Mursi and gave it to Ibn al-Furat from whom Shaykh al-Islam Zakariyya took it. The latter also holds silsilas in seven other chains.

This shows that the daughter of `Allamah Taqi ud Deen as-Subki, rahimahumullah, was a qualified Shaykhah, authorized to transmit the Shazili chain of Tasawwuf.

[Mossy]

A Woman is not able to be a spiritual guide. Did u ever read a book of a woman in Fiqh? Or in other categories of islam?



Yep, I have.

You may wish to have a listen to this series:
http://www.nawawi.org/courses/class_women_islam.html

or pick up a copy of Ustadha Aisha Bewley's Muslim Women: A Biographical Dictionary, which contains nice long lists of some of the more prominent shaykha's, both in tassawuf and elsewhere across Islamic history. I've been considering picking up a copy of Women of Sufism: A Hidden Treasure - I don't suppose anyone has read it?

Current shaykhas should be judged on the same basis that shaykhs are judged - ie their sanad/silsilah and adherence to the shariah. The only female head I can think of in the US is that of the Nur Askhi Jerrahi order, but I do not believe that they have correct silsilah back 1400 years as the shaykhs of other orders do. Plus their support of female-led prayer amongst other things are troubling from the fiqh standpoint.

edit: http://www.muhajabah.com/docstorage/womenscholars.htm

Interesting article giving some references to prominent shaykhas of history in the field of hadith in particular.

[IlyasLahoz]

Salaam 'alaikum Sidi Mossy,

I was writing a long-winded, meandering and probably annoying post that would have said less than you just did in a few lines.
May Allah reward you...

[amina9183]

actually... we dont know if there were any female prophets because we havent been given any complete list of prophets. we only know the names of some. so there is no way we can pass judgements on a thing in which we have incomplete knowledge. like i was studying for thsi test for islamic speakers beurau and there was one quetsion in FAQs abt if there were any female prophets and they said(these answers were checked and approved by diff scholars, one of which is hamza yusuf) there is no proof going in either direction. it can be neither confirmed nor denied. they said some scholars hold the opinion that Asiya and Maryam may have been prophets (not messengers. prophets) but there is n way we can know for sure. allah knows best.

other than that...i guess you would have to do some hardcore research on the issue. when you find some supporting evidence from hadeeth or quran, please post it insha allah because im curious as well. Umm Waraqah(ra) was an imam for women. I wantto be an imam for women as well insha allah :) so please post any info u get.

[Muawiyah]

It's a near ijma' among the ahl us sunnah that there were no female prophets

[amina9183]

can u please explain what near ijma means? jazakallah khayr

[VeiledOne]

ijma-consensus :)

Sis Amina, when you say you wish to be the imam of women, do you refer to the aspect of salah or overall leadership?

[Hamood]

can u please explain what near ijma means? jazakallah khayr

Near Ijma would be 'Near consensus of opinion' ....

[amina9183]

ijma-consensus :)

Sis Amina, when you say you wish to be the imam of women, do you refer to the aspect of salah or overall leadership?


what i mean by that is my dreammmmmmm is to build a sisters only masjid. i would want to lead salah at my masjid insha allah :)

sometimes i think i owuld like it to be an entire community center...like, when i see all the other girls getting their pedicures; pulling their pants up in the middle of the nail place and dipping their feet in the little tub :( oh man. we cant do that haha. so then i thnk there should be a daycare/pre-schl and nail salon too. and then id want a little "shop" that had jelbabs/hijabs for women that cant afford them. a pay-what-u-can type of deal, and that would go back to keeping the shop stocked.

so yeah...thats what i mean. insha allah one day :) us sisters need a place too. and i want a pedicure ;)

[Iqbal Muhammad Raakin]

Salaam.
Isn't it makruh for women to pray in congregation in the Hanafi madhab? I'm not sure about other madhabs but there may be similar vedicts.
Salaam.

[mahin14]

there is support from hadeeth about women praying with women. One of the female companions used to lead other women in prayer in the courtyard of her home at the time of the Prophet-saw- I believe sister amina mentioned her name in another post.

[Muhammed Bahauddin]

As Salamun Alaikum

Wa Allahu Alem. My Shaykh Mahmud Efendi said, that a woman can not be a spirtual guide and I believe him 100%...

As Salamun Alaikum

[MurtazaHaroon]

females can't give tawajjuh. Allah has not given them this. That is why Prophets(AS) were only males. Tawajjuh, ilqa is central to tasawwuf.

waassalaamalaikum.

[faqir]

:salam:

On women scholars in general, Aisha Bewley once wrote the following in a discussion on the History of Islam list:




A'isha was accepted as a source of legal knowledge. There is a recorded instance of her contradicting Abu Hurayra on one issue and Ibn 'Abbas on another and her view is accepted for theirs. In another case, she asked her client to write out a Qur'an for her and corrected him when he reached a verse about the middle prayer. When people argued with her about the 'idda, she interpreted a verse of Qur'an. (Both instances showing her command of the Qur'an) Her command of Islamic law was such that the oldest Companions consulted her. She gave fatwas in the khalifates of Umar and Uthman and until her death. She also had knowledge of medicine and poetry.

The role of women in Islam in all areas of knowledge is quite extensive:

Umm Waraqa collected and recited the Qur'an and may have assisted 'Umar in assembling the text.

'Amra bint 'Abdu'r-Rahman was one of most prominent women of second generation. She was one of those who gave legal opinions in Madina after the Companions. Her opinion overrode the views of other authorities. She is the first authority for three legal issues dealing with the prohibition against digging up graves, the ban on selling unripe fruit, and the effect of crop damage on the sale of agricultural produce. In one case, she reversed the decision of her nephew to cut off the hand of a man who stole some iron rings. Her authority was accepted on matters such as business transactions and punishments (hudud). Imam Malik takes her as a legal precedent for details on the hajj.

Nafisa bint al-Hasan (d. 208/824) taught hadith to Imam ash-Shafi'i.

Ibn Hajar mentioned 12 women who were musnida (transmitters of collection of traditions). He studied with 53 women.

[GFH: Ibn Asakir al-Dimashqi (499-571) took hadith from 1,300 male shaykhs and 80-odd female shaykhas.]

The sufi shaykha, 'A'isha al-Ba'uniyya bint Yusuf (d. 922/1516), author of several books about tasawwuf, came to Cairo where she gave legal opinions (fatwa) and taught.

One could go on and on....

End of Aisha Bewley's text.

[Hamood]

females can't give tawajjuh.

And how exactly did you come to this conclusion? Just wondering...

[mahin14]

females can't give tawajjuh. Allah has not given them this. That is why Prophets(AS) were only males. Tawajjuh, ilqa is central to tasawwuf.

waassalaamalaikum.



though it is near concensus, this is not a confirmed fact and thus we can not state it as a fact(that the prophets-as- were only males)

Allahu Alim

[VeiledOne]

what i mean by that is my dreammmmmmm is to build a sisters only masjid. i would want to lead salah at my masjid insha allah :)

sometimes i think i owuld like it to be an entire community center...like, when i see all the other girls getting their pedicures; pulling their pants up in the middle of the nail place and dipping their feet in the little tub :( oh man. we cant do that haha. so then i thnk there should be a daycare/pre-schl and nail salon too. and then id want a little "shop" that had jelbabs/hijabs for women that cant afford them. a pay-what-u-can type of deal, and that would go back to keeping the shop stocked.

so yeah...thats what i mean. insha allah one day :) us sisters need a place too. and i want a pedicure ;)

Sis your madhab shows that your hanafi. Most hanafi scholars agree that for a women to lead jamaat even if its women-only is makruh. Search on Sunnipath and Askimam insha'Allah :)

[amina9183]

Sis your madhab shows that your hanafi. Most hanafi scholars agree that for a women to lead jamaat even if its women-only is makruh. Search on Sunnipath and Askimam insha'Allah :)


:salam:

jazakallah for your concern, sister :) i truly do appreciate it. but its important to remember that madhabs are simply schools of thought. If we start thinking that "if you are following the hanafi school of thought you must strictly adhere to all things under this school of thought" we create a division amongst islam, which is totally impermissable. This would make hanafi a sect rather than a school of thought. :insh: we should all be cautious of this as it is a dangerous thing and strictly forbidden in the Quran.

First and foremost I am a muslim. As a muslim, I believe in the correctness of what the Prophet (saw) deemed permissable and impermissable. Mohammad(saw) allowed Umm Waraqah(ra) to lead other women in prayer in the courtyard of her home. I've read this in many, many, many books, and I dont believe this is even a debated fact. In fact, when Amina Wadud(may Allah guide her) led the jummah prayer back in March and this issue was discussed in detail, I spent a lot of time researching this by listening to what scholars had to say about it. I have never heard the hadeeth about Umm Waraqah(ra) refuted. Muslim Wake Up! used this as evidence as to the permissability of a woman leading prayer, while those opposed to it said that Umm Waraqah(ra) was not leading a mixed congretion and so Amina Wadud is totally wrong in her reasoning.

What I read on sunnipath does make sense to me. But even sunnipath acknowledges that there ARE incidents of a woman leading prayer. Once it has been made permissable, I do not believe we have the place to make circumstances in which it is permissable and circumstances in which it is not, as the Prophet(saw) did not state any such circumstances or conditions as to which it would be impermissble. He(saw) simply made it permissable.

I do not believe there to be any unclear area in our deen. There are clear hadith stating how the prayer of a woman in the darkest area of her house is most beloved by Allah, but I have not come across even one stating there are circumstances to the permissibility of a woman leading prayer, save that she must not stand infront of the other women. Rather, she must stand in the middle of the row.

And while its is more beneficial for a woman to pray in her house, the Prophet(saw) also stated that men should not stop their women from going to the masjid, allowing for the fact that there will be times when its neccessary for a woman to attend the masjid. I believe such is the case in todays society, especially if we are living in a non muslim country.


And while having a mosque for sisters only that holds ALL prayers in congretion would take a woman(namely the one leading the prayers) away from her first obligation, which is her house, I do believe that :insh: having a masjid which is open at all times but holds only jummah services in congretion and other educational islamic events throughout the week would be beneficial for both the older as well as the younger sisters. Not only that, but the women tht would come to attend this jummah would likely have gone to another masjid had the sisters only masjid not been available. And judging from the fact that the women who prayed behind Mohammad(saw) would leave during his salaam so that the men wouldnt see them, a sisters only masjid would be :insh: much more beneficial to our pardah than one where(though there are dividers or even it is a seperate room all together) men at SOME point would see us entering or leaving.

Allah knows best. If my standing on this issue is incorrect, :insh: may Allah guide my heart to the truth.

:salam:

[abdushakur]

:salam:

jazakallah for your concern, sister :) i truly do appreciate it. but its important to remember that madhabs are simply schools of thought. If we start thinking that "if you are following the hanafi school of thought you must strictly adhere to all things under this school of thought" we create a division amongst islam, which is totally impermissable. This would make hanafi a sect rather than a school of thought. :insh: we should all be cautious of this as it is a dangerous thing and strictly forbidden in the Quran.

First and foremost I am a muslim. As a muslim, I believe in the correctness of what the Prophet (saw) deemed permissable and impermissable. Mohammad(saw) allowed Umm Waraqah(ra) to lead other women in prayer in the courtyard of her home.Allah knows best.

If my standing on this issue is incorrect, :insh: may Allah guide my heart to the truth.

:salam:
With respect i say, be careful sister.
It is more dangerous to pick and choose rulings based on cursory reading of ayahs and hadith than it is to 'stick' to one madhab.
By sticking to one madhab your deen is not only sound but logically correct.

A few points:
There may be a number of sound reasons why the ulama of the Hanafi madhab chose not to rely heavily on the 'Umm Waraqah (ra)' hadith for their rulings. I'm sure their reasoning and views carry more weight than laypeople like ourselves.
Also, if the Hanafi ulama have said that it is makruh for a women to lead other women in salah, then it is what is it i.e. makruh. Noone has said haram, although it would be disliked. There must be a very good reason why they have ruled it to be 'disliked' ie. not encouraged.
We must also understand that basing our actions on isolated hadith is dangerous because there is a context for each and every saying of our noble Rasool (peace be upon him). There are times when Rasoolullah (peace be upon him) allowed some things for some people and disallowed it for others. Alhamdulillah, our ulama know many of the reasons and contexts.
And we should be very wary of yearning to lead others in salah.
It is common amongst brothers for them to be very reluctant to go forward to lead salah unless they are strongly put forward by the rest of the jamaah.
Be wary of those who wish to lead others.
And lastly, we should try to address our Prophet (peace be upon him) without using his first name only, as the companions would always address him with titles, rather than simply 'Muhammad'. And they are our guides as they had the complete love for him (peace be upon him).

Just a few points sister. I know that you are sincere and do not have ulterior motives. We just need to cling onto the ulama as they have the best guidance in these confusing times.

Please forgive me if i have said anything wrong - no intention to offend; only to contribute to discussion and help a little if possible.

[amina9183]

:salam:

I definitely agree that as laymen we cant form our own rulings, but women leading women has been ruled as permissable by scholars in another madhab. So if the Hanafi scholars had reasoning to not count those hadith in their ruling, the scholars in the other madhab(apologies for not knowing off the top of my head which one) had their reasoning for using those same hadith in their ruling. And they are all :mash: knowledgable, and right in their own place. At this point, only Allah knows which ruling is the correct ruling. This isnt one of those matters that are agreed upon across the board. Infact, in China, there are a lotttt of sisters masjids. Scholars have deemed it permissable, as scholars have deemed it impermissable. Allah knows best.

I know very little(obviously) and I have been VERY wrong about certain issues in the past, but Alhamdulillah, Allah always guides me to understanding. This could very well be one of those issues. The point of this whole thing was actually just to give sisters a place to go, specifically a masjid for sisters. And I always thought that if theres a masjid, there has to be a prayer. If this DOES end up beng one of those things I look back on and think "wow. how could i actually think that was ok?" I guess it could just be a community center for women, :insh:

[Asadullah]

Salam

Was Rabiah adiwiyah a sheikh??? :D

Actually sister, she was. i cannot believe that this trhead is saying that shaykhas have not existed in time. how dare you people say that only men can be shaykhs. this is very untrue. does ALLAH subahana braka wa ta'ala only guide the men. this is common sense. take Rabiah rahmatullahi alayha for example. every night of her life she prayed and worshiped ALLAH, praising him and thanking him. it was recorded that she once said, "O ALLAH, BY Your Love of me, I Love YOU!" a man then approached her and said, "how can you say this, do you know whom ALLAH loves and doesnt love." she then replied, "If ALLAH did not LOVE me, then he would not have risen me from my Sleep every night to praise him and worship him."

[Travelleress]

Asalaamu 'alaykum,

Shaykh Nuh definitely said that one of the conditions for a Shaykh is that they must be male...

Is there a difference of opinion then? I know Shaykh Nazim Haqqani has given the title of Shaykha to one of his mureeds...

[abdul shafi'i]

as salmu alaykum to all i hope everyone is in the best of health to just a little to this nice post but i think everyone is forgeting that Aisha was a scholar and some of the wifes of the prophet were also scholars i mean women came to Aisha for certain matters and what happened when Umar was giving a speech and a women corrected him on a certain matter and she had others to back her up on what she was saying and ill try to add some other examples soon insha ALLAH

[Abu 'Abdillah al-Maliki]

Regarding the hadith of Umm Waraqah that mentions her leading the salah, there is plenty of strong objections to this hadith by the 'ulama. The following was written by Maulana Tauha Karaan from the Muslim Judicial Council Fatwa Committee (in South Africa, I think) in his article about the Amina Wadud issue:

"The hadith of Umm Waraqah has been documented in Sunan Abi Dawud, Musnad Ahmad, al-Hakim's Mustadrak and al-Bayhaqi's Dala 'il al-Nubuwwah.(1) Its chain of narrators in all of these sources lead up to a single strand; al-Walid ibn `Abdillah ibn Jumay`, narrating from his grandmother and 'Abd ar-Rahman ibn Khallad, both of whom narrate from Umm Waraqah. Authenticity rests, to a great (though not exclusive) degree upon the narrators. As a rule, a hadith will only be accepted as authentic and reliable basis for law when it meets the requirements of acceptance. In the present hadith the focus comes to rest upon three narrators: al-Walid, his grandmother, and 'Abd al-Rahman ibn Khallad.


al-Walid ibn 'Abdillah ibn Jumay'

Hadith critics have differed on al-Walid ibn `Abdillah ibn Jumay`'. Ahmad ibn Hanbal, Yahya ibn Ma'in. al-'Ijli. Abu Zur'ah and Abu Hatim are on record as having accepted his reliability as a narrator: while Ibn Hibban and al-'L'qayli have made disparaging remarks about his credibility.
Al-Bazzar adds that he had certain Shi'i proclivities in him as well.(2)
Ibn Hajar sums up these various pronouncements by saying that he was "truthful, prone to err, with an accusation of Shi'ism against him".(3)


The grandmother of al-Walid

In al-Hakim's version of the hadith her name is given as Layla bint Malik.
There is general concurrence amongst the muhaddithun that she is unknown.(4)
When a narrator is unknown the hadith falls short of the requirements of authenticity. To this may be added the fact that there also exists some confusion with regard to al-Walid ibn 'Abdillah's source. In some versions of the hadith it is his grandmother: in others it is his grandfather:
Whilst in yet others his grandmother is identified as Umm Waraqah herself. (5)
What we have here is thus a case of an unknown narrator compounded by confusion.


'Abd al-Rahman ibn Khallad

In `Abd al-Rahman ibn Khallad we have another example of an unknown entity.
His name appears nowhere in hadith literature except in this narration of Walid ibn 'Abdillah ibn Jumay'. Ibn al-Qattan states that his condition is unknown, leading Ibn Hajar to conclude that he is a less serious case of jahalah that would pass as acceptable to some scholars.(6) A recent recension of Ibn Hajar avers, however, that this is not a case of jahalat al-hal, but one of jahalat al-'ayn, which is considerably more serious.(7)



Missing links

Over and above the disparaging claims that have been made about the above narrators, there is another issue, which has a bearing upon the acceptability of the hadith. Hafiz Ibn Hajar al-`Asqalani points out that the form in which the chain of the hadith appears in the common sources hides another issue that impugns its authenticity. Neither Walid ibn 'Abdillah's grandmother (or grandfather), nor 'Abd al-Rahman ibn Khallad have received this hadith from Umm Waraqah directly. Ibn al-Sakan and Ibn Mandah have recorded the hadith via Layla bint Malik (who is Walid's grandmother), from her father, from Umm Waraqah: while Abu Nu'aym records it via Walid, from his grandmother, from her mother, from Umm Waraqah. 'Abd al-Rahman ibn Khallad too, is on record as having received the hadith, not from Umm Waraqah directly, but though an unknown intermediary.(8)



Summary

Opinions have differed around this hadith. Objectivity and honesty demand that both opinions be stated here. Some have looked upon it as a case of a questionable narrator (Walid ibn 'Abdillah ibn Jumay') narrating from two unknown narrators, and have therefore concluded that the hadith is not reliable.

A more lenient opinion asserts that the questionable narrator is reliable to most critics, while the two unknown narrator corroborate one another, they therefore claim that the hadith is hasan li-ghayrih, indicating an intrinsic weakness augmented by corroboration. The corroboration, however, is a case of internal corroboration and not external. In other words, this hadith is not supported by any other independent and separate hadith, but merely by the fact that Walid ibn 'Abdillah happens to narrate it from two persons.
Al-Hakim al-Naysaburi has conclusively negated the existence of any other hadith on this issue.(9)

What this lenient position overlooks is the issue of missing links in the chain. Such missing links constitute a major problem. We have no idea whatsoever about the personality, and consequently of the reliability, of the missing persons. An objective appraisal of the state of the hadith cannot fail to take this hidden defect (termed an 'illab in hadith terminology) in consideration. One of the 5 essential requirements of
authenticity is that the hadith should be free from such defects. In the final analysis, the hadith of Umm Waraqah falls short in authenticity, and has to be dismissed as authoritative grounds upon which to formulate law."

[Iqbal Muhammad Raakin]

I read somewhere that Shaykh Nuh Keller said that one of the qualities of being a shaykh of tariqa is to be a male. I may be wrong though.
I heard him say that.

Wassalam

[imran farooq]

Peaceful greetings,

Do female sheikhs exisit? are they allowed to teach both male and female murids?? just something i was reading about a tariqah in the USA where there head of the tariqah is a woman...confusion :confused: Someone please enlighten me on this topic, much appreciated, may Allah please you for your generosity and patience.

Masalaama

I send love and peace to you all :)

:salam: Qutub-ul-Irshad Hazrat Maulana Rasheed Ahmad Gangohi's fatwa;
According to Ahle-Tasawuf female taking baiyah is not correct but she can teach "Shaghal" or "wazaif"(here he reffered a maktoob of shaikh Abd-ul-Quddoos Gangohi {a grand shaikh of silsila Chishtia} in persian in which shaikh writes that even a female reaches to "kamal" ...... don't give them Khilafat or Kharqa of mashaikh but if a man feels "iradat"(attachment) to her {for his "Islah"} then she should narrate the Shajrah of her shaikh and make him mureed of her shaikh if she is permitted to do so.....) [Ref: Fatawa
Rasheedia p.52,53]
This is the summary of his fatwa.also in the present days being a female shaikh can create many problems and sharoor-o-fitin not only for others but also for her. being a shaikh is not an easy responsibility. by the way why females want to be shaikh? there are a lot of responsibilities of husband, home and children for a woman.just ending here,wasalam.