THE IDEAL MUSLIMAH

She was the great Muhaddithah, a non-Arab, of the 13th Century.

‘Non-Arab’ is outlined because many feel that these great women were great only because they were lucky to have Arabic as their mother-tongue and sinece their ancestry was from the Arabs. On the contrary, many of our great scholars, even from among the men, the likes of Imam Bukhari, were not from the lineage of the Arabs. In the same way, the Muhaddithah, Amat al-Ghafoor bint Ishaaq al-Dihlawee (rah), was from Delhi – India.

Her father was one of leading scholars of India and so she would learn from his company, covering many books of hadeeth and fiqh with him. In this way, she acquired high authority in both hadeeth and fiqh. Her father married her to a scholar; whenever he faced difficulty he would turn to his wife, Amat al-Ghafoor (rah). Al Hasani says,

'When her husband, himself a great scholar, faced any difficulty in hadeeth or fiqh he consulted her and benefited from her.'

Truly this is a blessing that Allah blesses to whomsoever he wishes of his believing maid-servants.

Taken from the book: Women Who Taught Their Husbands