Articulating Gender: Muslim Women Intellectuals in the Pre-Modern Period

The article discusses Muslim women religious scholars in the pre-modern period. It focuses on two intellectuals: Fatima daughter of Qadi Kamal al-Din Mahmud ibn Shirin al-Hanbali, from Cairo, Egypt, and A’isha al-Ba’uniya from Damascus, Syria. The author’s findings are based on a number of biographical dictionaries, including volume twelve of “Al-Daw’ al-Lami,” by Shams al-Din al-Sakhawi, “Al-Kawakib al-Sa ‘irah” by Al-Ghuzzi, and “Al-Durr al-Manthur” by Zeinab Fawwaz.