Female Endowed Schools and Their Role in Shaping Muslim Women Scholars: The Al-Shāmiyyah and Al-Ẓāhiriyyah Schools as Models

Summary

The Islamic civilisation has, for centuries, been home to advanced educational institutions dedicated to women, particularly waqf-based (endowment-funded) schools established specifically for teaching women the sciences of religion, language, and Hadith. Among the most prominent of these are the al-Shāmiyyah and al-Ẓāhiriyyah schools in Damascus.

This study explores the historical emergence of these institutions, the reasons for their development, their key administrators, funding mechanisms, and the scholarly women who graduated from them. It also analyses their enduring impact on both intellectual and social spheres, particularly during the 8th century AH (14th century CE), when women’s education reached its institutional peak. The article calls for the revival of such models in contemporary contexts—especially in the West—through new waqf initiatives led by qualified female scholars.

Introduction

Muslim women have held a distinguished position in the intellectual history of Islamic civilisation, especially in the sciences of the Qur’an, Hadith, and Arabic language. This presence was most clearly embodied in the emergence of female waqf schools, which were dedicated to the education of women by learned women, producing jurists and Hadith transmitters who attained the highest levels of certification (isnād).

This study seeks to shed light on the pioneering role played by these endowed schools, focusing on examples such as al-Shāmiyyah (al-Rawāḥiyyah) and al-Ẓāhiriyyah schools. It highlights their contribution to forming a female scholarly elite in the Levant and Hijaz, their long-term impact, and the importance of reviving this legacy in the present day.

1. The Emergence of Female Endowed Schools

The emergence of female waqf schools dates back to the 6th century AH (12th century CE), prompted by several factors:

1. A growing number of women seeking to specialise in religious and linguistic sciences.
2. The presence of prominent female scholars who had begun teaching in homes and private lodges.
3. The Islamic society’s reverence for knowledge and scholars of both genders.
4. Encouragement by rulers and wealthy families to establish educational endowments for women.

One of the earliest successful examples was the al-Shāmiyyah (al-Rawāḥiyyah) school, founded by a member of the Zengid dynasty in Damascus. The model was further developed with the al-Ẓāhiriyyah school during the 7th century AH (13th century CE), under the rule of al-Ẓāhir Baybars.

2. Administration and Organisational Structure

These schools operated under organised administrative systems that took into account educational, religious, and social considerations. Key features included:

• The Founder (al-Wāqif): Often an emir or a wealthy woman.
• The School Supervisor (Nāẓirah): A qualified jurist woman responsible for educational and scholarly oversight.
• Teachers: Female scholars, memorisers of the Qur’an and Hadith, officially certified with scholarly licences (ijāzāt).
• Male Scholars: In some schools, male scholars collaborated in teaching, though without private seclusion (khalwah).

3. Funding and Waqf Support

These schools were financed through independent waqf endowments set up specifically for the benefit of educated women. These included:

• Revenue from properties, public baths (ḥammām), and marketplaces.
• Precise waqf deeds that guaranteed continuous financial support for female teachers and students.
• Provisions for books, water, accommodation, and food in some cases.

Such endowments reflect a high level of civilisational awareness regarding the value of women’s education and their scholarly autonomy.

4. Prominent Female Graduates

These schools produced generations of accomplished scholars and Hadith transmitters. Among them:

• ʿĀ’ishah bint ʿAbd al-Hādī: The foremost Hadith authority in the Two Holy Mosques.
• Fāṭimah bint Muḥammad al-Safāriyyah: A transmitter of the six canonical Hadith collections (al-Kutub al-Sittah) with high-level isnād.
• Sitt al-Wuzarāʾ bint ʿUmar: A renowned Hadith scholar in the 8th century AH.
• Zaynab bint al-Kamāl: One of the most prominent Hadith transmitters of her era, with many major scholars studying under her.

In some centuries, Damascus alone recorded more than a hundred licensed female Hadith scholars.

5. Lasting Impact on Education and Women’s Intellectual Renaissance

Despite political upheavals, these schools succeeded in:

• Establishing the role of the female scholar as a source of knowledge, certification, and legal authority.
• Preserving Hadith transmission chains through female narrators.
• Empowering women with deep religious and linguistic understanding.
• Forming a scholarly female elite in the Hijaz, Egypt, and the Levant.

Their influence continues to echo into the modern era, providing a model for female education throughout the Islamic world.

Conclusion: A Call to Revive Female Scholarly Endowments

Female waqf schools such as al-Shāmiyyah and al-Ẓāhiriyyah exemplified a sophisticated civilisational model that combined women’s empowerment with a strong commitment to knowledge, free from political interference, supported through endowments.

Today, as we face intense intellectual, educational, and social challenges—especially in the West—the revival of such specialised endowments has become a necessity. We urgently need qualified, spiritually grounded female scholars to provide guidance, education, leadership, and representation of Islamic teachings and values, particularly in non-Muslim societies where the demand for authentic female religious voices is high.

Therefore, we call upon business leaders, philanthropists, and charitable organisations to revive this noble tradition by establishing endowed female educational institutions that follow the legacy of the early women Hadith scholars and educators. For it is through firmly rooted knowledge that nations are built, and identities preserved.

References and Footnotes

1. Ibn Ṭūlūn, al-Qalā’id al-Jawhariyyah fī Tārīkh al-Madrasa al-Ẓāhiriyyah
2. al-Nuʿaymī, al-Dāris fī Tārīkh al-Madāris
3. ʿĀ’ishah ʿAbd al-Raḥmān, Women in Islam
4. Jonathan Berkey, Transmission of Knowledge in Medieval Cairo
5. Asma Sayeed, Women and the Transmission of Religious Knowledge in Islam, Cambridge, 2013
6. Records of the Sharʿī Court in Damascus – Ottoman Waqf Archive
7. Journal of the Arab Scientific Academy in Damascus, Special Issue on Women’s Education (1952)
8. Aḥmad Shalabī, History of Islamic Education, Dār al-Nahḍah, Cairo, 5th ed.