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Early Sufi Women: Dhikr an-Niswa al-Muta’abbidat as-Sufiyyat by Abu ‘Abd ar-Rahman as-Sulami, Rkia E. Cornell (Translator-Editor)

Separated from the original work, as-Sulami’s book on Sufi women suffered the fate of being lost. Over the course of centuries, echoes of its existence kept resonating in works of interested scholars and academics. In 1928, Margaret Smith referred to the book in a study of Rabia al-Adawiya, stating that ”Another missing authority which would undoubtedly be of great value is the section on women devotees and gnostics at the end of the Tabaqat al-Sufiyya of Abu Abd al-Rahman al-Sulami…”

The major discovery came in 1991 when Mahmood Muahmmad at-Tanahi came across this long-lost work in a collection of treatise by as-Sulami in the library of Muahmmed ibn Saud Islamic University in Riyadh, Saudia Arabia. In “Early Sufi Women”, Rkia E.Cornell provides a compelling translation of the text into English, plus a re-edition of the Arabic text from the original manuscript. The book is interesting not merely for antiquarian reasons, but for its depiction of early Muslim women as having possessed high level of intellect and wisdom similar, often surpassing that of their male counterparts. In her introduction, the translator states:

At-Tanahi does not see as-Sulami’s Sufi women as noteworthy in themselves, but only because they are associated with famous Sufi men. While as-Sulami does indeed identify many Sufi women as the wives, daughters, sisters, or associates of famous men, he clearly intended to say more than that “Behind every great man is a great woman”. On the contrary, rather than being validated by Sufi men, as-Sulami’s Sufi women just as often validate their male colleagues by educating them in Sufi doctrines and practices.

The book contains a section on as-Sulami’s Sufi women from a published edition of Ibn al-Jawzi’s Sifat as-Safwa. Ibn al-Jawzi, a Hanbali scholar and a prominent opponent of Sufism, developed an interest in women’s spirituality from a young age. This is partly due to his upbringing by his mother and paternal aunt. The influence of his female teacher Shuhada bint al-Irabi- one of the prominent hadith scholars of her time- also helped reinforcing the interest. Adding this section to the book provides an opportunity to compare two different views of rather two different persons.

Comparing as-Sulami’s and Ibn al-Jawzi’s depiction of Sufi women will help the reader appreciate as-Sulami’s unique concern with disapproving Muslim stereotypes about woman’s supposed lack of religion and interest.

While Ibn al-Jawzi portrays women as emotion-driven and sentimental, As-Sulami focuses more on their intellectual abilities, and depicts them as thinkers.

As-Sulami’s Rabia al-Adawiyya is quite different from the highly- strung emotional recluse portrayed by Ibn al-Jawzi. Rather she is rational and disciplined teacher who demonstrates her mastery of important mystical states, such as truthfulness, self-criticism, spiritual intoxication, love for God, and gnosis…..He concentrates on her intellectual abilities, detailing the spiritual advice she give to Muslim scholars, her moral lessons to the jurist Sufyan ath-Thawri, and her reputation as a specialist in the jurisprudence of practice.

The books contains notices on eighty-four women from different cities and regions such as Bara, Syria, Baghdad, Damaghan, Egypt, Nishapur(as-Sulami home city), and Khurasan.

On several occasion these women appear as instructing men in matters of religion and wisdom, or criticizing their shortcomings.

One example is Hafsa bint Sireen. Hafsa is portrayed as having mastered the art of interpreting the Qur’an. At times, she appears lecturing before male youth. In Ibn al-Jawzi portrayal of Hafsa, it is reported that:

Hisham (Ibn Hassan) reported that whenever (Hafsa’s brother Muhammed) ibn Sireen was faced with a difficult question about the discipline of the Qur’an recitation he would say to his questioners: “Go and ask Hafsa how she recites.”

Lubaba al-Muta’abbida of Jeruslam is yet another example. She is depicted as a specialist in the jurisprudence of religious practices, instructing a man on what invocation to use when going on a pilgrimage to Mecca. Hukayma of Damascus is hardly different from the rest. She appears as giving an exegesis of a Qur’anic verse according to the Sufi doctrine of love. Indeed, her name means “Dear Sage”, or “Dear Philosopher”, which denotes a respectable level of intellect and wisdom. Abda and Amina, the sisters of the Sufi scholar Abu Sulayman as-Darani, are also described as having “attained a high level of intellect and religion”.

As-Sulami calls into question long-held myths of women’s life in Islam. Equally important, his work on early Muslim women stands in stark contrast to the status of today’s Muslim women, who, in Saudia Arabia, are denied the basic right to get in cars and drive around the country.