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Is it permissible for a woman to grant an ijazah to a man in the Qur'an or in scholarly texts?

1 min readAlso available in العربية

Women play a significant role in Islamic sciences, exemplified by Aisha, Mother of the Believers, who was a reference for the Companions in knowledge. Many great female scholars emerged after her, such as Zaynab bint al-Kamal, Sutayta bint al-Qadi al-Husayn al-Mahamili, and Fatima bint Abbas al-Baghdadiyyah, whom Ibn Taymiyyah praised. Many scholars narrated from women, such as Husayn and Aisha narrating from Fatima bint the Messenger of Allah, Saeed bin Al-Musayyib narrating from Umm Salama, and Qatadah narrating from Hafsah bint Sireen. Therefore, there is no harm if a female memorizer (hafizah) who is precise (dhabitah) grants ijaza (permission to transmit) to men in the Qur'an or in the knowledge she masters, especially if she is elderly and thus safeguards against fitna (temptation or discord).

Summarized from the full answer at Ftawy · reviewed Sep 2, 2026

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