Women’s Agency and Equitable Access to Knowledge: A Sociohistorical Reading of the Hadith on Women’s Educational Gatherings during the Prophet’s Lifetime
DOI:
https://doi.org/10.32506/d0qrnb40Keywords:
Women’s Agency, Educational Equity, Prophetic Pedagogy, Hadith Studies, Sociohistorical Analysis, Gender and KnowledgeAbstract
This study examines women’s agency and equitable access to religious knowledge through a sociohistorical reading of the hadith concerning women’s request for a designated educational gathering with the Prophet Muhammad. Employing qualitative textual analysis, the study examines the narration of Abū Saʿīd al-Khudrī in Ṣaḥīḥ al-Bukhārī, selected parallel reports, and relevant historical scholarship. Drawing on theories of agency and participatory justice, the analysis identifies three interconnected findings. First, women’s collective request demonstrates their capacity to recognize unequal educational opportunities and negotiate access to prophetic instruction. Second, the Prophet’s accommodation illustrates pedagogical responsiveness through differentiated instructional arrangements. Third, the ensuing dialogue reveals women’s active participation in clarifying religious teachings. These findings suggest that women’s educational agency operated within, rather than necessarily against, established religious authority. The study contributes to hadith and gender scholarship by conceptualizing educational equity through the interrelationship of learner initiative, pedagogical accommodation, and dialogical participation. Although limited by the textual and historical scope of the selected narrations, the study offers a historically cautious framework for reconsidering women’s participation in Islamic educational traditions.
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