دور المرأة في الحياة الفكرية خلال عصر المماليك الجركسية (784-922 ه 1382-1517 م)‎

Abstract EN

The Circassian Mamluks continued to proceed on the path of the Bahri Mamluks in promoting scholarship and scholars.

The Cirassian Mamluk state started in 784H/1382 A.D.

right after the rule of the Bahri Mamluks ended.

Sultan Barquq, who was of Cirassian descent, is considered the founder of the Circassian state after he ousted al-Malik al-Salih [the title means the righteous king] Haji bin al-Ashraf Sha’ban.

The second Mamluk period witnessed a comprehensive scholarly and intellectual renaissance during which the names of tens of women gained prominence in various domains of knowledge.

This renaissance is evidenced by the large number of schools which were established to unleash and forward an intellectual movement during this period.

In the period of the Circassian Mamluks, women played an intellectual role in the society with total freedom in both Egypt and the Levant.

She was by no means far away from the arena of scholarly activities.

Rather, she received a wide range of education and knowledge.

There was no discrimination between men and women in the domain of intellectual life.

Women gained a lofty stature thanks to their contribution to scholarly activities.

This research paper focuses on the role of women in scholarly life during the period of the Circassian Mamluks and covers several areas such as the role that women played with regard to Hadith.

They concentrated on purely religious scholarship due to their association with Islam and their close ties to the Holy Koran and the Sunnah of the Prophet.

The female scholars were devoted to studying these branches of religious sciences in order to make the latter clearer and easier for the average Muslims to comprehend.

The other sections of this research paper pertain to women’s role in the domain of jurisprudence.

It is noteworthy that they focused on Hadith more than jurisprudence because the latter is by no means an easy matter.

The paper also discusses the role of women in preaching or conducting seminars especially in seminaries knows as ribats as well as their role in literature, particularly poetry.

A number of female poets gained prominence during this period.

Furthermore, the paper sheds light on women’s endeavor to learn how to read and write and also improve their handwriting.

The final topic covered is medicine.

Due to the dearth of information about this field of knowledge, only the little that can be found in references is discussed.