This thesis explores the education of women in the pre-modern Middle East, particularly in legal matters. The goal of the work is to show that women in the pre-modern Middle East not only had access to education but were also learned in jurisprudence (fiqh). The work begins with a detailed discussion of the pre-modern system of learning. The first chapter explores not only the educational institutions and methods of instruction, but also the avenues and opportunities for education available to and utilized by women. The second chapter concentrates on the lives of two female jurists (faqihat). The purpose of this chapter is to explore in detail the methods by which these women acquired a legal education and obtained their status as female jurists. This work is a rudimentary effort at investigating the role of women in the pre-modern system of learning and their access to and acquisition of a legal education.

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