Women the Quran presents as examples
The Quran names one woman explicitly — Maryam daughter of Imran, raised above the women of the world — and gives two as examples for believers: Maryam herself and Pharaoh’s wife Asiya, while also referring to Imran’s wife and Sarah, Abraham’s wife (peace be upon them).
وَضَرَبَ ٱللَّهُ مَثَلٗا لِّلَّذِينَ ءَامَنُواْ ٱمۡرَأَتَ فِرۡعَوۡنَ إِذۡ قَالَتۡ رَبِّ ٱبۡنِ لِي عِندَكَ بَيۡتٗا فِي ٱلۡجَنَّةِ وَنَجِّنِي مِن فِرۡعَوۡنَ وَعَمَلِهِۦ وَنَجِّنِي مِنَ ٱلۡقَوۡمِ ٱلظَّٰلِمِينَAnd God presents an example of those who believed: the wife of Pharaoh, when she said, “My Lord, build for me near You a house in Paradise, and save me from Pharaoh and his deeds, and save me from the wrongdoing people.”
وَمَرۡيَمَ ٱبۡنَتَ عِمۡرَٰنَ ٱلَّتِيٓ أَحۡصَنَتۡ فَرۡجَهَا فَنَفَخۡنَا فِيهِ مِن رُّوحِنَا وَصَدَّقَتۡ بِكَلِمَٰتِ رَبِّهَا وَكُتُبِهِۦ وَكَانَتۡ مِنَ ٱلۡقَٰنِتِينَAnd Maryam, daughter of Imran, who guarded her chastity, so We breathed into it of Our spirit, and she believed in the words of her Lord and His scriptures, and was of the devoutly obedient.
وَإِذۡ قَالَتِ ٱلۡمَلَٰٓئِكَةُ يَٰمَرۡيَمُ إِنَّ ٱللَّهَ ٱصۡطَفَىٰكِ وَطَهَّرَكِ وَٱصۡطَفَىٰكِ عَلَىٰ نِسَآءِ ٱلۡعَٰلَمِينَAnd when the angels said, “O Maryam, indeed God has chosen you, purified you, and chosen you above the women of the world.”
In the Prophet’s ﷺ era
Khadijah bint Khuwaylid
First to believe; the Prophet’s ﷺ supportThe noble merchant of Quraysh and the Prophet’s ﷺ support in his hardest hour; she believed before the people, al-Bukhari and Muslim record her virtues, and she is among the leading women of Paradise.
Aisha bint Abi Bakr
Scholar of the ummahThe two Sahihs and the Sunan narrate some two thousand hadiths through her; Companions and their successors sought her rulings, and exegetes and jurists relied on her for the Prophet’s ﷺ private life and Quran commentary.
Nusaybah Umm Amarah
Heroine of UhudAt Uhud she served water and medicine, then defended the Prophet ﷺ with a sword until wounded many times, as recorded in the Sira and biographical literature (Ibn Hisham’s Sira; Ibn Hajar’s al-Isabah).
Umm Salamah Hind bint Abi Umayyah
The voice of sound counselA narrator and jurist for whom the Jama’ah’s collections transmit; she counselled the Prophet ﷺ at Hudaybiyya with advice that broke the deadlock, recorded in al-Bukhari’s account of the truce (Book of Conditions).
Rufaydah al-Aslamiyyah
Pioneer of field medicineEstablished Islam’s first field-hospital tent at the Prophet’s ﷺ mosque and treated the wounded of his campaigns (Ibn Sa’d’s al-Tabaqat al-Kubra).
Al-Shifa bint Abdillah
Writing teacher and market supervisorTaught Hafsah to write; Umar ibn al-Khattab appointed her supervisor of the Medina market — the first documented woman in public administration (Ibn Hajar’s al-Isabah).
Women scholars of the ummah
Karima Umm Ahmad al-Marwaziyya
Mecca, d. 463 AH / 1071 CEA transmitter of Sahih al-Bukhari in Mecca, from whom leading scholars took hadith and whom they called the shaykha of her generation (Dhahabi’s Siyar A’lam al-Nubala).
Shuhdah bint al-Ibari
Baghdad, d. 573 AH / 1178 CEShe heard from al-Khatib al-Baghdadi and others, taught in Baghdad, and took and granted licences with Baghdad’s senior scholars (Ibn al-Muqarram’s al-Dhayl wa-l-Takmila).
Zaynab bint Umar ibn al-Kamal
Damascus, d. 740 AH / 1339 CEThe master of transmitters in her time, she taught hadith books, and thousands of scholars — including the hafiz Ibn Hajar — took from her (Ibn Hajar’s al-Durar al-Kamina).
Zaynab al-Nafzawiyya
Kairouan, d. 283 AH / 896 CEA Maliki jurist, student of Imam Sahnun; the scholars of the Muslim West learned from her and she ruled among them (Dhahabi’s Tarikh al-Islam).
The standing of righteous women before God
قَالَ رَسُولُ اللهِ ﷺ: سَيِّدَاتُ نِسَاءِ أَهْلِ الْجَنَّةِ خَدِيجَةُ بِنْتُ خُوَيْلِدَ، وَفَاطِمَةُ بِنْتُ مُحَمَّدٍ، وَمَرْيَمُ بِنْتُ عِمْرَانَ، وَآسِيَةُ بِنْتُ مُزَاحِمٍ امْرَأَةُ فِرْعَوْنَThe Messenger of God ﷺ said: “The leading women of Paradise are Khadijah bint Khuwaylid, Fatimah bint Muhammad, Maryam bint Imran, and Asiya bint Muzahim, Pharaoh’s wife.”
Islam’s greatest women were not exalted for worldly glory, beauty or power, but for faith, patience, knowledge and righteous work; by this balance one humble, skilled, God-conscious woman outranks the companions of kings in God’s reckoning.
Frequently asked questions
Who are the greatest women of Islam?
The texts name Khadijah, Fatimah, Maryam and Asiya as the leading women of Paradise (Ahmad 2905), and Aisha as the ummah’s greatest scholarly authority after the Prophet ﷺ.
Does the Quran mention women by name?
By explicit name: Maryam alone. By reference: Asiya, Pharaoh’s wife (66:11), Imran’s wife (3:35), and Sarah, Abraham’s wife (11:71-72).
Did Muslim women issue religious rulings?
Yes — from Aisha and Umm Salamah among the Companions, to Zaynab al-Nafzawiyya in North Africa, Shuhdah in Baghdad and Zaynab bint al-Kamal in Damascus.
Where can I read more about women in Islamic history?
In the biographical literature: Ibn Sa’d’s al-Tabaqat al-Kubra, Dhahabi’s Siyar A’lam al-Nubala, and Ibn Hajar’s al-Isabah and al-Durar al-Kamina.
Quran text and translations: QuranEnc. Hadith translations: HadeethEnc. Sources are shown on each item. Found a mistake? Tell us.