"An excellent example

of an empowered and empowering Muslim woman is the elegant twelfth-century scholar Fatimah bint Muhammad al-Samarqandi [fn 44: The family name "Samarqandi" means "from Samardand." Her family was Syrian but originally hailed from Central Asia.] of Syria. Her father was a preeminent Hanafi jurist and took active part in his daughter's education. Fatimah become widely renowned for her own knowledge. She mastered Hanafi jurisprudence and the sciences of hadith; her legal judgements (fatwas) and transmissions of hadith were held in the highest regard. Fatimah also excelled as a teacher of the various Islamic sciences. She instructed man as well as women, and students traveled to Syria to learn from her and receive their scholarly credentials.

Fatimah al-Samarqandi was a personal counselor of Nur al-Din Zangi. Nur al-Din is counted among the most significant rulers in Islamic history; he is remembered primarily for preparing the ground for the success of his vassal Salah al-Din (Saladin). Fatimah was renowned for her beauty and was widely regarded as the most beautiful woman of her time. Kings and princes unsuccessfully sought her hand in marriage. She chose instead to marry one of her father's students, al-Kasani, who is ranked today among the most brilliant Hanafi jurists. Fatimah chose him because of a commentary he wrote on one of her father's principal legal works. Al-Kasani's commentary, The Most Marvelous of Beneficial Things (Bada'i al-sana'i), constituted his marriage gift and is one of the classics of Islamic jurisprudence. Few if any works in the Hanafi school show greater attention to the rationales and ultimate purposes of the law. Although al-Kasani ranks among the most competent of jurists, it was Fatimah who corrected and edited his legal opinions. His esteem for her was so great that he would not sign the legal opinions he issued until Fatimah signed them first.

[fn 45: 'Umar Rida Kahhala, A'lam al-nisa' fi 'Alamay al-'Arab wa al-Islam, 5 vols. (Beirut: Mu'assasat  al-Risalah, 1991), 4:94-95; see also Abd-Allah, Famous Women in Islam, 14 CDs (Chicago: Nawawi Foundation, 2004).

 -from pg. 28 of "Living Islam With Purpose" by Dr. Umar F. Abd-Allah