Throughout history there have been many righteous women who excelled in their piety, devotion to Allah Ta‘ala, and dedication to Deen. From amongst the many laudable qualities which they possessed, one quality that stands out in many of them is their attachment to the Quraan Majeed. This attachment and connection to the Quraan Majeed was such that their entire day, rather their entire lives revolved around it.

This noble quality was not only found in the early days of Islam; rather, even in the recent past there were those exceptional women who possessed a deep attachment to the Quraan Majeed. In order to instil this quality within the women of today, we will mention a few incidents of these pious women below:

Hafsah bintu Seereen (rahimahallah) was a Taabi‘iyyah (one who had seen the Sahaabah [radhiyallahu ‘anhum]) and the sister of the great scholar, Muhammad bin Seereen (rahimahullah). It is mentioned regarding her that she would recite half the Quraan Majeed every night, and would fast every day, besides the five days of the year in which fasting is prohibited (the two ‘Eids and the days of tashreeq). (Sifatus Safwah vol. 2, pg. 242)

‘Aaishah bintu ‘Imraan Manoobiyyah (rahimahallah) was a pious Tunisian woman who passed away in 665 A.H. She had studied the Quraan Majeed under her father, and perfected its memorization. Thereafter, she turned her full attention towards ‘ibaadah and cut herself off from all worldly pleasures. A great accolade of hers is that she had completed 1520 khatams of Quraan Majeed in her life. As the famous saying goes, ‘As you live, so will you die’, she passed away while reciting the verse,

إِنَّ ٱللَّهَ مَعَ ٱلَّذِينَ ٱتَّقَوا۟ وَّٱلَّذِينَ هُم مُّحْسِنُونَ

“Verily, Allah is with those who adopt Taqwa and those who continuously do good.” (Surah Nahl v128)

(Aa’laamun Nisaa vol. 2, pg. 269)

In the seventh and eighth century of Islam, there lived a woman by the name of ‘Aaishah bintu Ebrahim (rahimahallah), who was the wife of the famous Muhaddith, Jamaalud Deen Mizzi (rahimahullah). Her son-in-law, the famous Mufassir, Muhaddith and historian, Ibnu Katheer (rahimahullah), says regarding her that she was one of a kind from amongst the women of her era, due to her excessive ‘ibaadah, abundant recitation of the Quraan Majeed and constantly teaching it. Her recitation was clear, fluent and her pronunciation was so impeccable that many men cannot even reach that level. Many women had completed the Quraan Majeed under her supervision, and they had benefitted greatly from her company, her piety, her disinclination from the world, and her meagre possessions and belongings. She had passed her entire life of over eighty years in the obedience of Allah Ta‘ala, in salaah and in reciting the Quraan Majeed. (Al-Bidaayah wan Nihaayah vol. 14, pg. 269)