?–923 CE · Historian, exegete, and jurist
Muhammad ibn Jarir al-Tabari
Al-Tabari is best known for his Qur'anic commentary and universal history, both foundational to later classical scholarship. On the question of female judgeship, he held a position more permissive than any of the four schools that ultimately achieved lasting institutional survival, permitting women to serve as judges without restriction (Tucker, 2008, pp.12-14).
Content referencing this person
- Research Paper
Women in Mainstream Islam: Protection, Restriction, and the Historical Development of Religious Practice
A historical-critical review testing whether practices commonly described as Islamic requirements for women — segregation, face-veiling, travel guardianship, exclusion from mosques and public office — rest on the Qur'an itself or on later hadith, jurisprudence, dynastic custom, and regional practice.
- Article
Can Hadith Explain the Qur'an?
A verse-by-verse, source-by-source investigation into whether the Qur'an itself assigns the Prophet an explanatory role beyond the recited text, and what the historical record shows about when the classical doctrine of Sunna's authority actually took shape. Reader's Edition: written for anyone, with every technical term and named scholar introduced as it appears.