Fatimah bint 'Abbaas al-Baghdadiyyah

Were it that all women were but like her,
then surely women would be more virtuous than men.
The feminine form of the word 'sun'* does not blemish it,
nor is the masculine form of the word 'moon'** a source of pride for it.

[* The word sun in Arabic is in the feminine form.]
[** The word moon in Arabic is in the masculine form.]

…he was buried in al-Qaraafah, close to the area known as Bawrash. Buried there as well, was the 'Aalimah (the scholar), the Faqeehah (the jurist), the Zaahidah (the ascetic), the Qaanitah (the devout worshiper), the Sayyidah (the leading lady) of her time, the preacher; Umm Zaynab Fatimah bint 'Abbaas al-Baghdadiyyah, the Shaykhah of Egypt.

She died at the age of eighty plus years. A large number of people attended her Funeral. A vast number of women benefited from her and consequently practiced repentance. She had an abundance of intelligence and knowledge.

She was content with little, keen on benefiting and reminding others, she was sincere, God fearing and used to order the good.

The women of Damascus were rectified through her, then the women of Egypt. She was widely loved and honored by people. May Allah have mercy upon her, I visited her one time.

[Shadharaat al-Dhahab: 6/33]

On the Day of 'Arafah died the righteous scholar, the pious worshiper, the Hajj frequenter; Umm Zaynab Faatimah bint 'Abbaas ibn Abu al-Fat-h ibn Muhammad al-Baghdadiyyah.

She died in Cairo, Egypt, a huge number of people attended her funeral.

She was a virtuous scholar, she used to order the good and forbid the evil. She used to criticize al-Ahmadiyyah for their relationships with [non-mahram] women, she used to criticize their state of affairs as well as the fundamentals of the people of innovations and others in a manner that men were not able carry out.

She used to attend the circles of Taqiud-deen ibn Taymiyyah and learnt this form him, amongst other things. I heard Shaykh Taqiud-deen (ibn Taymiyyah) praising her; describing her with virtue and knowledge, he mentioned that she memorized a lot of or the majority of al-Mughnee.

He said he used to prepare himself for her, due to her numerous, intelligent and well-posed questions and her ability to understand quickly.

She is the one who taught a lot of women the whole Quran, amongst them was my wife's mother, 'Aisha bint Siddeeq; the wife of Shaykh Jamaal ad-Deen al-Mizee, who in turn taught her daughter; my wife; Amat ar-Raheem Zaynab. May Allah dignify them and have mercy upon them and grant them Jannah. Ameen!

[Al-Bidaayah wan-Nihaayah: 14/82 by al-Hafidh Ibn Katheer who is the writer here.]

The last we saw there was the righteous scholar, the best of women of her time; Umm Zaynub Fatimah bint 'Abbaas al-Baghdadiyyah. She died on Dhul Hijjah, 714 H past the age of eighty.

She was a jurist, knowledgeable, ascetic, satisfied with little, a devout worshiper, a preacher, keen on benefiting and reminding, sincere, God fearing and a promoter of good.

A lot of the women of Damascus and Egypt benefited from her, she was widely loved and accepted.

Every female teacher in that area was called 'al-Baghdadiyyah' after her.

…

We saw that [the institution she taught in] used to shelter and take care of women who were divorced or abandoned until they remarried or returned to their husbands. This was a preservation for them due to the stress and upmost care given to regularly practicing the different forms of worship…She used discipline those who swayed from the path with what she saw was appropriate.

Then when times got worse in the era of the Fitan after 806 H, the state of the establishment deteriorated and women who would regularly frequent it would be imprisoned. There continues to be good there, and Qadi al-Qudat al-Hanafi took over its supervison.

[al-Mawaa'idh wal 'Itibaar: 3/194]

Benefited from Shaykh 'Aasim al-Qaryooti through Shaykh 'Abdul Mun'im al-Dhakar.