Can women take the path of Tasawwuf?

Women have every right to take the path of Tasawwuf and reach the level of ihsan, spiritual excellence. Many a time the question is posed whether women can join the tariqa and take the path of Tasawwuf, and Allah mentions in the Qur'an:

"O Prophet ﷺ! When the believing women come to you, pledging to you that they will neither associate anything with Allah ˹in worship˺, nor steal, nor fornicate, nor kill their children, nor falsely attribute ˹illegitimate˺ children to their husbands, nor disobey you in what is right, then accept their pledge, and ask Allah to forgive them. Surely Allah is All-Forgiving, Most Merciful." [Qur'an, al-Mumtahanah 60:12]

The answer is simple: bay'ah, or the pledge, is proven from the Qur'an.

There have been many examples of great women who reached the level of excellence, for example Rabia Basri rahimahallah and the mother of Shaykh Abdul Qadir Gilani rahimahullah. Even nowadays, there have been women who have taken the path of Tasawwuf and reached the stations of Walaya.

Islam encourages women to follow the Shariah and Sunnah, as they are the ones who provide the foundations to the next generation of Muslims.

Asma bint Yazeed may Allah be pleased with her was a woman from the Ansar and an eminent Companion of the Beloved Prophet ﷺ. She was distinguished for her knowledge and eloquence and known as the "Orator of all Women". Eighty-one hadith are reported from her as a reliable narrator by Abu Dawud, at-Tirmidhi, an-Nasa'i, Ibn Majah and other major scholars of hadith.

Asma may Allah be pleased with her was also keen on jihad, joining Muslim armies on several occasions. She accompanied the Beloved Prophet ﷺ on his expedition to the conquest of Makkah to Islam.

She also participated in the great Battle of al-Yarmook, against the Byzantines, during the reign of Umar ibn al-Khattab may Allah be pleased with him. She is reported to have killed nine enemy soldiers, using the pole of her own tent.

One day, she came to the Beloved Prophet ﷺ as he was sitting with a number of his Companions. Addressing him, she said: "Allah's Messenger ﷺ! May both my parents be sacrificed for you (This was a traditional phrase of endearment used figuratively). I am an emissary from women to you. Allah has sent you as His Messenger to both men and women. We believe in you and your Lord. Yet we, women, are restricted, home bound. We stay in your (i.e. men's) homes, give you your pleasure and bear your children. You, men, have been favoured over us with attending Friday prayer and congregational prayers in mosques, visiting the sick, attending funerals, offering the pilgrimage repeatedly, and with what is more than that: fighting for Allah's cause. When a man goes out intending pilgrimage or jihad, we take care of your property, sew your clothes and bring up your children for you. Do we have a share of your reward?"

The Beloved Prophet ﷺ turned to his Companions asking them: "Have you ever heard a better statement by a woman than this one who is asking about matters of her faith?" They said: "We would not have thought that a woman would ever be able to express such meanings, as this lady." The Beloved Prophet ﷺ turned to Asmaa may Allah be pleased with her and said: "Listen woman! And inform other women who sent you that a woman who is a good wife, keen to please her husband and doing what he likes is equal to all that." As she left, she was glorifying Allah and repeating statements of His oneness. [Athir, Usudul Ghabah fi Marifat us Sahabah 761]

May Allah be pleased with Asma may Allah be pleased with her, who obtained this assurance from the Beloved Prophet ﷺ that women are not lesser than men in faith or their reward. As a woman takes care of the future generation, she earns as much reward as man.