A short number of entries in Andalusi biographical sources are devoted to p
ious women(salihat). These women are usually described as practising the re
citation of the Quran, giving alms, leading a retired life and fasting. Tog
ether with other texts, these biographies draw a picture in which a seclude
d life and fasting became the privileged characteristics of religious piety
among Andalusi women. Fasting, in particular, could be used as a means of
going beyond the limits imposed on women by Muslim orthopraxis.