In the effort to understand the role and lives of women in the medieval past, is important to rely on multiple modes of sources. In examining several types of contemporary primary sources, as opposed to a chronological assessment of a single type, a more holistic image of medieval history involving multiple facets of society can be put together. The approach that I will be taking in my paper will be to examine multiple source types from the same period to paint a better picture of women’s participation in education in Mamluk Cairo. The sources that I will be using range from awqaf (records of endowments in the form of various assets), tabaqat (biographical dictionaries), tawarikh (contemporaneous histories), fataawa (legal rulings), and social critiques. I will be specifically highlighting the ribat (female religious establishments), and khanaqah (sufi convent), and discussing their role in the religious education and participation of women in the 15th century. I argue that the power of patronage allowed women to found and create institutions to serve their specific needs, creating a crossroads for both the high class and commoners in search of the same goals of religious education. Although many male religious scholars of the time have commented on women refraining from the public sphere, I argue that this was an ideal that was advocated but far from the reality at the time. Biographical dictionaries such as al-Sakhawi, indicate that not only did women patrons fund institutions, but mentions examples of women teaching mixed congregations in mosques. In addition a variety of social critiques highlight the particular interest of women during this time period to visit the Qarafa of Cairo, and thus the surrounding khanaqahs in the area. These conclusions challenge current scholarship that argues that the Middle Periods of Islamic History decreased the accessibility and participation of women in the public sphere. Today, we see an enormous uproar regarding the Women’s Mosque of America, many who argue that it is unprecedented in Islam. However, my research suggests that women have created institutions for seeking religious knowledge centuries before 2015.