Citizendia

Rabia al-Adawiyya

Born~ 713-717 CE
Basra, Iraq
Died~ 801 CE
Mount of Olives
ResidenceBasra, Iraq
Known for1st female Sufi Saint, introduced Divine Love
Religious beliefsSufism

Rābiʻa al-ʻAdawiyya al-Qaysiyya (Arabic: رابعة العدوية القيسية) or simply Rabiʿa al-Basri (717–801 C.E.) was a female muslim Sufi saint. Basra ( BGN: AlBasrah also called Basorah Abillah and Uruk or IRAQ The name that British colony has adopted for Basra For a topic outline on this subject see List of basic Iraq topics. The Mount of Olives (also Mount Olivet, جبل الزيتون الطور Jebel az-Zeitun הר הזיתים Har HaZeitim; is a mountain ridge in east Basra ( BGN: AlBasrah also called Basorah Abillah and Uruk or IRAQ The name that British colony has adopted for Basra For a topic outline on this subject see List of basic Iraq topics. The love of God ( divine love, theophilia) is a central notion in monotheistic, personal Conceptions of God. Sufism ( تصوّف - taṣawwuf, Persian: صوفی‌گری sufigari, Turkish: tasavvuf, Urdu: تصوف Arabic (ar الْعَرَبيّة (informally ar عَرَبيْ) in terms of the number of speakers is the largest living member of the Semitic language Events By Place Europe March 21 — The Battle of Vincy is fought between Charles Martel and Ragenfrid. Events By Place Europe December 28 — Louis the Pious occupies Barcelona. A Muslim (مسلم pronounced Muslim, not Muzlim) is an adherent of the Religion Sufism ( تصوّف - taṣawwuf, Persian: صوفی‌گری sufigari, Turkish: tasavvuf, Urdu: تصوف

Contents

Life

She was born between 95 and 99 Hijri in Basra, Iraq. ---- Events By Place Byzantine Empire Byzantine Emperor Philippicus is deposed Anastasius II is made emperor Events By Place Europe March 21 — The Battle of Vincy is fought between Charles Martel and Ragenfrid. The Islamic calendar or Muslim calendar ( Arabic: التقويم الهجري at-taqwīm al-hijrī; Persian: تقویم هجری قمری ‎ Basra ( BGN: AlBasrah also called Basorah Abillah and Uruk or IRAQ The name that British colony has adopted for Basra For a topic outline on this subject see List of basic Iraq topics. Much of her early life is narrated by Farid al-Din Attar. Abū Hamīd bin Abū Bakr Ibrāhīm (born 1145-46 in Nishapur &ndash died c Many spiritual stories are associated with her and it is sometimes difficult to separate reality from legend. A legend ( Latin, legenda, "things to be read" is a Narrative of human actions that are perceived both by teller and listeners to These traditions come from Farid al-Din Attar, a later sufi saint and poet, who used earlier sources. Abū Hamīd bin Abū Bakr Ibrāhīm (born 1145-46 in Nishapur &ndash died c A poet is a person who writes Poetry. Etymology From the Ancient greek: ποιέω, poieō: "I make or compose" Rabia herself did not leave any written works.

She was the fourth daughter of her family and therefore named Rabia, meaning "fourth". She was born free in a poor but respected family.

According to Farid al-Din Attar, Rabia's parents were so poor that there was no oil in house to light a lamp, nor a cloth even to wrap her with. Her mother asked her husband to borrow some oil from a neighbor, but he had resolved in his life never to ask for anything from anyone except the Creator. Allah ( Arabic: الله, ʔalˤːɑːh) is the standard Arabic word for ' He pretended to go to the neighbor's door and returned home empty-handed.

In the night Prophet appeared to him in a dream and told him, "Your newly born daughter is a favorite of the Lord, and shall lead many Muslims to the right path. IMPORTANT PLEASE READ ##### For all questions relating to the addition of (pbuh peace be upon him or other honorifics A Muslim (مسلم pronounced Muslim, not Muzlim) is an adherent of the Religion You should approach the Amir of Basra and present him with a letter in which should be written this message: 'You offer Durood to the Holy Prophet one hundred times every night and four hundred times every Thursday night. Emir ( Arabic: ar أمير;, female أميرة; emira;) ( Farsi and Urdu: امیر) Durood (Arabic Salawat) is an invocation which Muslims make by saying specific phrases to compliment the Islamic prophet Muhammad. However, since you failed to observe the rule last Thursday, as a penalty you must pay the bearer four hundred dinars '. The Dinar is the name of the official currency in several countries

Rabia's father got up and went straight to the Amir with tears of joy rolling down his cheeks. The Amir was delighted on receiving the message, knowing that he was in the eyes of Prophet. He distributed 1000 dinars to the poor and joyously paid 400 dinars to Rabia's father. The Amir then asked Rabia's father to come to him whenever he required anything, as the Amir would benefit very much by the visit of such a soul dear to the Lord.

After the death of her father a famine overtook Basra and Rabia parted from her sisters. A famine is a widespread shortage of food that may apply to any Faunal species which phenomenon is usually accompanied by regional Malnutrition, Starvation Legend has it that she was accompanying a caravan, which fell into the hands of robbers. The chief of the robbers took Rabia captive, and sold her in the market as a slave. The new master of Rabia used to take hard service from her.

She would pass the whole night in prayer, after she had finished her household jobs. She spent many of her days observing fast. Fasting is primarily the act of willingly abstaining from some or all Food, Drink, or both for a period of time

Once the master of the house got up in the middle of the night, and was attracted by the pathetic voice in which Rabia was praying to her Lord. She was entreating in these terms:

"Lord! You know well that my keen desire is to carry out Your commandments and to serve Thee with all my heart, O light of my eyes. If I were free I would pass the whole day and night in prayers. But what should I do when you have made me a slave of a human being?"

At once the master felt that it was sacrilegious to keep such a saint in his service. A saint (from the Latin sanctus) is a human being to whom has been attributed (and who has generally demonstrated a high level of Holiness and Sanctity He decided to serve her instead. In the morning he called her and told her his decision; he would serve her and she should dwell there as the mistress of the house. If she insisted on leaving the house he was willing to free her from bondage.

She told him that she was willing to leave the house to carry on her worship in solitude. This article refers to the religious act For the album by Michael W This the master granted and she left the house. [1]

Rabia went into the desert to pray and became an ascetic. Ascetic redirects here You might also be looking for Acetic acid. Her murshid was Hazrat Hassan Basri. Pir ( Persian: (پیر literally "old " is a title for a Sufi master

Throughout her life, her Love of God, poverty and self-denial did not waver. They were her constant companions. She did not possess much other than a broken jug, a rush mat and a brick, which she used as a pillow. She spent all night in prayer and contemplation, chiding herself if she slept because it took her away from her active Love of God.

As her fame grew she had many disciples. She also had discussions with many of the renowned religious people of her time. Though she had many offers of marriage, and (tradition has it) one even from the Amir of Basra, she refused them as she had no time in her life for anything other than God.

More interesting than her absolute asceticism, however, is the actual concept of Divine Love that Rabia introduced. She was the first to introduce the idea that God should be loved for God's own sake, not out of fear -- as earlier Sufis had done.

She taught that repentance was a gift from God because no one could repent unless God had already accepted him and given him this gift of repentance. Repentance is a change of thought and action to correct a wrong and gain Forgiveness from the one wronged She taught that sinners must fear the punishment they deserved for their sins, but she also offered such sinners far more hope of Paradise than most other ascetics did. Jannah (جنّة is the Islamic conception of Paradise. The Arabic form Jannah is a shortened version meaning simply "Garden" For herself, she held to a higher ideal, worshipping God neither from fear of Hell nor from hope of Paradise, for she saw such self-interest as unworthy of God's servants; emotions like fear and hope were like veils -- i. Hell, according to many Religious beliefs, is a location in the Afterlife, which may be described as a place of suffering e. hindrances to the vision of God Himself.

She prayed: "O Allah! If I worship You for fear of Hell, burn me in Hell,
 and if I worship You in hope of Paradise, exclude me from Paradise.
But if I worship You for Your Own sake,
grudge me not Your everlasting Beauty. ”

Rabia was in her early to mid eighties[2] when she died, having followed the mystic Way to the end. She believed she was continually united with her Beloved. As she told her Sufi friends, "My Beloved is always with me"

Philosophy

She was the one who first set forth the doctrine of Divine Love and who is widely considered to be the most important of the early Sufi poets. The love of God ( divine love, theophilia) is a central notion in monotheistic, personal Conceptions of God. Sufism ( تصوّف - taṣawwuf, Persian: صوفی‌گری sufigari, Turkish: tasavvuf, Urdu: تصوف The definitive work on her life and writing was a small treatise (written as a Master's Thesis) over 50 years ago by Margaret Smith . Margaret Smith (born 1884 was a female scholar writing on early Christian and Muslim mysticism from an openminded Christian perspective

Much of the poetry that is attributed to her is of unknown origin. After a life of hardship she spontaneously achieved a state of self-realization. When asked by Sheikh Hasan al-Basri how she discovered the secret, she responded by stating:

"You know of the how, but I know of the how-less. Sheikh, also rendered as Sheik, Cheikh, Shaikh, and other variants ( Arabic:, shaykh TemplateInfobox Muslim scholars --> al-Hasan al-Basri (الحسن البصري (Abu Sa'id al-Hasan ibn Abi-l-Hasan Yasar " [3]

One of the many myths that swirl around her life is that she was freed from slavery because her master saw her praying while surrounded by light, realized that she was a saint and feared for his life if he continued to keep her as a slave.

While she apparently received many marriage offers (including a proposal from Hasan al-Basri himself), she remained celibate and died of old age, an ascetic, her only care from the disciples who followed her. Ascetic redirects here You might also be looking for Acetic acid. She was the first in a long line of female Sufi mystics. Mysticism (from the Greek grc μυστικός mystikos, an initiate of a Mystery religion) is the pursuit of communion with identity

Anecdotes

"I want to put out the fires of Hell, and burn down the rewards of Paradise. They block the way to God. I do not want to worship from fear of punishment or for the promise of reward, but simply for the love of God. "
At the same time the great Sufi Saint Hazrat Ibrahim bin Adham arrived at the Ka'ba, but he did not see it. He had spent fourteen years making his way to the Ka'ba, because in every place of prayer he performed two rakats. The word (ركعة pl ركعات) refers to one unit of Islamic prayer or Salah.
Hazrat Ibrahim bin Adham said, "Alas! What has happened? It maybe that some injury has overtaken my eyes. " An unseen voice said to him, "No harm has befallen your eyes, but the Ka'ba has gone to meet a woman, who is approaching this place. " Ibrahim Adham responded, "O indeed, who is this?" He ran and saw Rabia arriving, and that the Ka'ba was back in its own place. When Ibrahim saw that, he said, "O Rabia, what is this disturbance and trouble and burden which you have brought into the world?"
She replied, "I have not brought disturbance into the world. It is you who have disturbed the world, because you delayed fourteen years in arriving at the Ka'ba. " He said, "Yes I have spent fourteen years in crossing the desert (because I was engaged) in prayer. " Rabia said, "You traversed it in ritual prayer (Salat) but with personal supplication. Ṣalāt ( Arabic: صلاة‎, pl ṣalawāt, Qur'anic Arabic: صلوة ṣalawah) (also munz in Pashto and " Then, having performed the pilgrimage, she returned to Basra and occupied herself with works of devotion.

References

  1. ^ "Freed from slavery by her master.", Jaihoon. com.  
  2. ^ "In her early to mid eighties when she died.", Poetseers. org.  
  3. ^ Farid al-Din Attar, Rabe'a al-Adawiya, from Muslim Saints and Mystics, trans. A. J. Arberry, London: Routledge & Kegan Paul, 1983

External links

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