Rabi’a al-Adawiyya of Basra Sufi Saint and Poet

                 
                                                                            https://alchetron.com/Rabia-al-Adawiyya-1049113-W

Rabi’a, It’s All About the Love

Rabi’a al-‘Adawiyya is considered one of the most famous Sufi Saints. She was born between 714 and 718 in Basra, Iraq. There are many different versions of the circumstances of the family she was born into, whether destitute or well-off. In Chase Robinson’s book, Islamic Civilization in Thirty Lives, he introduces the time period of Rabi’a as the early expansion of Islamic rule. According to Robinson Basra was “becoming a centre of scholarship, especially in law, the closely related discipline of grammar, and theology, as well as a fountainhead of piety.” (Robinson 56)

Though word of Rabi’a had spread far and wide during her lifetime, she didn’t become known as a Sufi saint until well into the 11^th and 12^th century. There are no written record of her writing from this period. It was Farid ud-Din Attar, a Sufi Saint and poet, who locked in Rabi’a as a Sufi saint in his writings. Much of what is known about Rabi’a comes from Attar. In the journal Muslim Women Mystics: The Life and Works of Rabi’a and Other Mystics in Islam, Margaret Smith quotes Attar “’speak of her as “that woman on fire with love and ardent desire …consumed with her passion (for God).’” She was the, “first to introduce the notion of pure or ‘Divine Love’ into the mystical world of Islam.” Smith sums up Rabi’a’s teachings on divine love as:

“First, that this love must shut out all others than the Beloved, that is, the saint must turn his back on the world and all its attractions…Then secondly, she teaches that this love, directed to God to the exclusion of all else, must be disinterested, that it must look only neither to hope of reward, now to relief from punishment, but seek only to do the Will of God and to accomplish that which is pleasing to Him.” (Smith 131)

One of the most famous prayers of Rabi’a is about this,

            “O God! If I worship Thee in fear of Hell,

burn me in Hell; and if I worship Thee in hope
of Paradise, exclude me from Paradise; but if I
worship Thee for Thine own sake, withhold
not Thine Everlasting Beauty! (As-Sulami 97)

Just as with Mahammad, Rabi’a started with a humble birth, sought solitude early on and is attributed with fantastic acts or miracles later in life. A common story is told about when she was a baby and her family was so poor that they didn’t even have oil for their lamp. Rabi’a’s mother asked her father to go to the neighbor for some oil. He refused as he had vowed never to ask anybody for anything. That night Muhammad come to him in a dream and told him his daughter was a favorite of God and he was to go to the local governor. There are many different versions of what transpired between Rabi’s father and the governor, but the outcome was the same: her father was given thousands of coins and their fortune was changed. (Robinson 56)

The stories get more fantastical and often include a light emanating from her in the dark. Or “For example, we read that after days of fasting, her abject reliance upon God compels her to refuse the offer of onions in her soup; a bird flies by, dropping ready-pealed onions into the bowl. She reacts by eating bread instead.” Most intriguing is Al-‘Attar writing, “that when she approached Mecca, the Ka’ba miraculously picked up and moved to her,” or, “If she lacked a candle or lantern she would blow on her fingertips for light: they would glow until dawn. (Robinson 59)

For Rabi’a the ultimate goal was to remove everything between her and God. The one constant in writings about Rabi’a is her unrelenting focus and strength in her asceticism. Another example of her strength was that she never married and lived for to be 80. In this time and part of the world, as a woman, both of those things are amazing. According to the review of As-Sulami’s, Early Sufi Women (Dhikr anniswan al-muta ‘abbidat assufiyyat), “Some of the women of Basra at this time met in underground circles called saradib and did not usually meet openly with men. Their characteristic observances included prayer, fasting and night vigils…The famous Rabi’s is depicted as a spiritually disciplined woman in charge of her mystical states rather than as an overly emotional soul.” (As-Sulami 96)

            Another consistent story told about Rabi’s is when she ran down the road with a torch and container of water. The many saints observing this asked about the meaning. Rabi’a replied:

“I am going to light fire in paradise and to pour water on to Hell so that both veils (i.e. hindrances to the true vision of God) may completely disappear from the pilgrims and their purpose may be sure, and the servants of God may see Him, without any objects of hope or motive of fear. What if the hope pf Paradise and the fear of Hell did not exist? Not one would worship his Lord or obey Him.” (Smith 123)

Rabi’a al-Adawiyya of Basra is portrayed as a strong, determined and pious woman. Was she endowed with the pure love of God? Did she reach the ultimate goal of every Sufi, to reach annihilation of the Self? There is no way of knowing. But just the fact that stories are still told, poetry is still attributed to her and she is revered as a Sufi saint to this day, would imply that she was an extraordinary woman.

Works Cited

As-Sulami, Abu 'Abd ar-Rahman. "Early Sufi Women (Dhikr anniswan al-muta 'abbidat assufiyyat)." Digest of Middle East Studies Fall 2003: 93-99.

Robinson, Chase F. Islamic Civilization in Thirty Lives: The First 1,000 Years. University of California Press, 2016.

Smith, Margaret. "Love, Gnosis, he Vision, Union." Muslim women mystics: the life and work of Rabi'a and other women mystics in Islam (2001): 113-140.