Rabia Basri is a role model for all Muslim women. She rules
on the hearts of hundreds of thousands of people around the world. Born
in 95 A.H. in Basra in a poor but respected family, she was the fourth
daughter of her father.
She was born in a dark night. The
family was so poor that there was no oil in the lamp even to light it.
Her sister asked her father to get some oil from the neighbor's house,
but he said he would never ask anyone for any help except Allah.
When
he slept with a heavy heart, he dreamed that Prophet Muhammad (peace be
upon him) came to him and said, “Don't grieve, your newborn daughter is
a favorite of the Lord and will lead many Muslims to the right path.
You should approach the Amir of Basra and present him a letter with a
message that every night he is wont to offer 100 daroods to me and on
Friday nights 400. But this Friday he did not offer daroods, so tell him
that as a penalty he must give you 400 dinars.”
Rabia’s father
got up and went straight to the Amir. The Amir was delighted on
receiving the message. He distributed 1,000 dinars to the poor and
joyously gave 400 to Rabia's father. The Amir then asked Rabia’s father
to come to him whenever he needed anything as it was an honor for him to
help somebody liked by Allah.
After the death of her father,
Basra was hit by famine. Rabia got separated from her sisters and left
alone. She was with a caravan that was attacked by robbers. The chief of
the robbers took Rabia as captive and sold her as a slave. Rabia’s new
master used to make her do hard work.
One day while she was going
out, a man chased her. She ran to save herself but fell down and broke
her arm. Thereupon, she prayed to Allah, “I am a poor orphan and a
slave. Now my hand is broken. But I do not mind these things if Thou be
pleased with me...”
Rabia used to spend the whole night in prayer
after finishing her household work. She used to fast regularly. Once
when her master woke up in the middle of the night he was attracted by
Rabia's prayer:
“My Lord! You know well that my desire is to carry
out Your commandments and to serve You with all my heart. O Light of my
eyes. If I were free I would spend the whole day and night in prayers.
But what should I do when You have made me slave of a human being?”
The
master felt that it was sacrilegious to keep her as a slave. He freed
her and offered her the choice of staying with him or leaving. She told
him she wanted to carry on her worship in solitude. She went to the
desert and devoted herself to worship. Her mentor was Hassan Basri. Much
of her early life is narrated by Farid Al-Din Attar, using earlier
sources. Rabia herself did not leave any written work.
She devoted
herself to prayers. Later she set out for Haj. Rabia reached Makkah and
there she met Ibrahim Adham who also performed Haj that year.
Throughout
her life, her love of God, poverty and self-denial remained her
constant companions. She spent all night in prayer and contemplation. As
her fame grew she had many disciples. Though she had many offers of
marriage, and even one from the Amir of Basra, she refused them as she
had no time in her life for anything other than the Love of Allah.
Once when asked why she did not marry she replied:
“If
you free me from having to worry about three things, I will marry.
First of all, at the moment of death, shall my faith be sufficient to
bring me to salvation? Second, will the Book of my deeds be given to me
in my left or right hand? Third, on that hour when a party of people are
called forth on the left hand to Hell, and another group from the right
hand are summoned to Heaven, which company will I belong to? And
further when I am interrogated in the grave by the two angels, shall I
be able to answer their questions?”
Once Malik Bin Dinaar visited
Rabia Basri. He found in her home a partly broken pitcher which she used
for ablution and drinking water, a very old straw-mat on which she
slept and a brick which she used as a pillow. He said to her, “I have
many affluent friends. Shall I ask them to bring some items for you?”
Rabia
Basri said, “O Malik! Is my Provider, your Provider and the Provider of
the wealthy, not the same?” Malik said, “Yes.” Rabia then said, “Has He
forgotten about the needs of the poor on account of their poverty,
while he remembers the needs of the wealthy?” Malik said, “It is not
so.” Rabia then said, “When He never forgets anyone, why should we
remind Him? He has wished this condition for me and I am pleased with
it, because it is, His pleasure.”
Rabia has taught us that repentance is a gift from Allah because no one can repent unless Almighty Allah allows him to do so.
Ibn
Al-Jawzi relates that at the time of her death, she called Abda Bint
Abi Showal and told her that no one be informed of her death and that
she be shrouded only in her old robe for burial. When her last hour
came, leading sheikhs gathered around her, but she told them to “Go out
and leave place for the Angels.” They all went out and closed the door.
While they were waiting outside, they heard from inside a voice
reciting: “O soul at rest and peace! Return to your Lord...” For a long
while thereafter there was silence. When they went inside, they found
that she had passed away.
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