Rabia Basri

Rābiʼa al-ʼAdawiyya al-Qaysiyya
Rābiʼa al-ʼAdawiyya al-Qaysiyya
	Depiction of Rabiʼa grinding grain from a Persian dictionary
Born	between 714 and 718 CE
Died	801 CE
Academic background
Influences	Hasan of Basra
Academic work
Era	Islamic Golden Age; (Umayyad and Abbasid era);
Main interests	Sufism, Asceticism, Divine love
Notable ideas	Divine love

Rābiʼa al-ʼAdawiyya al-Qaysiyya (Arabic: رابعة العدوية القيسية; c. 716 – 801 CE)^[1] was a poet, one of the earliest Sufi mystics and an influential religious figure.^[2] She is known in some parts of the world as Hazrat Rabia Basri, Rabia Al Basri or simply Rabia Basri.^[3]

Biography

Very little is known about the life of Rabiʿa, notes Rkia Elaroui Cornell.

What historical information can be ascertained from the earliest sources on Rabi‘a? As stated above, there is very little except to confirm that a Muslim woman ascetic and teacher named Rabi‘a al-‘Adawiyya or Rabi‘a al-Qaysiyya (the name ‘Adawiyya refers to her clan and the name Qaysiyya refers to her tribe) lived in or around the city of Basra in southern Iraq in the eighth century CE. [...] The commonly accepted birth date of 717 CE and death date of 801 CE come from a much later period and the ultimate source of these dates is unclear.^[4]

Cornell further notes that she was mentioned by two early Basran authors.^[4] "Because of this, they were familiar with her reputation. This local reputation is the best empirical evidence we have that Rabi‘a actually existed."^[4] She also writes, "To date, no written body of work has been linked conclusively to Rabi‘a al-‘Adawiyya."^[4]

Despite this, narratives about Rabiʿa grew over the centuries, and a considerable hagiography developed. Attar of Nishapur, a Sufi saint and poet who lived some four centuries later, recounted a now-famous story of her early life.^[5] Many of her hagiographies depict her using literary or philosophical tropes where she, like her Christian counterparts, embodied idealized religious individuals.^[4]

Philosophy and religious contributions

Often noted as having been the single most famous and influential renunciant women in Islam, Rabiʿa was renowned for her high virtue and piety. A devoted ascetic, when asked why she performed a thousand ritual prostrations both during the day and at night, she is said to have answered, "I desire no reward for it; I do it so that the Messenger of God, may God bless him and give him peace, will delight in it on the day of Resurrection and say to the prophets, 'Take note of what a woman of my community has accomplished.'"^[5]

Rabiʿa was described intense in her self-denial and devotion to God.^[6] As an explanation of her refusal to lift her head toward the heavens (to God) as an act of modesty, she used to say: "Were the world the possession of a single man, it would not make him rich ... because it is passing away."^[5]

According to Sufi accounts, she was the first to set forth the doctrine of divine love known as Ishq^[7] and is widely considered being the most important of the early renunciants, a form of piety that would eventually be labelled Sufism.^[3]

Poetry and stories

Much of the poetry that is attributed to her is of unknown origin.^[4] There is no evidence in the historical archive that Rabia ever met Hasan al-Basri; however, the following stories, which first appeared in Attar of Nishapur's Tazkirat al-Awliya, is a common trope in the modern period:^[8] After a life of hardship, she spontaneously achieved a state of self-realization. When asked by Hasan al-Basri how she discovered the secret, she responded by stating "you know of the how, but I know of the how-less."^[9]

One of the many stories that surround 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.^[6]

Biographer Rkia Elaroui Cornell discovered four main characterizations of Rabia: Rabia the Teacher, Rabia the Ascetic, Rabia the Lover, and Rabia the Sufi.^[10]

Asceticism

Rabia is often described as being an ascetic, where "the ascetic attains the otherworldly not by rejecting the world but by treating it as unimportant. The ascetic avoids the World not because it is evil per se but because it is a distraction from God."^[11]

Legacy

In a Sufi narrative, Sufi leader Hasan al-Basri explained, "I passed one whole night and day with Rabi'a ... it never passed through my mind that I was a man nor did it occur to her that she was a woman... when I saw her I saw myself as bankrupt and Rabi'a as truly sincere."^[12]

She decided to stay celibate in order to live life unlike other Muslim women of her time, and devote herself completely to God.^[6] Among her most notable qualities besides her devotion to God were her humility and celibacy.^[6] Living alone with divine love, she is adored by many for her religious passion and the example she set for the growing Muslim population.^[6] However, her importance and legacy remain prominent through tales of her life, modern references, and her standing in Muslim culture, while no physical evidence was found of her, Rabia's story and poetry remain an inspiration to women and Muslim people today.^[13]^[14]

In popular culture

The life of Rabia has been the subject of several motion pictures of Turkish cinema. One of these films, Rabia, released in 1973, was directed by Osman F. Seden, and Fatma Girik played the leading role of Rabia.^[15]

Rabia, İlk Kadın Evliya (Rabia, The First Woman Saint) is another Turkish film on Rabia. It was also released in 1973 and was directed by Süreyya Duru, starring Hülya Koçyiğit.^[15]

The Indonesian song "Jika Surga dan Neraka Tak Pernah Ada" sung by Ahmad Dhani and Chrisye on their 2004 album Senyawa, is based on Rabia's quotes^[16] about worshipping God out of love, not out of fear of punishment or desire for a reward.^[17]

References

^ Margaret Smith (1995). Encyclopedia of Islam, 2nd ed., Vol. 8, "Rābiʼa al-ʼAdawiyya al-Qaysiyya". Brill. pp. 354–56.
^ Smith, Margaret (2010). Rabi'a The Mystic and Her Fellow-Saints in Islam. Cambridge University Press. p. 252. ISBN 9781108015912.
^ ^a ^b Hanif, N. (2002). Biographical Encyclopaedia of Sufis: Central Asia and Middle East. Sarup & Sons. pp. 108–10. ISBN 9788176252669.
^ ^a ^b ^c ^d ^e ^f Cornell, Rkia Elaroui (2019). Rabi'a From Narrative to Myth: The Many Faces of Islam's Most Famous Woman Saint, Rabi'a al-'Adawiyya. Simon and Schuster. p. 14. ISBN 978-1-78607-522-2.
^ ^a ^b ^c a-Ra'uf al-Munawi, 'Abu (1998). Renard, John (ed.). Windows on the House of Islam. Berkeley, CA: University of California. pp. 132–33.
^ ^a ^b ^c ^d ^e Barbara Lois Helms, Rabi'a as Mystic, Muslim and Woman
^ Margaret Smith, Rabi'a The Mystic and Her Fellow-Saints in Islam, Cambridge Library Collection, 1928.
^ Cornell, Rabi'a, 148n2.
^ Farid al-Din Attar, Rabe'a [sic] al-Adawiya, from Muslim Saints and Mystics, trans. A.J. Arberry, London: Routledge & Kegan Paul, 1983.
^ Cornell, Rabi'a, 10, 28-29.
^ Cornell, Rabi'a, 153.
^ Ahmed, Leila (1992). Women and Gender in Islam. Yale University. p. 96.
^ "Introduction: Is There a 'New Middle East'?", Central Asia Meets the Middle East, Routledge, pp. 15–36, 2013-11-05, doi:10.4324/9781315037493-3, ISBN 978-1-315-03749-3, retrieved 2022-12-11
^ Cornell, Rkia Elaroui (2019). Rabi'a from narrative to myth the many faces of Islam's most famous woman saint, Rabi'a al-'Adawiyya. London. ISBN 978-1-78607-521-5. OCLC 1035135590.{{cite book}}: CS1 maint: location missing publisher (link)
^ ^a ^b Dönmez-Colin, Gönül (2013-12-04). The Routledge Dictionary of Turkish Cinema. Routledge. ISBN 978-1-317-93726-5.
^ Hirshfield, Jane (1994). Women in Praise of the Sacred: 43 Centuries of Spiritual Poetry by Women. HarperCollins Pub. ISBN 978-0-06-016987-9.
^ Wahyudi, Agus (2010). Makrifat Cinta Ahmad Dhani (in Indonesian). Penerbit Narasi. ISBN 978-979-16821-0-7.

External links

[EI2-1] Margaret Smith (1995). Encyclopedia of Islam, 2nd ed., Vol. 8, "Rābiʼa al-ʼAdawiyya al-Qaysiyya". Brill. pp. 354–56.

[Rabi'a_The_Mystic_and_Her_Fellow-Saints_in_Islam-2] Smith, Margaret (2010). Rabi'a The Mystic and Her Fellow-Saints in Islam. Cambridge University Press. p. 252. ISBN 9781108015912.

[Hanif-3] Hanif, N. (2002). Biographical Encyclopaedia of Sufis: Central Asia and Middle East. Sarup & Sons. pp. 108–10. ISBN 9788176252669.

[Rkia14-4] ^ ^a ^b ^c ^d ^e ^f Cornell, Rkia Elaroui (2019). Rabi'a From Narrative to Myth: The Many Faces of Islam's Most Famous Woman Saint, Rabi'a al-'Adawiyya. Simon and Schuster. p. 14. ISBN 978-1-78607-522-2.

[:0-5] -Ra'uf al-Munawi, 'Abu (1998). Renard, John (ed.). Windows on the House of Islam. Berkeley, CA: University of California. pp. 132–33.

[helms-6] Barbara Lois Helms, Rabi'a as Mystic, Muslim and Woman

[7] Margaret Smith, Rabi'a The Mystic and Her Fellow-Saints in Islam, Cambridge Library Collection, 1928.

[8] Cornell, Rabi'a, 148n2.

[9] Farid al-Din Attar, Rabe'a [sic] al-Adawiya, from Muslim Saints and Mystics, trans. A.J. Arberry, London: Routledge & Kegan Paul, 1983.

[10] Cornell, Rabi'a, 10, 28-29.

[11] Cornell, Rabi'a, 153.

[12] Ahmed, Leila (1992). Women and Gender in Islam. Yale University. p. 96.

[13] "Introduction: Is There a 'New Middle East'?", Central Asia Meets the Middle East, Routledge, pp. 15–36, 2013-11-05, doi:10.4324/9781315037493-3, ISBN 978-1-315-03749-3, retrieved 2022-12-11

[14] Cornell, Rkia Elaroui (2019). Rabi'a from narrative to myth the many faces of Islam's most famous woman saint, Rabi'a al-'Adawiyya. London. ISBN 978-1-78607-521-5. OCLC 1035135590.{{cite book}}: CS1 maint: location missing publisher (link)

[:1-15] Dönmez-Colin, Gönül (2013-12-04). The Routledge Dictionary of Turkish Cinema. Routledge. ISBN 978-1-317-93726-5.

[16] Hirshfield, Jane (1994). Women in Praise of the Sacred: 43 Centuries of Spiritual Poetry by Women. HarperCollins Pub. ISBN 978-0-06-016987-9.

[17] Wahyudi, Agus (2010). Makrifat Cinta Ahmad Dhani (in Indonesian). Penerbit Narasi. ISBN 978-979-16821-0-7.

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v t e Yazidi holy figures
Sheikh Adi lineage	Sheikh Adi Sheikh Hesen Sherfedin Sheikh Obekr Abdul Qadir Sheikh Ismail Enzel Musa Sor ("Red Moses")
Shemsani lineage	Ezdina Mir Sheikh Shems Fakhraddin Nasirdin Sejadin Amadîn Şêx Mend Xatûna Fexra
Other saints	Shehid ibn Jerr Pir Ali Mehmed Reshan Rabi'a al-Adawiyya
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