Who is Rabia al-Adawiyya ?! She was born into a poor and respected family, and before her birth her parents were already informed from a dream that she would be a virtuous leader. She desired neither fame nor power but her passion, love of God, and self-denial earned her both. At a young age, she was capturedand sold into slavery. Rabia worked exhaustively hard but spent nights awake to pray anyway. Her “master” overheard her once in the middle of the night praying, “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 werefree I would pass the whole day and night in prayers. But what should I do when you have mademe a slave of a human being?” Her voice was loving and tearful. The man, fearing that he would be punished–for keeping a slave is sacrilegious–freed her. Until she died she lived a life of material deprivation and simplicity. She spent nights in deep contemplation and prayer after working long, hard hours. She had many proposals of marriage but refused them all. Rabia al-Adawiyya was the first toset forth the concept of Divine Love–loving God unconditionally,regardless of desire for reward or fear of punishment. She is most known for praying, “O God! 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.” And indeed, there is a story that she was once seen running through the streets of the city holding a pail of water and a torch. When asked why, she replied, “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 punishmentor for the promise of reward, butsimply for the love of God.” Her passion and love knew no bounds. When asked if she despised the devil, she answered,“I am so consumed in my love for God that no place remains for loving or hating any save God.” She participated in many discussions with religious people,and she was so loved and respected that Hasan Basri would not deliver his sermons if she was absent from the audience. She also told him off a lot, and greatly influenced centuries of scholars to come.
Posted on: Fri, 23 Aug 2013 22:02:03 +0000
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