Rabia al-Adawiyya (a.k.a Rabia Basri)

“In my soul there is a temple, a shrine, a mosque, a church that dissolve in God.”

Rab’ia al-Adawiyya (aka Rabia Basri, c.717-801) was an influential Sufi mystic. Sufism is a mystical form of Islam which bridges sectarian divides and promotes an Islam based on a personal connection to God and detachment to wealth and worldly pleasures. She has become legendary in the Islamic tradition, which complicates a historical assessment of her life which now comprises both mythical and factual components. However, there is still much to know and admire about Rabia, and her legacy on the Islamic tradition is undeniable.

Rabia’s early life is shrouded in myth. Her surname shows that she was related to the powerful family of the second caliph, Umar, but this does not necessarily mean that she herself was powerful. Rather, it is largely believed that she was sold into slavery or at least worked as a slave at some point, although some sources suggest that she herself was born powerful enough to own slaves. What is known is that she never married (unsual for the time) and that she never wrote anything herself. However, her legacy lasts because of her frequent evocation by later Sufi mystics and female renunciants.

Rabia was born around 717 in modern-day Iraq. Islam and the Muslim empire had been drastically transformed in the two generations since the Prophet Muhammad’s death – political and religious fractions were emerging as opinions differed about Islamic teaching and the Islamic way to run. Many born Muslims outwith Arabia felt disconnected to Islam and continued to adhere to the pracises of their old religions. They began to ask questions about the Islamic faith and what it meant for their life on earth and beyond. Many pious men AND WOMEN attempted to provide answers to these questions, most notably Rabia Basri.

As romantically depicted in 1001 Arabian Nights, the Islamic Empire of Rabia’s day was marked by its opulence and wealth. However, the changing political landscape often resulted in wealth disappearing as quickly and easily as it had been found. This is the context into which Rabia began to preach poverty and self-discipline as the most spiritual way of life. Sufism is very much “Inward-facing”, believing that knowledge of God is within us all and that knowing ourselves is important to know the divine. She spoke within and outside Basra’s mosques, preaching humility, poverty, and total reliance on God. She decried the fragility of life, the illusion of physical appearances and material wealth, stressing that it was one’s internal goodness and piety which really mattered. This was a controversial view in a society which prided itself on martial glory and worldly treasure. She also denounced the more orthodox traditions which sought to pass their opinions and laws as God’s: ‘Since no one really knows anything about God, those who think they do are just troublemakers.’  The combination of mysticism and aestheticism is a key characteristic of early Sufism, of which Rabia remains a respected pillar.

“O Lord, should I worship you for fear of punishment, then burn me in Hellfire. Should I worship you for reward, then keep me out of paradise. But I worship you only for you.”

Rabia was distinguishable from other early Sufis, however, in worshipping the divine in loving terms. She believed that one should love as well as fear God. She is most famous for her critique of the emphasis on Heaven (Paradise/The Garden) and Hell (The Fire). Thus she is most commonly depicted carrying a torch (to set fire to Paradise) and a bucket of water (to extinguish the flames of Hell). She believed that people should not worship God or behave properly for fear of punishment or for hope of heavenly reward, but for love of God alone. Sufism is charactised by its focus on a personal relationship with God, which Rabia also advocated:

 ‘You, I love two-fold: What I expect of myself, and what I hope for from you. I expect to keep myself focussed on savouring you memory and to free myself from everything else. I hope that you will remove all veils, that I may see you. I deserve no praise for either this or that. Praise for both belongs solely to you.’ 

Thus, Rabia emphasised a total reliance on God for worldly provision, but also as the greatest source of love in one’s life. She saw God ‘not only as the ultimate surce of power but also as the eternal and everlasting fount of love: the consummate beloved.’ (Kamaly 2019, 43). Some of her poems to/about God read as romantic love letters, beautiful relics of her relationship with the divine:

‘Your hope in my heart is the rarest treasure/Your Name on my tongue is the sweetest word/My choicest hours/ Are the hours I spend with You/O God, I can't live in this world/Without remembering You.’

 

Rabia stands as a powerful example of the importance of women to the early Islamic tradition, and the fallacy of Islamic patriarchy and female oppression. Her status as a woman seems to have bolstered rather than hindered her status. In 1217, a notable male Sufi wrote of her: ‘ A woman who walks on the path of the Lord as ably as a man should not be faulted for being a woman.’ While Sufism has evolved through several transformations in its long history, Sufis everywhere and in every time have venerated Rabia, and she has served as an inspiring role model to generations of multiudes of Muslim women across various contexts. Women have a special place in the Islamic tradition owing to the notable women in the prophet’s household including his wives and daughters. However, Rabia is among the first woman not directly related to the prophet to show that women were just as possible as attaining spiritual perfection as men, and that one’s gender did not guarantee or prohibit one’s piety. As Prophet Muhammad himself taught: ‘God does not regard your forms.’ Sufism, in its veneration of Rabia and other female mystics, shatters stereotypes of Islam as a misogynistic and oppressive religion, and provides an inspiring model of humility and self-awareness for women within and beyond the Islamic tradition. Please do yourself a favour and read some of her poetry, it will really soothe your soul.