Date of birth: Betweeen 95 and 99 Hijri
Place of birth: Basra, Iraq
Rabia Basri is a
role model for all Muslim women. Despite Rabia not leaving any written work
herself, her earlier life has been compiled by Farid al-Din Attar.
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 neighbour’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 favourite 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 honour 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.
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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