ROBI'ATUL ADAWIYAH - HOLY WOMAN FROM IRAQ.

ROBIATUL ADAWIYAH

THE WOMEN SUFI

Born

She was born between 95 and 99 Hijri in Basra, Iraq. Much of her early life is narrated by Farid al-Din Attar. Farid al-Din Attar, a later Sufi saint and poet, used earlier sources. Rabia herself did not leave any written works.She was the fourth daughter of her family and therefore named Rabia, meaning "fourth". She was born free in a poor but respected family.According to Farid al-Din Attar, Rabia's parents were so poor that there was no oil in house to light a lamp, nor a cloth even to wrap her with. Her mother asked her husband to borrow some oil from a neighbor, but he had resolved in his life never to ask for anything from anyone except the Creator. He pretended to go to the neighbor's door and returned home empty-handed.

In the night Prophet Muhammad appeared to him in a dream and told him, "Your newly born daughter is a favorite of the Lord, and shall lead many Muslims to the right path. You should approach the Amir of Basra and present him with a letter in which should be written this message: 'You offer Durood to the Holy Prophet one hundred times every night and four hundred times every Thursday night. However, since you failed to observe the rule last Thursday, as a penalty you must pay the bearer four hundred dinars '.

Rabia's father got up and went straight to the Amir with tears of joy rolling down his cheeks. The Amir was delighted on receiving the message, knowing that he was in the eyes of Prophet. He distributed 1000 dinars to the poor and joyously paid 400 dinars to Rabia's father. The Amir then asked Rabia's father to come to him whenever he required anything, as the Amir would benefit very much by the visit of such a soul dear to the Lord.After the death of her father a famine overtook Basra and Rabia parted from her sisters. Legend has it that she was accompanying a caravan, which fell into the hands of robbers. The chief of the robbers took Rabia captive, and sold her in the market as a slave. The new master of Rabia used to take hard service from her.She would pass the whole night in prayer, after she had finished her household jobs. She spent many of her days observing fast.

Once the master of the house got up in the middle of the night, and was attracted by the pathetic voice in which Rabia was praying to her Lord. She was entreating in these terms: "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 were free I would pass the whole day and night in prayers. But what should I do when you have made me a slave of a human being?"
At once the master felt that it was sacrilegious to keep such a saint in his service. He decided to serve her instead. In the morning he called her and told her his decision; he would serve her and she should dwell there as the mistress of the house. If she insisted on leaving the house he was willing to free her from bondage.She told him that she was willing to leave the house to carry on her worship in solitude. This the master granted and she left the house.

1. On the night Hadhrat Rabiah (rahmatullah alayha) was born, the house was in complete darkness. Her father was unable to buy even oil for the lamp on account of his poverty. There was no garments to wrap the new born babe. She was the fourth daughter hence was named Rabiah (i.e. the fourth). Her mother asked her father (Rabiah's father) to go to a neighbour for some oil. Rabiah's father had vowed never to ask anything from anyone. However, to satisfy his wife, he went to the neighbour's house, knocked on the door and came away before anyone opened it. On his return, he told his wife that the door was not opened. Grief-stricken he fell asleep. In a dream he saw Rasulullah telling him: "Do not grieve, this girl born to you is exceptionally fortunate and holy. By her intercession 70,000 people of my Ummah will be forgiven. Go to the governor of Basrah and convey to him this message written on a page:"Every night you recite 100 Durood on me and on Friday night 400 times. Last Friday night you forget to recite the Durood. As a compensation for this omission give this person 400 dinars."Rabiah's father woke up crying. He wrote out the message and went to meet the governor. He handed the letter to a guard. When the governor read the letter he was moved by the fact that Rasulullah had remembered him. He ordered 10,000 dirhams to be given to the poor as a token of gratitude. He went out to meet Rabiah's father. After presenting him with the 400 dinars, he said: "In future whatever your needs are, come to me without any hesitation."
2. After she came of age, her parents passed away. There was a great famine in Basrah. The sisters were separated. A cruel man abducted her. He enslaved her and finally sold her cheaply. All day long she worked for her master and spend the night in ibaadat. One night her master woke up and heard her supplicating. When he went to investigate he saw a lamp miraculously hanging in mid-air above her lighting up the entire room. She was saying: "O Allah! You know that my heart's desire is to serve You, and the light of my eyes is in Your service. Since You have subjected me to be in the service of people, I am late for Your service."Rabiah's master resolved to set her free. In the morning, he emancipated her and said: "You are free to go. If you choose to stay here, you are welcome. However, then I shall serve you." Taking permission she departed to spend her time in the ibaadat of Allah Ta'ala.
3. Once while she was in the service of her master she was sent on an errand. Along the way a man accosted her. In fright she fled, slipped and broke her hand. Praying to Allah Ta'ala she cried: "O Allah! I am forlorn, without mother and father. Now my hand too is broken. But I do not care for these calamities if You are pleased with me. Are You pleased or displeased with me?"A voice called to her: "On the Day of Qiyaamah even the Muqarrab (very close) Angels will envy your rank."
4. Daily she performed a thousand raka'ts Nafl Salaat.
5. When she went for Hajj she took along an emaciated donkey on which was loaded her few belongings. The ass died along the journey. The people accompanying her offered to carry her belongings, but she refused, saying: "Proceed! I did not come relying on you." The caravan continued, leaving her behind. With her perfect trust in Allah Ta'ala she supplicated for His aid. Even before completing her dua, the donkey came to life. Rabiah continued her journey and reached Makkah Muazzamah.
6. Rabiah in her yearning for Allah, prayed to be shown His Vision. A Voice said to her:"If you desire Me, I shall reveal a manifestation (Tajalli) of Myself and in a moment you will be reduced to ash."Rabiah said: "O Allah! I lack the power for Your Tajalli. I wish for the rank of Faqr (i.e. an extremely lofty spiritual status of divine proximity)."
The Voice said: "O Rabiah! Faqr is the famine of My Wrath. We have reserved it exclusively for those Men (Auliyaa) who have completely reached Us. There remains not even the distance of a hair between them and Us. At that juncture, We rebuff them and distance them from Our Proximity. In spite of his, they do not lose hope in Us. They again commence their journey towards Us. While this is their condition, you are still wrapped in the veils of time. As long as you are with the folds of these veils and have not entered into Our Path with a true heart, it is improper for you to even mention Faqr."The Voice then commanded Rabiah to lift her gaze towards the heaven. As she complied, she observed a vast rolling ocean of blood suspended in space. The Voice said:"This is the ocean of blood of tears of My Lovers who are lost in My Absorption. This is their first stage (in their journey to reach Allah)."
7. Once, Rabiah overcome with tiredness, fell asleep. A thief entered and took her shawl, but he was unable to find his way out. When he replaced the shawl, he saw the exit. Again he took the shawl and lost the way. He replaced the shawl and saw the way out. He repeated this process several times. Then he heard someone saying:"Why bring a calamity on yourself? She whose shawl this is, has handed herself over to another Being. Even Shaitaan cannot approach her. A thief is not able to steal her shawl. Leave it and depart."
8. Once when Rabiah was on a mountain, the wild beasts of the jungle gathered around her and stared at her in wonder. Coincidentally, Hadhrat Hasan Basri appeared on the scene. All the animals scattered and disappeared into the jungle. In surprise he said: "The animals fled when they saw me. Why did they stay with you?" Rabiah asked: "What did you eat today?" Hasan Basri: "Meat and bread." Rabiah: "When you have eaten meat, why should they not flee?"
9. It was said to Rabiah: "Hadhrat Hasan says that if on the Day of Qiyaamah he is deprived of Allah's Vision for even a moment, he will lament so much that the inmates of Jannat will take pity on him." Rabiah said: "True, but this claim is appropriate for only a person who does not forget Allah Ta'ala here on earth for a single moment."
10. People asked: "Why do you not take a husband?"Rabiah responded: "I am saddled with three concerns. If you remove these worries from me, I shall take a husband. One: Tell me, will I die with Imaan? Two: On the Day of Qiyaamah will my Record of Deeds be given in my right or left hand? Three: On the Day of Qiyaamah will I be among the people of the right side or the left side?" The people said that they were unable to give her assurances regarding these issues. She said: "A woman who has these fears has no desire for a husband."
11. She was asked: "From whence have you come and whither are you going?" Rabiah said: "I came from that world and I am returning to that world." The People asked: "What are you doing in this world?" Rabiah let out a cry of lament. They asked: "Why are you lamenting?" Rabiah said: "I obtain my rizq from that world while I am doing the work of this world."
12. When asked for the cause of her constant crying, Rabiah said: "I fear separation from Allah Ta'ala. I fear that at the time of maut I may be rebuffed and it be announced: "You do not deserve to be in Our Presence."
13. She was asked: "When is Allah pleased with a person?" Rabiah replied: "When he expresses gratitude for the effort (on His Path) just as he expresses gratitude for bounties."
14. Rabiah said: "As long as Allah Ta'ala does not grant the taufeeq, a person will not be able to repent for sins. (Thus, sincere repentance indicates acceptance of the taubah.)
15. "As long as man's heart is not alert, his other limbs cannot find the path of Allah. An alert heart is a heart lost in divine absorption. Such a heart is not in need of the aid of other limbs. This stage is called Fana (annihilation)."
16. "Only verbal istighfaar is the act of liars. When a vain person makes taubah, he should again make taubah (for the sin of vanity)."
17. Once Rabiah kept seven fasts and spent the entire night in Ibaadat. On the seventh day someone presented her a bowl of milk. When she went to fetch the lamp, a cat came and drank the milk. She decided to break fast with water. When she brought a cup of water, the lamp was extinguished. As she lifted the cup, it slipped and broke. She drew a sigh and said: "O Allah! What are You doing to me?" A Voice said: "O Rabiah! If you desire the bounties of the world, We shall bestow it to you, but then We shall remove Our love from your heart. Our love and worldly bounties cannot coexist in one heart." Henceforth, Rabiah severed all her worldly hopes and her attitude was like that of a person in his death throes. Each morning she supplicated: "O Allah! Keep me engrossed in You and do not allow the people of the world to divert me."
18. Once when Hadhrat Hasan Basri went to visit Hadhrat Rabiah, he found one of the wealthy and prominent citizens of Basrah standing with a bag of money, weeping at her door. On enquiring, he said: "I have brought this gift for Rabiah. I know she will refuse it, hence, I am crying. Do intercede for me. Perhaps she will accept it." Hasan Basri went inside and delivered the message. Rabiah said: "Since I have recognized Allah, I have renounced the world. I am not aware of its source–whether halaal or haraam?"
19. Maalik Bin Dinaar went to visit Rabiah. He found in her home only a partly broken jug which she used for wudhu and drinking water; a very old straw-mat on which she slept and a brick which she used as a pillow. Maalik Bin Dinaar said: "I have many affluent friends. Shall I ask them to bring some items for you?"Rabiah said: "O Maalik! Is my Provider, your Provider and the provider of the wealthy not the same Being?" Maalik said: "Yes." Rabiah: "What, has He forgotten about the needs of the poor on account of their poverty while he remembers the needs of the wealthy?" Maalik Bin Dinaar: "It is not so." Rabiah: "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."
20. Rabiah supplicated: "O Allah! My duty and my desire on earth are Your remembrance and in the Aakhirah, Your Vision. You are the Master." "O Allah! Maintain the presence (i.e. concentration) of my heart or accept my ibaadat devoid of concentration."
21. When her time to depart from earth was near, the illustrious Mashaa-ikh gathered by her. She said: "Go away and leave place for the Angels." They all went out and closed the door. While they were waiting outside, they heard from within a voice reciting:"O Soul at Rest! Return to your Rabb."For a long while thereafter there was silence. When they went inside they discovered that Rabiah's soul had taken flight from this world and had reached Allah.
22. In a dream someone asked her: "What transpired when Munkar and Nakier came to You?" Rabiah said: "When they asked me: "Who is your Rabb?", I said: "Go back! Say to Allah: When You had never forgotten this weak woman despite Your remembrance of entire creation, how can she forget You when on earth You were her only remembrance? Why do you send Angels to question her?"
23. Muhammad Aslam Toosi and Nu'maa Tartoosi (rahmatullah alayhima) stood at her grave side. One of them said:"O Rabiah! During your lifetime you made bold and audacious claims of having renounced the world. Tell us, what has transpired now with you?" From inside the grave, Hadhrat Rabiah (rahmatullah alayha) spoke:"May Allah grant me barkat in what I have seen and am seeing (i.e. of the wonders of the spiritual realm)."

Rabia went into the desert to pray and became an ascetic. Her murshid was Hazrat Hassan Basri.Throughout her life, her Love of God, poverty and self-denial did not waver. They were her constant companions. She did not possess much other than a broken jug, a rush mat and a brick, which she used as a pillow. She spent all night in prayer and contemplation, chiding herself if she slept because it took her away from her active Love of God.As her fame grew she had many disciples. She also had discussions with many of the renowned religious people of her time. Though she had many offers of marriage, and (tradition has it) one even from the Amir of Basra, she refused them as she had no time in her life for anything other than God.More interesting than her absolute asceticism, however, is the actual concept of Divine Love that Rabia introduced. She was the first to introduce the idea that God should be loved for God's own sake, not out of fear—as earlier Sufis had done.She taught that repentance was a gift from God because no one could repent unless God had already accepted him and given him this gift of repentance. She taught that sinners must fear the punishment they deserved for their sins, but she also offered such sinners far more hope of Paradise than most other ascetics did. For herself, she held to a higher ideal, worshipping God neither from fear of Hell nor from hope of Paradise, for she saw such self-interest as unworthy of God's servants; emotions like fear and hope were like veils—i.e. hindrances to the vision of God Himself.She prayed: "O Allah! 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.”
Rabia was in her early to mid eighties when she died, having followed the mystic Way to the end. She believed she was continually united with her Beloved. As she told her Sufi friends, "My Beloved is always with me" She died in Jerusalem in 185 AH. See Zirkali, al-A`lam, vol. 3, p 10, col 1, who quotes ibn Khalikan as his source.
She was the one who first set forth the doctrine of Divine Love[citation needed] and who is widely considered to be the most important of the early Sufi poets[citation needed]. The definitive work on her life and writing was a small treatise (written as a Master's Thesis) over 50 years ago by Margaret Smith.Much of the poetry that is attributed to her is of unknown origin. After a life of hardship she spontaneously achieved a state of self-realization. When asked by Sheikh Hasan al-Basri how she discovered the secret, she responded by stating:"You know of the how, but I know of the how-less." One of the many myths that swirl around 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.While she apparently received many marriage offers (including a proposal from Hasan al-Basri himself), she remained celibate and died of old age, an ascetic, her only care from the disciples who followed her. She was the first in a long line of female Sufi mystics.

One day, she was seen running through the streets of Basra carrying a torch in one hand and a bucket of water in the other. When asked what she was doing, she said: "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 punishment or for the promise of reward, but simply for the love of God."At one occasion she was asked if she hated Satan. Hazrat Rabia replied: "My love to God has so possessed me that no place remains for loving or hating any save Him." When Hazrat Rabia Basri would not come to attend the sermons of Hazrat Hasan Basri, he would deliver no discourse that day. People in the audience asked him why he did that. He replied: "The syrup that is held by the vessels meant for the elephants cannot be contained in the vessels meant for the ants." Once Hazrat Rabia was on her way to Makka, and when half-way there she saw the Ka'ba coming to meet her. She said, "It is the Lord of the house whom I need, what have I to do with the house? I need to meet with Him Who said, 'Who approaches Me by a span's length I will approach him by the length of a cubit.' The Ka'ba which I see has no power over me; what joy does the beauty of the Ka'ba bring to me?".At the same time the great Sufi Saint Hazrat Ibrahim bin Adham arrived at the Ka'ba, but he did not see it. He had spent fourteen years making his way to the Ka'ba, because in every place of prayer he performed two rakats. Hazrat Ibrahim bin Adham said, "Alas! What has happened? It maybe that some injury has overtaken my eyes." An unseen voice said to him, "No harm has befallen your eyes, but the Ka'ba has gone to meet a woman, who is approaching this place." Ibrahim Adham responded, "O indeed, who is this?" He ran and saw Rabia arriving, and that the Ka'ba was back in its own place. When Ibrahim saw that, he said, "O Rabia, what is this disturbance and trouble and burden which you have brought into the world?" She replied, "I have not brought disturbance into the world. It is you who have disturbed the world, because you delayed fourteen years in arriving at the Ka'ba." He said, "Yes I have spent fourteen years in crossing the desert (because I was engaged) in prayer." Rabia said, "You traversed it in ritual prayer (Salat) but with personal supplication." Then, having performed the pilgrimage, she returned to Basra and occupied herself with works of devotion. One day Hazrat Hasan Basri saw Hazrat Rabia near a lake. He threw his prayer rug on top of the water and said, "Rabia come! Let us pray two rakats here." She replied, "Hasan, when you are showing off your spiritual goods in the worldly market, it should be things which your fellow men cannot display." Then she threw her prayer rug into the air and flew up onto it by saying, "Come up here, Hasan, where people can see us." Then she said, "Hasan, what you did fishes can do, and what I did flies can do. But the real business is outside these tricks. One must apply oneself to the real business."

Pass away the of Robi'Atul Adawiyah.

Hit to pass away there is two opinion that is year 135 H / 752M or year 185 H / 801 M. expecting him to strength have religious service, Robi'Ah ever place the winding sheet its unlimbering wait side his when he sholat. When it is the time for Robi’Ah have to leave the transient world of this,She sign by hand to be previous people out,people await, nowadays one after another let the that robi’ah alone.And than, they hear the voice from within room;chamber of robi'ah,“Yaa nafsul muthmainnah. Irji’i Ila robbika” A few moments later;then no more voice heard from room;chamber robi’ah. They then open that room's door and get the Robi’Ah have come home.It is said afterwards there is dreaming to see the Robi'Ah, To it asked,“How thou face the Munkar and Nakir, hi Robi'Ah ?” Robi’Ah reply, “ that angel come to me and your asked,”Who The infinite?”. I said,”Go to your The infinite and tell the Him,”amongbetween thousands of existing creature, thou Don'T forget a weak old woman. I only own Thou in a world of wide, have never forgotten to Mu, but whether Thou deliver the courier of simply asking “ your Who The infinite” to me.