Rābi‘ah al-‘Adawiyah

Muslim Sufi mystic and saint

• Born: 712
• Birthplace: Basra (now in Iraq)
• Died: 801
• Place of death: Basra (now in Iraq)

Often called the first Muslim saint, Rābiՙah al-ՙAdawiyah developed the idea of selfless love within the Sufi tradition. She stressed worship for the sake of love of God over ritual as well as worship over the attempt to ensure entry into paradise.

Early Life

Almost all information about the early life of Rābiՙah al-ՙAdawiyah (RAH-biah al-Ah-dah-WI-yah) is legendary in nature. According to these stories, Rābiՙah was from one of the lowest classes in society either a slave or a very poor servant. Some hold that she was stolen from her family as a young child and enslaved. Margaret Smith, a twentieth century biographer of Rābiՙah, presents her as a freed slave from the al-ՙAtik, a tribe of Qays bin ՙAdi. Her various second names thus derive from her tribal origin (al-ՙAdawiyah and al-Qaysiyya) and her birthplace of Basra (al-Basriyya).

Farīd al-Dīn ՙAtŃtŃār, who lived some four centuries after Rābiՙah, relates several stories of miracles surrounding her birth in his biography of the saint. One of these includes the Prophet Muḥammad appearing to Rābiՙah’s father (who was despondent over his poverty and inability to provide for another child). As her father slept, Muḥammad told him that his daughter would be a renowned saint whose intercession would be sought by many. According to ՙAtŃtŃār, Rābiՙah was orphaned, and when famine in Basra separated her and her three sisters, she was kidnapped and sold into slavery.

ՙAtŃtŃār relates that shortly afterward, while working for her master, a stranger came to Rābiՙah. As tradition demanded that the stranger not see her unveiled, Rābiՙah sought to flee, but fell and dislocated her wrist in the process. According to this biography, the girl bowed her head and prayed, and said that despite all her hardships she wanted only to know whether God was satisfied with her. According to this account, Rābiՙah then heard a voice reply that on judgment day she would be of such status with God that all would envy her.

Rābiՙah then began fasting each day. One night, her master woke from his sleep and heard Rābiՙah praying. According to one account, she was praying that what she wanted most was to follow God, but her status as a slave made her subject to another master. On uttering these words, a lamp appeared over Rābiՙah’s head, and the light from the lamp illuminated the entire house. Her master interpreted this as the light of Rābiՙah’s saintliness and then freed her. After being freed, Rābiՙah retreated into the desert, where she focused on spirituality and religion, renounced worldly pleasures, and lived a life of extreme asceticism.

Life’s Work

Except for the year of her death and her writings, virtually all that is known about Rābiՙah is legendary in nature. Therefore, it is not possible to give a chronological account of her life. It is known that Rābiՙah eventually returned to Basra, where she attracted numerous followers. These disciples came to her house to hear her teach, to pray and study with her, and to ask her advice. Rābiՙah became of the best-known Sufi figures of her time.

Sufism, which originated in the eighth century, is the word used to describe Islamic mysticism. It derives from the Arabic term sūf, or wool, the material from which were made the robes of the early mystics. The wool robes indicated their avoidance of luxury. Broadly speaking, Sufism represents attempts to expand the frontiers of religion beyond ritual and to search for spiritual truth. It is a tradition based on the lives of the Prophet and it emphasizes an ascetic lifestyle and embraces simplicity. The Sufi emphasis on renunciation of the material world for the spiritual includes an emphasis on (though not a requirement of) celibacy, eschewing material possessions, and renouncing money and things not earned by one’s own labor or critical to one’s daily needs. Early Sufism reacted against the time’s dominant culture and its emphasis on wealth, social position, and sexuality. In other words, Sufism can be interpreted as a form of dissent and resistance to government and orthodox religion. Likewise, Sufism provided poor or slave women such as Rābiՙah with a means to escape their subordinate position and to become independent and valued.

Legends often link Rābiՙah with another noted Sufi, al-Ḥasan al-Baṣrī, who died in 728 and therefore likely never met Rābiՙah (although one legend, discussed below, does show that al-Ḥasan imagined meeting her). The legends surrounding both Rābiՙah and al-Ḥasan are instructive, though, as they emphasize Rābiՙah’s importance within the Sufi community and her extreme piety. The legends are also effective vehicles for relating Rābiՙah’s teachings. Al-Ḥasan was known for his frequent weeping about his sins and the sins of others. According to legend, al-Ḥasan feared God’s judgment and never laughed or joked. His code of piety included never allowing himself to be alone with women, for it might pose too much temptation. Yet in one commonly cited story, al-Ḥasan said, “I passed one whole night and day with Rābiՙah speaking of the Way and the Truth, and it never passed through my mind that I was a man nor did it occur to her that she was a woman, and at the end when I looked at her I saw myself as bankrupt and Rābiՙah as truly sincere.” This story of al-Ḥasan’s experience with Rābiՙah transcends gender and the traditional male fear of sexual temptation; it also emphasizes the exceptional nature of Rābiՙah’s intellectual abilities and religious understanding, even in comparison to one of the most renowned mystics of the period. Such stories about Rābiՙah that refute the widespread notion of sexuality as the dominant force in male-female relations are common.

Another anecdote relates al-Ḥasan’s refusal to attend any gathering where Rābiՙah was not included. A later story tells of al-Ḥasan’s proposal of marriage to Rābiՙah, who turns him down, explaining that she has four questions concerning Judgment Day to ponder and therefore no time to concern herself with a husband, who would surely divert her from these important issues. This was typical of her response to the many men who sought her hand in marriage all of whom she refused, saying she belonged only to God.

Rābiՙah’s refusals of marriage and her independence and autonomy were uncommon for most women of her society at the time. Sufi women tended to have more independence and latitude in such matters than orthodox women, though Sufi tradition is not without its own history of male dominance and the belief that women are inherently dangerous and tempting. Nevertheless, Sufi tradition includes stories like those of Rābiՙah, which emphasize a more positive view of women.

Many stories also emphasize Rābiՙah’s superior abilities when compared to her male colleagues. One such tale again pairs Rābiՙah with al-Ḥasan, who tosses his carpet onto a body of water, sits on it, and asks Rābiՙah to join him. Understanding that al-Ḥasan is attempting to impress onlookers with his abilities, Rābiՙah responds by tossing her carpet into the air, flying up to it, and perching on it, inviting al-Ḥasan to come up to her where people can see them better. When he does not respond, knowing that he has been outdone, Rābiՙah comments that both their actions were trivial and that the real work of God is beyond such things. This story thus illustrates Rābiՙah’s disdain for trivial acts designed to impress, and her belief that real faith lies much deeper.

Another oft-repeated story highlights a similar point in Rābiՙah’s teachings, emphasizing the meaningless nature of ritual. A prominent religious figure of the time, Ibrāhīm ibn Adham, set out for Mecca to perform the required pilgrimage. Along the way, he stopped at every prayer location he encountered. Ibrāhīm took fourteen years to get to Mecca because he prayed at every site. When he arrived, he did not see the Kaaba (the cubical building Muslims ritualistically circle on foot during the hajj, or pilgrimage, and toward which Muslims face while praying). Instead, he heard a voice inform him that the Kaaba had risen up and gone forth to meet a woman on her way to Mecca. This woman was Rābiՙah, who returned with the Kaaba and explained to an astounded, jealous, and offended Ibrāhīm that while Ibrāhīm had been occupied with ritual and external prayer, she had eschewed ritual and focused on internal prayer. Not only does this anecdote highlight the importance of inner belief, it also shows how a woman can exceed a man in religious devotion and understanding.

Perhaps the most important saying attributed to Rābiՙah is the following: “I am going to light a fire in paradise and pour water in hell so that both veils may completely disappear from the pilgrims and their purpose may be sure. Thus the servants of God may see Him, without any object of hope or motive of fear.” This saying illustrates her idea of divine love that one should love God sincerely, without ulterior motives.

Rābiՙah was also a noted poet, as were many Sufis. In her poetry , Rābiՙah expresses her passionate love of God, a love so consuming that she was known to have said that it left no room in her heart even for the love of the Prophet Muḥammad. Although Rābiՙah also had a reputation as a miracle worker, a reputation strengthened by later biographers, she herself did not enjoy being thought of as a miracle worker and she discouraged others from naming her a source of miracles.

Rābiՙah died in 801. Although the date of her birth is not known, it is said that she was extremely aged when she died, perhaps eighty or older. As Margaret Smith argued in her biography of Rābiՙah, as a Sufi whose life had been spent in sincere belief and passionate expression of her love for God, Rābiՙah must have welcomed death as a means of uniting at last with her beloved.

Significance

Rābiՙah al-ՙAdawiyah is important as a religious figure, a saint said to be endowed with miraculous powers, a poet whose verse expressed her love for God, and a role model and teacher to her disciples. Perhaps most significantly, she developed the doctrine of divine love, which had a permanent influence on Sufi thinking and practice. With the development of this doctrine, love became a central theme of Sufism.

Rābiՙah is also an important figure as a woman, exemplifying independence, autonomy, and the religious achievement of women within the Islamic tradition. Rābiՙah’s life and work took place within the more liberal Sufi tradition, liberal compared to orthodox Islam of the ninth century. Yet, even within this context, Rābiՙah’s life was extraordinary.

Rābiՙah’s teachings, beliefs, poetry, and life show an emphasis on asceticism, meditation, the ability of men and women to transcend imposed and restrictive gender roles, a consuming love of God, sincere worship, and a desire for union with the divine.

Bibliography

Abrahamov, Binyamin. Divine Love in Islamic Mysticism: The Teachings of al-Ghazālī and al-Dabbāgh. New York: RoutledgeCurzon, 2003. A study of the ideas of divine love in Sufism and in the mysticism of eleventh-twelfth century theologian al-Ghazzālī. Extensive bibliography and an index.

Ahmed, Leila. Women and Gender in Islam. New Haven, Conn.: Yale University Press, 1992. This book discusses the changing roles and norms of Muslim women throughout history. Although the author’s discussion of Rābiՙah is relatively brief, the work is valuable in tracing the development of gender roles in Islamic history.

Denny, Frederick Mathewson. An Introduction to Islam. New York: Macmillan, 1994. This book discusses the religion of Islam and its history, including Islamic mysticism and various types of Sufi orders.

El Sakkakini, Widad. First Among Sufis: The Life and Thought of Rābiՙa al-ՙAdawiyya, the Woman Saint of Basra. Translated by Nabil Safwat. London: Octagon Press, 1982. This brief biography of Rābiՙah is a very accessible account of her life and her teachings. Includes an introduction by the writer Doris Lessing.

Esposito, John, ed. The Oxford History of Islam. New York: Oxford University Press, 1999. Good general book on the history of Islam and its role in political expansion. Information about Sufism, including its relationship to various governments, is discussed throughout the text.

Helminski, Camille Adams, comp. Women of Sufism: A Hidden Treasure: Writings and Stories of Mystic Poets, Scholars and Saints. Boston: Shambhala, 2003. A rich collection of primary sources on and by Sufi women. The compiler introduces each of the writings and places them in historical context. Entries on Rābiՙah and Khadīja, the first convert to Islam and a wife of the Prophet Muḥammad. Bibliography.

Roded, Ruth, ed. Women in Islam and the Middle East: A Reader. New York: I. B. Tauris, 1999. Provides a collection of original sources on women in Islam in the Middle East, from the Middle Ages through the twentieth century. Looks at devout women in Sufism; the legal, cultural, political, religious, and domestic contexts of women’s experience; the foundations of Islam; selective quotation of the Prophet’s words; and more. Bibliography, index.

Sells, Michael A., ed. and trans. Early Islamic Mysticism: Sufi, Qur՚ān, Mirՙaj, Poetic, and Theological Writings. New York: Paulist Press, 1996. Explores the sources of Islamic mysticism, with a chapter on Rābiՙah and a chronology of major figures in the development of Sufism. Bibliography, index.

Smith, Margaret. Muslim Women Mystics: The Life and Work of Rābiՙa and Other Women Mystics in Islam. Boston: Oneworld, 2001. A good companion to Smith’s standard biography of Rābiՙah. Covers the life of Rābiՙah, her teachings and writings, and other women mystics in Islam. Chapters discuss asceticism and prayer, celibacy, monastic life, women saints, love, hope, fear, and more. Also provides a survey of sources, a bibliography, and an index.

Smith, Margaret. Rābiՙa the Mystic and Her Fellow Saints in Islam. 1928. Reprint. London: Cambridge University Press, 1984. Smith’s biography of Rābiՙah is the standard work on the saint. Although the prose may at times seem old-fashioned to readers, this biography is extremely valuable for the author’s use of centuries-old Arabic and Persian texts.