Teaching the hearts: Rābiˊa al-ˊAdawiya’s role in the spiritual formation of intellectual elite in al-Baṣra

Teaching the hearts: Rābiˊa al-ˊAdawiya’s role in the spiritual formation of intellectual elite in al-Baṣra, II sec.heg.

The female element occupied a high rank in the Islamic Sufism in three aspects. The Sufi woman was: 1- A pattern to reach the spiritual path. 2- A symbol of effectiveness and creativity in the Sufi experience. 3- Mediator to bring closer the resemblance between the Divine Love and the human love, between the metaphysical world which is full of secrets and our sensible world. Thus, every Sufi witnessing experience al-Tajriba al-Shuhūdiya talks about these elements or may even combine them all. If we want to talk about a feminine Sufi witnessing experience, in essence not as an element, we find ourselves facing the following question: Are there any elements, other than the feminine element, that play the same role in the experience of the Sufi woman? Or is it that the Sufi witnessing of the woman in loving God and revealing the Divine Beauty and reaching the Divine Truth will spring directly from her as she is the light, and she is the reflection of that light in the mirrors of existence ?

The goal of this research centers on following the history of Sufi thought in its relation with Rābiˊa in order to reveal her dignified level in her contemporary Sufi thought and afterwards in terms of thinking, teaching and behavior. We can clearly see that the Sufi thought constitutes a series that connect with each other and complete each other. Each series constitutes a fertile soil to the successors to the degree that we can hardly observe any deep difference between these series. What combines them is much more than what separates them. “The successor builds on the heritage of the precedent, and develops his statement correcting it, revising it, adding to it and exceeding it towards building a more coherent trend, and more organized statement. The sharp distinction, that became familiar, between a moderate Sunni Sufism and a deviated philosophical Sufism, or connected and disconnected, is merely a stand by the phenomena of expression without indulgence in the structure of thinking”.

First: Woman and the station of sanctity, blame, chivalry and completeness:

The legitimacy of inseparability between the station of chivalry al-Futūwa and prophecy resides in sharing one message, which is a moral message, as both are granted by God. It is also often mentioned that if prophecy is missed, chivalry replaces it, which means that the continuity of spreading the message of morals on earth whether through prophecy or Sufism is a must.

It is also observed that many Sufis are interested in mentioning their station measured by the station of the prophets. For example, it is mentioned that “A man from Wāsiṭ said: “I saw Joseph (the prophet) in my dream”. I said: “Oh! God’s prophet! What did Sufyān al-Thawri do?” He replied: “He is among us, we the prophets…”.

What is in common between the station of blame al-Malāma and the station of sanctity al-Wilāya is the truthfulness and the faithfulness of the servant to the Lord and to his creation, which is one of the peculiar characteristics of the man of blame al-Malāmati because he is the one “Whose veins absorbed the test of faithfulness, so he does not like anyone to see his situation and deeds”. Ḥamdūn Al-Qaṣār (died in 271 heg.) says “In blame safety is left”, i.e. leaving the safety of man and enduring the discomfort in order to see the greatness of God. Ibn al-ˊArabi (died in 638 heg.) lifted the station of blame as he made it in the utmost level of sanctity 

that comes before the level of prophecy. According to al-Qushaiyri, the saint is the one whom God, glory to Him in the highness, undertakes his matters, so does not leave him alone for a second, or he is the one whose obedience of God is consecutive, and the degrees of his closeness to God are rising.

Among the most important morals of the true Sufi that has been passed by time is altruism al-Ithār, as mentioned by Abū Ḥāmed al-Ghazāli (died in 505 heg.). Altruism is considered a condition of belief. The prophet Muhammad (peace upon him) combined between belief, altruism and love when he said: “One is not a believer until he likes for his brother what he likes for himself”. Altruism carries in its folds the utmost example in the spiritual life and in the social life, equally, without waiting for the reward or seeking appreciation, i.e. the altruism of the Real al-Ḥaq (God Himself) on the desires of the self, and the altruism of the others on the self, and the motive in both cases is love.

Thus, the utmost point in which chivalry meets with blame and sanctity in the path of the Sufi is altruism and exerting the self that is run by love as both (altruism and exerting the self) constitute the fundamental motive of the serenity and clarity of the morals of Man. Basing on that, the connection between love, morals and gnosis overlap to a large extent. Love is “One of the names of God’s Divine desire just like satisfaction, anger, mercy, discontent and pity […] His Divine desire is an eternal characteristic through which He performs His Desires”. It is the hidden mystery that circulates in the universe, and the light that lightens the world. It is the fundamental pillar of the heavenly message. No message is true without the motive of love. Man cannot be characterized as Gnostic ˊAref unless he is perfectly moral, and he cannot be moral unless he relies on the love of God.

Muslims agreed the possibility of prophecy for women with no message. Sanctity, caliphate, perfection and chivalry are all among the spiritual stations that women enjoy as women and men first and last share the concept of humanity, then the woman is a rival for man in reaching the same level of gnosis. Man has no better level because she shares the soul and meaning of the Divine Names, which is known in Sufi terminology as the apotropaic saints al-Abdāl. “Every Divine Characteristic has a man and a woman”. Ibn al-ˊArabi reminds us that what reminds him of men in men may be realized in women in station Maqām and level Martaba. The aim behind saying this is that women may realize the level of perfection as well, and that the scope of Divine inspiration is equal for women and men. Neither logic nor religion contradicts that women reach the highest stations of spirituality.

As we will see in this paper, we have chosen a pattern of the most famous Sufi thinkers, i.e. Rābiˊa al-ˊAdawiya, who reached the stations of chivalry, sanctity, blame and perfection. Sanctity for women was discussed in her age when someone said to her in order to embarrass her: “Gifts al-Karāmāt are for male saints not women!” Her answer was wise and convincing: “Pride, arrogance and claim of divinity did never come from a woman”. In fact, we will be astonished by the reality that Rābiˊa reached many spiritual stations that were not crystallized in her age in its final shape, and that is when we read her sayings and biography with her disciples and her contemporary Sufis. Through out her saying we will remark the first seeds of the tasting experience in knowing God, like: Divine Love, the lack and shortage of the language in describing the witnessing experience, annihilation al-Fanāˋ and subsistence al-Baqāˋ, bewilderment al-Ḥayra, and jealousy…

We can see the distinctive and high level of Rābiˊa in her age and in the succeeding ages reaching our modern age throughout the description of the Sufi thinkers and historians, as if she were another Mary, clear and serene. If Muslims take from the veracious ˊAisha one third of the religion, then it is possible to receive a religious benefit from one of her servants (i.e. Rābiˊa). As al-ˊAṭṭār said. It is not enough to liken her station to that of Mary (peace upon her), as she reached the station of prophecy like Moses (peace upon him) in the speech that was between Rābiˊa and the voice by God when she wanted to see His face. The voice called her saying: “Oh Rābiˊa! do you know what does it involve to disparage the whole world? When Moses wanted to see Our face, We only through one particle of Our light onto the mountain then it felt stuned”.

Rābiˊa was the first to be characterized by blame. She was the leader of the chivalry and the blaming in her understanding of the human existence. It was reported that one day she enjoined Sufyān al-Thawri (Died in 161 heg.). He entered her council and said: “Oh God! I ask you peace”, she replied: “Do not you know that peace in life is attained through leaving what is in it. How is that while you are involved in it to the utmost?”. We remark a kind of blame, a continuous blame of the self to be honest in addressing God, and this is because of her true love of Him, glory to God in the highness, as she said: “I ask God for forgiveness because of my lack of sincerity in asking God for forgiveness”, and “Hide your good deeds just like you hide your bad deeds”, and her advise “My sorrow is not for the things which make me grieve, but my sorrow is for the things for which I do not grieve”.

And also the witness of Ṣāleḥ al-Marri as for her considerable gnosis and his ignorance when he said: “When someone is used to knocking a door it will open for him”. She replied: “When was this door closed in order to open it?” Ṣāleḥ replied: “An ignorant sheikh and a Gnostic woman ˊArifa“. His witness proves that she reached a level that proceeded men. Despite that her pattern was to blame the self and urge it constantly to quit its desires for the sake of His face, she has other stances that prove another side of chivalry, which is to mention the hidden good deeds of people even when they make mistakes. This is clear in the incident of her passing in al-Baṣra by a man saying “May this tongue by which you say: no God but God, be crucified”.

The station of chivalry is also represented in courtesy al-Adab with God. She knows her rights and His rights because of her love to Him. She attained this station when Gods disciplined her through a disease that she had after she looked to heaven by her heart, which was an affect that God did not accept from her as this will result in becoming busy with something other than His holly face. The station of courtesy with God has another shape as she attributed every disparagement and evil to herself, and every grace and good to God. We also remark an aspect of Chivalry when God gave her the option of getting married to a rich man, then she has chosen to stay single, preferring His holly face.

Second: the states Maqāmāt of Rābiˊa and the level Marāteb of witnessing:

Rābiˊa al-ˊAdawiya is considered a true Gnostic Sufi. A large number of disciples came to her, met in her council to take some of her gnosis. Despite the numerous references that mentioned Rābiˊa at that time, it is rare to find female disciples, except Mary al-Baṣriya and ˊAbda.

Rābiˊa combined between the first age of Sufism which was represented by asceticism and abstinence, and the second age of Sufism in which some Sufi theories began to crystallize, the most prominent among which was the theory of Divine Love and Friendship al-Khula. We remark her keen abstinence that she shared all the saints who were famous of this dignified characteristic. For example, she rejected and said when someone brought her a bag of gold when she became seriously sick “How can I accept the money from someone while we do not know whether it is legal or illegal”. It seems that Rābiˊa was one of those who reject any obfuscation that may lead to any kind of attachment to this life not even handling the tradition. It seems that handling it was obfuscation at that time as some readers took it a means to seek glory and a gate to princes and rulers. She criticized Sufyān al-Thawri for handling it as she said: “You would have been a very good man had you not had this desire towards life and being busy with tradition”. Thus, he changed his pattern in life, and moved to asceticism and the station of Divine Love and Friendship, as affected by his educator though he was a leading figure in his age.

In the second age, she was a pioneer in discovering the clearest path to enter the Divine world, and revel the secrets of the Divine Beauty and Perfection. She was the first reference for all who followed the trend of the Islamic spirituality.

The grade and fluctuation of Rābiˊa in the different Sufi conditions from asceticism, amiability, patience, longing, satisfaction, happiness, fear, repentance and assurance emphasizes an aspect of reaching the station of chivalry, blame or sanctity and perfection form which she reached in the end of her fluctuation to stability in the love of God. This station accompanied her for the rest of her life, which enabled and strengthened her witnessing the truth in all times with real certainty Ḥaqiqat al-Yaqin. Rābiˊa was absent in her properties and the properties of the others, busy away from any sensation of to the sensible world, because she was in the station of witnessing God. The proof is when Ibn al-ˊArabi mentioned that once she hit the corner of the wall by her head, and she bled. She did not even feel it, and when she was told about it she said: “I was occupied by the aim behind what happened”. Here, we return to Ibn al-Fāriḍ (d. 632 heg.) to find the effect of Rābiˊa in his saying when his beloved appeared to him in an image that resembles what happened to Rābiˊa. He says:

I witness all converse with the combination Entity
And I got an alliance in which rebuff looks alike intimacy.

This is what could be included within the station of Man’s satisfaction with God. Satisfaction al-Riḍa is defined as the talent of the self to receive what fate brings to Man with no pain, but rather with amiability, and joy for being occupied by seeing the one who has in his hands the evaluation of recognizing the painful aspects of fate, as defined by Rābiˊa. Also it was mentioned that once she said to Sufyān al-Thawri when he said: “Oh God! May Thou be satisfied with me!”. She said to him: “Are you not ashamed before God to ask Him to be satisfied when you are not satisfied with Him”.

There is another story that tells about a meeting between Mālik Bin Dinār (said died in 128 heg.), al-Ḥasan al-Baṣri (d. 110 heg.), Shaqiq al-Balkhi (d. 164 heg.), and Rābiˊa. Of course, historically speaking, this meeting is not acceptable, but it is an attempt by the narrator to show the supremacy of Rābiˊa over men in station, sanctity, witnessing and annihilation. She asked them about truth or faithfulness. The answer of each of them was according to his station, thus truth for Sufyān is to test him in love and in patience when he is in pain, and for al-Balkhi is to thank when in pain and when in divine test, and for Ibn Dinār is to enjoy pain, but for Rābiˊa it is to forget pain and tribulations before God, because she is in His majesty, witnessing Him constantly, so does not see anything while she is along with her lover. This station is “Annihilation” al-Fanāˊ. This station is represented wholly when she was asked: “Do you see what you worship? She replied: “Had I not seen, I would not have worshipped Him”.

Among the spiritual stations in the way of the Sufi, which has a great effect in separating two schools of the Sufi thinking, and played a central role in the existence of the school of Divine Love is the station of friendship al-Khula. It was first included in the school of fear and crying, whose most prominent figures was al-Ḥasan al-Baṣri (21-110 heg.). Al-Makki defined as “Intervening the unseen al-Ghayb secrets and thus seeing and witnessing the beloved…”. It seems that the school of friendship and Divine Love included different prominent Sufis, among whom is Rayāḥ al-Qaysi (died in 177 or 180 heg.), who was considered to be the founder, along with his fellow Rābiˊa, and then Shaqiq al-Balkhi, Ibrāhim Bin al-Adham, and Sahl al-Tusturi. It even included Abū Ḥāmed Al-Ghazāli.

It is said that the station of Rābiˊa in this respect has exceeded the stations of many men, including Rayāḥ al-Qaysi, the wise man himself. It seems that he used to derive wisdom from his learner Rābiˊa who was melt in the love of God. A story about them says that: “Rābiˊa looked at Rayāḥ al-Qaysi while he was kissing and hugging a young boy from his family. She said: “Do you like him Rayāḥ?” He said: “yes”. She said: “I never thought there is a free space in your heart to love anyone other than God”. It is said that Rayāḥ cried and fell unconscious”.

In Rābiˊa’s saying about Divine Love, we find however a fertile soil for the thoughts of Ibn al-ˊArabi about the station of friendship al-Khula and Divine Love in his book Fūṣūṣ al-Ḥikam especially the fifth chapter (the wisdom of Abraham), where he begins in this chapter with verses attributed to her. He builds the rest of his ideas and theories on the idea of the station of friendship and adoration (an excessive love), which he dedicated to Abraham (peace upon him) as God says: {For Allah did take Abraham for a friend.} (Qur’ān 4:125). Among the most prominent ideas is his philosophy in the Divine manifestation. God intervenes in the shape of what is present, particularly the shape of a complete man in which God prevailed and became everything in him, thus his perfection is from the perfection of the Divine Attributes and Names.

Among the stations accompanying the station of friendship is the station of witness. This was expressed by al-Zubaiydi saying; “I know that Rābiˊa was a figure in gnosis and love, and she was famous of that. She must have known the station of witness. She said what she had said while she was in the station of absorption al-Istighrāq, which was a result of love, and she was overrun by her longing to witnessing”. 

The essence of love is very particular. It is clearly described by ˊAbd Allah al-Qurashi saying: “To grant yourself for he whom you loved, so that nothing from you is left for you”. Throughout this saying we can understand the love of Rābiˊa for her creator. It was not like the love of the public since God grants charity to his slaves. The love of charity is connected to the chances in one’s state. If God grants us charity we love Him for that, and if He deprives of His grant of charity and tests us love disappears for that! The love of Rābiˊa to God is void of any deficiency. It is the love of Himself, preference of this love and consumption in it because her heart did not beat but to Him. Basing on that she preferred what she loves for He whom she loves, because He deserves this love for being glorious, beautiful and perfect. She did not worship God out of her fear of Him, just like the bad servants; if she fears she works, and if not she does not. She did not worship God out of her love of heaven, just like the bad servants; if she is granted she works, on the contrary, she worshipped her God out of her love, and her longing to Him. I think that Rābiˊa throughout her worship meant to allude to the true worship of God. Her worshiping far from any hope of heaven or from hell indicates her call to us to dig into the sensory meanings in the Holy Qurˋān, relating to hell and heaven, to see other insider meanings relating to the spiritual meanings.

This is her station when she said her famous verses:

I have loved Thee with two loves, 

                                                a selfish love and a love that is worthy (of Thee),

As for the love which is selfish, 

              I occupy myself therein with remembrance of Thee to the exclusion of all others,

As for that which is worthy of Thee, 

                                               therein Thou raisest the veil that I may see Thee. 

And of course, her saying “Being busy mentioning You other than anyone else” relates to the station of invocation Maqām al-dhkr, which is known by the Sufis. Al-Kalābādhi defined it as “To forget anything other than what is mentioned in the invocation”. This was exactly her station. We find that Al-Kharāz (died in 279 heg.) was affected by her when she was asked about her love of the prophet (God’s prayer and peace upon him). She replied: “I love him but my love of the creator occupied my mind rather than loving the creation”. Al-Kharāz said “I saw the prophet in my dream”. I said: “Excuse me, my love of God occupied my mind rather than loving you”. He replied: “You blessed man! He who loves God loves me”. 

The concepts of annihilation and Divine Love and knowledge are all nested and connected concepts in the spiritual experience of the Sufis. The utmost love is to annihilate in the supreme beloved. And in the moment of annihilation the Sufi knows the truth of the oneness of God witnessing and revealing. It is witnessing the truth by heart, not at all by mind. When God enlightens the heart of the believer by His light the human attributes of the believer are annihilated and what is only kept is the Divine ones. He witnesses God and His oneness.

Third: The knowledge of God and her experience of witnessing:

It was known that Rābiˊa was an indispensable station of gnosis, teaching and wisdom. She was reported as had said different sayings that include great wisdom and gnosis. It was mentioned that Sufyān al-Thawri was one of many who used to visit her councils. He appeared in the books of history and classes of Sufis and was described as a dignified sheikh. He was a permanent learner and disciple, whose thirst was only quenched by the source of wisdom at his master and sheikh. She used to blame him or clarify his wrong path or sayings that came out of his premature experience. It is also mentioned that another great personality, Ḥāmed Bin Zayd also took some of her gnosis, sayings and wisdom.

Rābiˊa has a very simple and particular definition of knowledge that constitutes the essential pillar of what will be known as the divine gnosis or the non-worldly knowledge. She says: “The fruit of the spiritual knowledge is to turn you face away from the creation towards the creator, because knowledge is the knowledge of God”. All along the pattern of the Sufis, Rābiˊa walked and was followed by saints in considering the heart as the true tool that one should adopt to know God. She expresses this clearly saying: “It is not possible to distinguish in looks between the different stations in the path to God, nor even to reach Him by tongue. Awake your heart, and by then you can see through the eyes of your heart, and by then you can reach the station”.

Her station was a witnessing station, which is known by the Sufis as said by al-Hujwiri: “Seeing God by heart both in secret and in public. Its reality is of two types: 1- The fruit of the true certainty. 2- The predominance of love because in case of the predominance of love one reaches a state in which he becomes totally busy with his beloved and does not see anything else”.

Here, we remark the overlap between the station of absence al-Ghaiyba and the station of witnessing in Sufism. Absence means “The Sufi to be absent for the properties of himself, so does not see them despite being present in him. i.e. he is absent for them as witnessing the Real al-Ḥaq”. This station is the most particular station of sanctity that resides in the highest level of blame, characterized by Divine manners, sacrifices himself, preferring the love of God and witnessing His face over anything else. As for Rābiˊa we can see this through the incident of Rābiˊa seeing the Kaˊba coming towards her in the desert, which was estranged by contemporary scholars who considered it and unacceptable exaggeration by a devout Gnostic as Rābiˊa. In my opinion, this incident proves her distinction between seeing the Divine Names and the Divine Attributes, the Divine representation of the Divine Self on earth as represented by the Kaˊba, and between seeing and loving the beauty and majesty of the Self. This is clearly seen in her saying “I do not want the Kaˊba but rather I want the God of the Kaˊba”. This was later known by saints as entering the inside of truth or the knowledge of secrets ˊIlm al-Assrār. What proves this is her saying: “Oh God! If you send me to hell on the day of resurrection, I will reveal a secret that makes hell travels a thousand years far from me”.

We even remark that her witnessing station reached the ability to differentiate between the power of God on earth and the power itself as an Attribute of God. The servant of Rābiˊa entered once saying to her: “My lady! Leave this house, and come to contemplate the effects of the power of God. She replied: You enter and come to contemplate the power itself”. She said; “My task is to contemplate the power”. For reaching this station she found that “Everything has a fruit, and the fruit of knowledge is to turn your face towards God”, as she said. 

Even the Sufi saying about combination al-Jamˋ and dispersion al-Farq that “The first combination is the combination of aspiration al-Hima, which is that all concerns are one” can be remarked in Rābiˊa’s speech when rejecting marriage, which was because she combined all concerns in one. Thus, her concerns were all relating to the afterlife and the path to God, which prevented her from getting married. And by the way, Abū Saˊid al-Kharāz defines the combination in a way that is very similar to Rābiˊa. He says: “He let them find Him in them, and annihilates their existence when they exist for him”. And this is similar to God’s saying: “I be his ear, eye and hand, so he hears by me and sees”. This is as they behave with themselves not for themselves. They act for the right with the Real al-Ḥaq”.

Fourth: the conclusion:

The experience of Rābiˊa gave us as well as the Sufi heritage a complete example on the devout saint woman, and an example to be imitated in understanding the truth of the Divine Love in the Sufi path. As the caliphate is the image of God on earth, characterized by existence, he is to prove the right and wrong and guide to the correct teaching and deter the evil in accordance with the religious laws. All these Attributes apply to this Gnostic lady, who stands permanently witnessing God, teaching and guiding the hearts of the disciples.

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30.  Muḥammad al-ṭaiyb, Waḥdat al-Wūjūd fi al-Taṣawwf al-Islāmi fi Ḍaw’ al-Taṣawūf wa Tārikhiyatihi, Beirut: Dār al-Ṭaliˊa, 2008.  
31.  Margaret Smith, Rābiˊa the Mystic and her fellow-saints in Islam, Cambridge: the university press, 1928.

(May 2011, Participation in the symposium Le vie del Sapere in Ambito Siro- Mesopotamico Dal, III Al IX secolo, entitled Teaching the hearts: Rabi’a al-Adawiya’s role in the spiritual formation of intellectual elite in al-Bacra, II sec.heg, Pontificio Istituto Orientale di Roma, Italia.)