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Rabia al-Adawiya
muahmed
04/09/03 at 14:45:28
[slm]
I recently heard a very englightening lecture on the prominent role of Muslim women in the history of Islam. InshAllah I might post some excerpts from that later.  8) Below is an excerpt from one of my recent readings:


A leading scholar of Basra visited Rabi`a al-Adawiyya while she was ill. Sitting beside her pillow, the scholar spoke about how terrible the world was.

In reply, Rabi`a told him:

"You love the world very dearly. If you did not love the world, you would not mention it so much. It is always the purchaser who first disparages what he wants to buy. If you were done with the world, you would not mention it either for good or evil. As it is, you keep mentioning it because, as the proverb says, whoever loves a thing mentions it frequently."



;-)
~Ahmed.

Re: Rabia al-Adawiya
paula
04/10/03 at 00:32:14
[slm]

[size=3][font=Book Antiqua][color=Navy][i]La Ilaha Illa Allah[/i]

Jazak Allahu Khairan Brother Ahmed
[/color][/font][/size]
[wlm]
Re: Rabia al-Adawiya
muahmed
04/10/03 at 19:34:20
;-) [slm]

It was common for the Awliya of Allah to advocate ibadat (worship) for the sake of Allah alone and not for any rewards like the life of jannah. Indeed that is the higest form of worship, to seek only the pleasure and closeness to Allah subhana-wa-ta'la. When asked about this from Rabia al-Adawiya she said:

Why do you discount jannah? When a person buys a house he looks at who the neighbours are. We want jannah because of its neighbour (i.e. Allah subhana-wa-ta'la).

Re: Rabia al-Adawiya
rajullunyas-aa
04/11/03 at 13:28:14
[slm],
GREAT ,IT WAS GREAT ,IT WAS A STORY FROM THE SOUL AND IT DEFINATELY FINDS IT'S WAY BACK TO THE SOUL
Re: Rabia al-Adawiya
Nabila
04/14/03 at 11:39:46
[slm]

Here's another one from Rabi'a al-Adawiyya...Perhaps you may have heard that there is a Muslim saying that men were created with nine parts of intellect and one part of desire while women were created with one part of intellect and nine parts of desire. One of the best retorts to this is attributed to Rabi'a al-Adawiyya an eighth-century female mystic. The story goes that she was approached by the mystic and scholar Hasan al-Basri and they discussed some Islamic issues:

"O Hasan," she continued, "in how many parts did Allah create the intellect?"
"In ten parts," he replied, "nine for men and one for women."

"O Hasan, in how many parts did Allah create desire?"

"In ten parts: nine for women and one for men."

"O Hasan," she concluded, "I am able to contain nine part of appetite with one part of intellect whereas you cannot even guard one part of appetite with nine parts of intellect!"

ma asalaamah and take care

Re: Rabia al-Adawiya
deenb4dunya
04/14/03 at 18:18:25
I still don't understand that hadeeth.. can someone explain it in a practical manner?

Deen :-)
04/14/03 at 18:49:16
deenb4dunya
Re: Rabia al-Adawiya
jannah
04/14/03 at 18:48:34
actually does anyone have a referenced for that.. i've never actually seen it? i'd like to ask someone about it...
Re: Rabia al-Adawiya
bhaloo
04/14/03 at 20:55:30
[slm]

I remember this topic came up somewhere, but I can't remember where, maybe it was this board? ???  I think maybe Sophia answered it, maybe not.

There is an article here with a response to the book, "Nine parts of Desire"
http://www.jannah.org/sisters/nineres.html
Re: Rabia al-Adawiya
muahmed
04/14/03 at 20:59:26
[slm]
The lecture:
The Remedy for Excessive Love of Women
By Shaykh ‘Abd al-Hamîd Kishk

is give at the url below:
http://www.angelfire.com/al/islamicpsychology/tazkiyah/women.html

The part about Rabia al Adawiya in that lecture is:


It is related that when the husband of Rabi‘a al-‘Adawiyyah died, al-Hasan al-Basrî and his companions asked for permission to visit her. She gave them permission to come in and let down a curtain and sat behind it. Al-Hasan and his companions said,

“Your husband has died. You should have someone to replace him.”
“All right,” she said, “but which of you has the most knowledge, so that I may marry him?”
“Al-Hasan al-Basrî,” they replied.
“If you can answer me four questions, I am yours,” she said to al-Hasan.
“What do you say to this,” she asked, “when I die and leave this world, will leave with belief or not?”
“That is a matter of the Unseen and none knows the Unseen except Allâh.”
“What about this, then? When I am put into the grave and Munkar and Nakîr question me, will I be able to answer them or not?”
“That is a matter of the Unseen and none knows the Unseen except Allâh,” replied al-Hasan a second time.
“When people are gathered together on the Day of Rising and the books are distributed, will I be given my book in my right hand or my left hand?”
“That too is a matter of the Unseen and none knows the Unseen except Allâh,” came the reply again.
“When people are called: ‘One group in the Garden and one group in Blaze!’ which of the two groups will I be in?”
“That is a matter of the Unseen and none knows the Unseen except Allâh,” responded al-Hasan for the fourth and last time.
“How is it possible,” she retorted, “for someone who is suffering the grief of ignorance about these four things to think of marriage?”
“O Hasan,” she continued, “in how many parts did Allâh create the intellect?”
“In ten parts,” he replied, “nine for men and one for women.”
“O Hasan, in how many parts did Allâh create appetite?”
“In ten parts: nine for women and one for men.”
“O Hasan,” she concluded, “I am able to contain nine part of appetite with one part of intellect whereas you cannot even guard one part of appetite with nine parts of intellect!” Thereupon al-Hasan wept and left her.

Because of its ability to keep the appetites in check, Islâm is very much concerned with the intellect, nurturing it, developing it and giving it the greatest scope to evaluate things and their results with precise criteria. It should be used to distinguish the positive and negative sides of appetite using the criterion of the Sharî‘ah and to understand what its consequences will be in this world and the Next. It should know how to encourage the lower self to gain the pleasure of Allâh and how to make it wary of anger of Allâh so that it does not collapse under the pressure of impulses, appetites and desires and become lost in the oceans of this world. Out of His endless generosity the Almighty has prescribed various measures to safeguard the intellect and promote the development and expansion of its faculties.


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