View source for Rabia Basri

{{Short description|Female Sufi scholar and saint (died 801)}}
{{for|the Pakistani politician|Rabia Basri (politician)}}
{{Infobox scholar
| image          = Rabia al-Adawiyya.jpg
| caption        = Depiction of Rabi{{hamza}}a [[Mill (grinding)|grinding grain]] from a [[Persian language|Persian]] dictionary
| name           = Rābi{{hamza}}a al-{{hamza}}Adawiyya al-Qaysiyya
| birth_date     = between 714 and 718&nbsp;CE (?)
| death_date     = 801 CE (?)
| main_interests = [[Zuhd|asceticism]], [[divine love]]
| era            = {{plainlist|
* [[Islamic Golden Age]]
* ([[Umayyad Caliphate|Umayyad]] and [[Abbasid Caliphate|Abbasid era]])}}
| notable_ideas  = Divine love
| influences     = [[Hasan of Basra]]
}}
{{Sufism}}
{{Yazidism}}

'''Rābi{{hamza}}a al-{{hamza}}Adawiyya al-Qaysiyya''' ({{langx|ar|رابعة العدوية القيسية}}; {{circa|716}}{{snd}}801&nbsp;CE)<ref name="EI2">{{cite book|author=Margaret Smith|title=Encyclopedia of Islam, 2nd ed., Vol. 8, "Rābi{{hamza}}a al-{{hamza}}Adawiyya al-Qaysiyya"|year=1995|publisher=Brill|pages=354–56}}<!-- ISSN/ISBN needed --></ref> or '''Rabia Basri''' was a [[Saints in Islam|poet]], one of the earliest [[Sufi mystic]]s and an influential religious figure from Iraq.<ref name="Rabi'a The Mystic and Her Fellow-Saints in Islam">{{cite book|last=Smith|first=Margaret|title=''Rabi'a The Mystic and Her Fellow-Saints in Islam''|publisher=[[Cambridge University Press]]|year=2010|page=252|isbn=9781108015912|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=gqYDbBFAcB0C&q=rabia+the+mystic}}</ref> She is regarded as one of the three preeminent [[Qalandar (title)|Qalandars]] of the world.<ref name="Hanif"/>

==Biography==
Very little is known about the life of Rabiʿa, notes Rkia Elaroui Cornell.
{{blockquote|What historical information can be ascertained from the earliest sources on Rabi‘a? As stated above, there is very little except to confirm that a Muslim woman ascetic and teacher named Rabi‘a al-‘Adawiyya or Rabi‘a al-Qaysiyya (the name ‘Adawiyya refers to her clan and the name [[Qays]]iyya refers to her tribe) lived in or around the city of [[Basra]] in [[Lower Mesopotamia|southern Iraq]] in the eighth century CE. [...] The commonly accepted birth date of 717 CE and death date of 801 CE come from a much later period and the ultimate source of these dates is unclear.<ref name="Rkia14">{{cite book |last1=Cornell |first1=Rkia Elaroui |title=Rabi'a From Narrative to Myth: The Many Faces of Islam's Most Famous Woman Saint, Rabi'a al-'Adawiyya |date=2019 |publisher=Simon and Schuster |isbn=978-1-78607-522-2 |page=14 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=XB-9DwAAQBAJ |language=en}}</ref>}}
Cornell further notes that she was mentioned by two early Basran authors.<ref name= Rkia14/> "Because of this, they were familiar with her reputation. This local reputation is the best empirical evidence we have that Rabi‘a actually existed."<ref name= Rkia14/> She also writes, "To date, no written body of work has been linked conclusively to Rabi‘a al-‘Adawiyya."<ref name= Rkia14/>

Despite this, narratives about Rabiʿa grew over the centuries, and a considerable [[hagiography]] developed. [[Attar of Nishapur]], a [[Sufi]] saint and poet who lived some four centuries later, recounted a now-famous story of her early life.<ref name=":0">{{Cite book|title=Windows on the House of Islam|last=a-Ra'uf al-Munawi|first='Abu|publisher=University of California|year=1998|location=Berkeley, CA|pages= [https://archive.org/details/RabiaFromNarrativeToMyth/page/n132/mode/1up 132]–33|editor-last=Renard|editor-first=John}}</ref> Many of her hagiographies depict her using [[Trope (literature)|literary or philosophical tropes]] where she, like her Christian counterparts, embodied idealized religious individuals.<ref name= Rkia14/>

==Philosophy and religious contributions==
Often noted as having been the single most famous woman in [[Islam]], Rabiʿa was renowned for her high virtue and piety. A devoted ascetic, when asked why she performed a thousand ritual prostrations both during the day and at night, she is said to have answered, "I desire no reward for it; I do it so that the Messenger of God, may God bless him and give him peace, will delight in it on the day of Resurrection and say to the prophets, 'Take note of what a woman of my [[Ummah|community]] has accomplished.'"<ref name=":0"/>

Rabiʿa was described as being intense in her self-denial and devotion to God.<ref name="helms"/> Explaining her refusal to lift her head toward the heavens (towards God) as an act of modesty, she's noted as having said: "Were the world the possession of a single man, it would not make him rich&nbsp;... because it is passing away."<ref name=":0"/>

According to Sufi accounts, she was the first to set forth the doctrine of [[divine love]] known as ''[[Ishq]]''<ref>[[Margaret Smith (author)|Margaret Smith]], ''Rabi'a The Mystic and Her Fellow-Saints in Islam'', Cambridge Library Collection, 1928.</ref> and is widely considered as being the most important of the early renunciants, a form of piety that would eventually be labelled [[Sufism]].<ref name="Hanif">{{cite book|last=Hanif|first=N.|title=Biographical Encyclopaedia of Sufis: Central Asia and Middle East|publisher=Sarup & Sons|year=2002|pages=[https://archive.org/details/bub_gb_Y7JInpQL0x8C/page/n120 108]–10|isbn=9788176252669|url=https://archive.org/details/bub_gb_Y7JInpQL0x8C}}</ref>

==Poetry and stories==
Much of the [[poetry]] attributed to her is of unknown origin.<ref name="Rkia14" /> There is no evidence in the historical archive that Rabia ever met [[Hasan al-Basri]]; however, the following stories, which first appeared in Attar of Nishapur's ''[[Tazkirat al-Awliya]]'', is a common trope in the modern period:<ref>Cornell, ''Rabi'a'', 148n2.</ref> After a life of hardship, she spontaneously achieved a state of [[self-realization]]. When asked by Hasan al-Basri how she discovered the secret, she responded by stating "you know of the how, but I know of the how-less."<ref>Farid al-Din Attar, ''Rabe'a [sic] al-Adawiya'', from ''Muslim Saints and Mystics'', trans. A.J. Arberry, London: Routledge & Kegan Paul, 1983.<!-- ISSN/ISBN needed --></ref>

One of the many [[folk tale|stories]] that surround her life is that she was freed from [[Islamic views on slavery|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 [[Slavery|slave]].<ref name="helms">Barbara Lois Helms, ''Rabi'a as Mystic, Muslim and Woman''<!-- publishing info, location, ISSN/ISBN, page(s) needed --></ref>

Biographer Rkia Elaroui Cornell discovered four main characterizations of Rabia: Rabia the Teacher, Rabia the Ascetic, Rabia the Lover, and Rabia the Sufi.<ref>Cornell, ''Rabi'a'', 10, 28-29.</ref>

=== Asceticism ===
Rabia is often described as being an [[Asceticism|ascetic]], where "the ascetic attains the otherworldly not by rejecting the world but by treating it as unimportant. The ascetic avoids the World not because it is evil per se but because it is a distraction from God."<ref>Cornell, ''Rabi'a'', 153.</ref>

==Legacy==
In a Sufi narrative, Sufi leader [[Hasan al-Basri]] explained, "I passed one whole night and day with Rabi'a&nbsp;... it never passed through my mind that I was a man nor did it occur to her that she was a woman... when I saw her I saw myself as bankrupt and Rabi'a as truly sincere."<ref>{{Cite book |last=Ahmed |first=Leila |title=Women and Gender in Islam |publisher=Yale University |year=1992 |page=96}}</ref>

She decided to stay celibate in order to live life unlike other Muslim women of her time, and devote herself completely to God.<ref name="helms" /> Among her most notable qualities besides her devotion to God were her humility and celibacy.<ref name="helms" /> Living alone with divine love, she is adored by many for her religious passion and the example she set for the growing Muslim population.<ref name="helms" /> However, her importance and legacy remain prominent through tales of her life, modern references, and her standing in Muslim culture, while no physical evidence was found of her, Rabia's story and poetry remain an inspiration to women and Muslim people today.<ref>{{Citation |title=Introduction: Is There a 'New Middle East'? |date=2013-11-05 |url=http://dx.doi.org/10.4324/9781315037493-3 |work=Central Asia Meets the Middle East |pages=15–36 |publisher=Routledge |doi=10.4324/9781315037493-3 |isbn=978-1-315-03749-3 |access-date=2022-12-11|url-access=subscription }}</ref><ref>{{Cite book |last=Cornell |first=Rkia Elaroui |url=https://www.worldcat.org/oclc/1035135590 |title=Rabi'a from narrative to myth the many faces of Islam's most famous woman saint, Rabi'a al-'Adawiyya |date=2019 |isbn=978-1-78607-521-5 |location=London |oclc=1035135590}}</ref>

==In popular culture==

The life of Rabia has been the subject of several motion pictures of [[Turkish cinema]]. One of these films, ''Rabia'', released in 1973, was directed by [[Osman F. Seden]], and [[Fatma Girik]] played the leading role of Rabia.<ref name=":1">{{Cite book |last=Dönmez-Colin |first=Gönül |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=jOtJAgAAQBAJ&dq=Rabia+%281973%29+film&pg=PA112 |title=The Routledge Dictionary of Turkish Cinema |date=2013-12-04 |publisher=Routledge |isbn=978-1-317-93726-5 |language=en}}</ref>

''Rabia, İlk Kadın Evliya'' (Rabia, The First Woman Saint) is another Turkish film on Rabia. It was also released in 1973 and was directed by Süreyya Duru, starring [[Hülya Koçyiğit]].<ref name=":1" />

The Indonesian song "Jika Surga dan Neraka Tak Pernah Ada" sung by [[Ahmad Dhani]] and [[Chrisye]] on their 2004 album ''Senyawa'', is based on Rabia's quotes<ref>{{Cite book |last=Hirshfield |first=Jane |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=F521AAAAIAAJ |title=Women in Praise of the Sacred: 43 Centuries of Spiritual Poetry by Women |date=1994 |publisher=HarperCollins Pub. |isbn=978-0-06-016987-9 |language=en}}</ref> about worshipping God out of love, not out of fear of punishment or desire for a reward.<ref>{{Cite book |last=Wahyudi |first=Agus |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=acBMvw9pnW8C |title=Makrifat Cinta Ahmad Dhani |date=2010 |publisher=Penerbit Narasi |isbn=978-979-16821-0-7 |language=id}}</ref>

==Further reading==
* Kayaalp, Pinar, "Rabi'a al-'Adawiyya", in ''Muhammad in History, Thought, and Culture: An Encyclopedia of the Prophet of God'' (2 vols.), edited by C. Fitzpatrick and A. Walker, Santa Barbara, ABC-CLIO, 2014, Vol. II, pp.&nbsp;511–512; {{ISBN|1610691776}}
* Mohammad, Shababulqadri ''Tazkirah e Hazrat Rabia Basri,'' Mushtaq Book Corner, 2008
* Rkia Elaroui Cornell, ''Rabi{{hamza}}a From Narrative to Myth The Many Faces of Islam's Most Famous Woman Saint, Rabi{{hamza}}a al-Adawiyya'' (Oneworld: London, 2019)

==See also==
* [[Chapel of the Ascension, Jerusalem#Byzantine burial crypt|Zawiyat al-'Adawiyya]], Jerusalem{{snd}}a tomb venerated as Rabia's
* [[Rabaa al-Adawiya Mosque]], Cairo
* [[List of Sufis]]

==References==
{{Reflist}}

==External links==
<!--======================== {{No more links}} ============================
    | PLEASE BE CAUTIOUS IN ADDING MORE LINKS TO THIS ARTICLE. Wikipedia  |
    | is not a collection of links nor should it be used for advertising. |
    |                                                                     |
    |           Excessive or inappropriate links WILL BE DELETED.         |
    | See [[Wikipedia:External links]] & [[Wikipedia:Spam]] for details.  |
    |                                                                     |
    | If there are already plentiful links, please propose additions or   |
    | replacements on this article's discussion page, or submit your link |
    | to the relevant category at the Open Directory Project (dmoz.org)   |
    | and link back to that category using the {{dmoz}} template.         |
    ======================= {{No more links}} =============================-->
{{wikiquote|Rabia Basri}}
{{Portal bar|Biography|Islam|Iraq}}
{{Arabic literature}}
{{Sufi}}
{{Yazidi saints}}
{{Authority control}}

{{DEFAULTSORT:Rabia of Basra}}
[[Category:710s births]]
[[Category:801 deaths]]
[[Category:Year of birth uncertain]]
[[Category:8th-century Arab people]]
[[Category:8th-century women writers]]
[[Category:8th-century Arabic-language writers]]
[[Category:Muslim female saints]]
[[Category:Sunni Sufis]]
[[Category:Sufi saints]]
[[Category:Muslim ascetics]]
[[Category:Iraqi philosophers]]
[[Category:8th-century Arabic-language poets]]
[[Category:Iraqi women writers]]
[[Category:Iraqi writers]]
[[Category:Medieval Islamic philosophers]]
[[Category:People from Basra]]
[[Category:Sufi philosophy]]
[[Category:Sufi poets]]
[[Category:Philosophers from the Abbasid Caliphate]]
[[Category:Iraqi Sufi saints]]
[[Category:Women philosophers]]
[[Category:Arabic-language women poets]]
[[Category:8th-century philosophers]]
[[Category:Female Sufi mystics]]
[[Category:Sufi mystics]]
[[Category:9th-century Arabic-language writers]]
[[Category:Women poets from the Umayyad Caliphate]]
[[Category:Poets from the Umayyad Caliphate]]
[[Category:8th-century women from the Abbasid Caliphate]]
[[Category:8th-century people from the Umayyad Caliphate]]
[[Category:8th-century people from the Abbasid Caliphate]]
[[Category:Yazidi holy figures]]