Women’s Spiritual Role in Early Muslim Society

WOMEN’S SPIRITUAL ROLE IN EARLY MUSLIM SOCIETY posterity a substantial portion (2210 traditions) of the vast majority of Islamic knowledge. Her house served as a school of religious learning. Abdullah ibn Abbas, a Companion of great stature and one of the best commentators of the Quran, was one of Aisha’s pupils. The most prominent name in the Sufi tradition is that of Rabia Basri (713-801 AD). She was born in Basra in 713 AD in a poor family. She devoted her life entirely to worshipping God and serving people. A large number of disciples gathered around her. She lived a life of extreme asceticism. Her mystical sayings have become proverbs: Once, she said: “I am going to light a fire in Paradise and pour water in hell so that both veils may completely disappear from the spiritual pilgrims, and they may worship God without any object of hope or motive of fear.” In her time, Muslim society was torn by significant religious differences. Her strong spiritual personality exerted a powerful influence; once again, people forgot their doctrinal differences and rallied around her. She emphasised pure divine love, which alone could minimise all these differences.