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Rabia al-Basri: A Divine Feminine Archetype of Sovereignty and Unconditional Love
Rediscovering and redefining the union of the divine feminine, God, and the divine masculine
During the 700s, in early Muslim times, Rabia al-Basri stood out as a shining example of brightness, kindness, and courage in a predominantly Arab male-dominated society. She was born poor, the fourth daughter in a family whose name she later assumed, “Rabia,” meaning “Fourth.” She had grown up in absolute poverty.
Her parents’ death led her and her sisters to be sold into slavery and driven into bondage and exploitation. Nevertheless, despite all this colossal suffering, Rabia’s heart was not broken, and God’s love fortified her soul.
Rabia is also depicted as a lady walking with a torch in one hand and a bucket of water in the other. To the confused people, she replied:
“I will set the heaven on fire, and I will put out the fire of hell with this water.”
Her words, simple yet profound, challenged the very foundations of religious piety that relied on the fear of punishment or the promise of reward.
Rabia’s declaration was not an act of rebellion against faith but rather a call to transcend duality – to move beyond the illusion of separation between heaven and hell, reward and punishment…
