Daughter of Namrud

Namrud was the oppressive king who threw Ibrahim (A.S.) into the fire. His daughter, Ru‘dah, was watching the scene from above. She noticed that the fire was having no effect on Ibrahim (A.S.). She shouted and asked him the reason for this.
Ibrahim (A.S.) replied: "Allah has saved me from this calamity through the blessing of iman."
She replied: "If you permit me, I will also come into the fire."
He replied: "Recite Lâ ilâha illallâhu Ibrahim khalîlullâh (translation: There is none worthy of worship except Allah and Ibrahim is the close friend of Allah).

She recited this kalimah and immediately dived into the fire. The fire had no effect on her as well. She then came out of the fire and went and rebuked and censured her father. He subjected her to great difficulties but she remained steadfast on her iman.

Lesson: Glory be to Allah! How courageous she was that she did not abandon her iman even when in difficulty! O women! You should also be strong-willed at the time of difficulties and do not act contrary to the Deen even if it equals a hair's breadth.
Source: Bahesti Zewar

Related posts:
Abu Muslim Kholani (R.A)

Daughter of Shah bin Shuja Kirmanee

Salams
I've been travelling a lot lately and have been busy as well... as I'm feeling tired from this I'm gonna 'cheat' and post something from Mujahidah an Nafs blog. Actually, as you read through the post you'll realise it's better I take the post from the blog, instead of just the story from Bahesti Zewar, because it summarises some of the excellent lessons to be drawn from this event in the life of the Daughter of Shah bin Shuja Kirmanee. Anyway, the original post...

Hazrat Shuja Kirmani was a great saint of his time and was related to the royal family. The king of Kirman requested Hazrat Shuja to marry his daughter to the prince. Upon his request Shuja asked for 3 days respite during which he remained in the mosque. On the final day he saw a young pious man performing salaat. When he completed his namaaz, Shuja requested him to marry his daughter. The young man replied that he was a pauper and that he could not get married. He only had 3 dirhams (silver coins). Shuja accepted him as his son-in-law. What happened after is worth noting.

When the girl went to her husbands house she saw a piece of dry bread lying in a bowl. She asked him about it. The husband replied that it was yesterday's left over bread which he had kept for tonight. The bride was shocked to hear this and asked him to take her to her father's house. The husband said that he knew a girl from the royal family could not live with him. However the bride replied that she was not returning because of his poverty, but due to the weakness of his Iman (faith) because he kept yesterday's bread for today.

She said: "I am totally surprised at my father who, for twenty years did not get me married because he was in search of a pious and religious person and when he did get me married, then it was to someone like you who does not have trust in Allah as the Provider and makes arrangements for tomorrow from today".

The young man was surprised to hear this, and asked: "How can this error be forgiven".

The bride said :"Either keep the piece of bread or keep me".

The young man immediately gave the bread away as charity. The moral of the story...

Firstly... Tawakkul: The amount of trust that this woman had in Allah is amazing. She was so hurt by the fact that her husband had kept a piece of bread for the next evening and that he had not trusted Allah as the provider that she wanted to leave him. Would that be something we'd leave our husbands for? She couldn't tolerate a piece of bread let alone the luxeries of this world. Something 2 think about.

Secondly... Shukr: She was grateful for what she had, even though they were poor. She was grateful despite the fact that they didn't even have anything to eat the next evening. Shukr for even the littlest things despite coming from a royal family. Today we would complain if our husbands forgot to bring a extra loaf of bread or bottle of milk.

Thirdly... Imaan: Look at the imaan that she had! Her love for Allah (swt) was so great that she was prepared to leave her husband...marriage for a woman is a big thing...to leave your husband is very hard...but could you leave your husband if he said he was going to save a piece of bread for the next day because he wasn't sure if you would have anything to eat? yaani he wasn't sure that Allah would provide u with that food? Many of us would just ignore it and get on with it, but look at how strong her imaan was that she was prepared to give up something so important for the sake of Allah. You only really leave something important for something that holds greater importance; in this case obviously her love for Allah was greater than her love for her husband.

May Allah bless us all with a love for Allah (swt) that strong. Ameen. May Allah make us all (i'm referring to sisters here :P) follow the example's set by the great women of islam, the ummul mu'mineen, the sahabiyat.. may He bless us with the ability to implement their examples into our lives and may He bless each and every one of us with a love for Allah (swt) that surpasses any love.

Brothers...I havn't forgotten you... I pray that Allah blesses u with wives who would give up everything only to please Allah, because wives who can do that are very special indeed.

This is for everyone...I pray that Allah blesses us all with the attributes of tawakkul, shukr and imaan, for without these attributes we will be lost ...May He Allah (swt) plant a love in our hearts for Him that will give us the ability to give up even the most beloved things to us in this dunya for His sake only.
Ameen.

Bi Saffiyah

BI SAFIYYAH - MOTHER OF MAULANA ILYAS DEHLVI
Bi Saffiyah was an excellent reciter and memoriser of the Holy Qur'an. She had memorised the Holy Book during her son Yahya's suckling and she had a command on memory that few could stand to contest. She had the habit of going through the Qur'an Al-Majid once daily during the month of Ramadan and thus would complete 30 repititions of the Noble Book. It was also her practice to perform the household duties and the recitation simultaneously. Her daily practice other than Ramadan was that she would recite:

• Durood shareef 5000 times
• Ism Dhat (One of Allahs names chosen on the virtue of its meaning) 5000 times
• بسم الله الرحمن الرحيم (in the name of Allah, the Gracious, the Merciful) 900 times
• يا مغنى (O Enricher, Provider to His slaves) 1100 tiimes
• استغفار (I beg Thine pardon, Mighty Lord) 500 times
• حسبى الله ونعم الوكيل (Allah sufficeth me! Most excellent is He in whom we trust) 500 times
• سبحان الله (Glory be to Allah) 200 times
• الحمد للله (Praise be to Allah) 200 times
• لااله الا الله (There is no God but Allah) 200 times
• الله اكبر (Allah is the Greatest) 200 times
• افوض امر الى الله (I confide my cause unto Allah) 100 times
• حسبنا الله ونعم الوكيل (Allah is sufficient for us, Most excellent is He in whom we trust) 100 times
• رب انى مغلوب فانتصر (My Lord, I am vanquished, so give me help) 100 times
• رب انى مسنى الضر وانت ارحم الراحمين (My Lord, Lo adversity afficeth me, and thou are Most Merciful of all who show mercy) 100 times
• لااله الا انت سبحنك انى كنت من الظلمين (There is no God save Thee, Be Thou Glorified! Lo! I have been a wrong doer) 100 times

and, moreover she would recite some part of the Holy Qur'an.
Source: Leading Ladies, who made a difference in the lives of others

Subhanallah such an amazing example of a Pious Woman from Modern history, not only did she engage in Dhikr of Allah, but she would also fulfill her household chores and reared her children with an islamic upbringing. My sister and I, upon reading this did some quick calculations and arrived at the conclusion that on average Bi Safiyyah would do the Dhikr of Allah 12 times every minute, subhanallah, even then her recitation of the Qur'an has not been included!!

May Allah give us the ability to tread in the footsteps of our pious predecessors, generate the love of Allah in our hearts, obtain nearness to our Lord and live our lives in accoradance to the Shariah.

Duah ma yhad
Wasalams

Amina Ramlyah

AMINAH RAMLYAH(R)
Aminah Ramlyah is regarded a member of the learned elite of the time and one of great mystics of the 2nd and 3rd century Hijrah. She was born about 163H in Ramla, a suburb of Baghdad. She was very intelligent and had a longing to acquire knowledge since early childhood, but her parents were poor so they could not do enough for her education. In her young age she accompanied her mother to Hajj. In those days an old man with scholarly figure delivered Dars (lessons) in Masjidul Haram.

She joined his Dars and learned from him the knowledge of Qur’ãn and Hadith. After his death, she went to Madinah where Imãm Mãlik (R) had laid his rug for seekers of knowledge. Aminah joined his class and continued learning Hadith from him for long. She memorised a number of Ahãdith. Hãfiz ibn Abdul Barr held the number of Ahãdith, reported by her to around 100.

She, afterwards returned to Makkah and studied Fiqh from Imãm Shãfi’i (R). At the age of thirty six she left for Kufa and took benefit of the presence of many eminent scholars and gained knowledge from them with great interest. She got excellence in all fields of studies. When she returned to her nativity from Kufa, fame of her erudition already had spread all around. She instituted delivering the Dars to enlighten the heart and soul of people who would throng to achieve the knowledge of Hadith.

A number of notable scholars came to listen to her Dars on Hadith. She happened to visit Baghdad in 209H where a dervish, by the benefit of his consideration caused her life to change entirely. She gave away all her belongings as charity and took the life of a dervish. Her days and nights were started to be spent in praying and wailing in fear of Allah.

People called her ’chosen by Allah’ for her piety. Her dignity and grace could be judged by the fact that an illustrious Wali Allah of her time Bishar Hãfi (R) would visit her occasionally. So was the fourth Imãm of Ahlus Sunnah Wal Jama’ah, Imãm Ahmad bin Hanbal (R) appreciative of her glory and grace.

Once Bishar Hãfi fell ill and Aminah went to see him. Imãm Ahmad ibn Hanbal (R), too, incidentally came to inquire about his health. He asked Bishar Hãfi who was the lady. He told him that she was Aminah Ramalyah, who had come to visit him on his illness. Imãn Ahmad (R) expressed great pleasure on her presence and said, it was his longstanding desire to visit her. He asked Bishar Hãfi to ask her to pray for him. Bishar Hãfi conveyed his will to Aminah who raised her hands and prayed with immense humility; “O, Allah! Ahmad bin Hanbal and Bishr, both seek your protection from the fire, You are the Most Merciful, save them from it.”

Bishar Hãfi narrates that Aminah woke up by midnight and prayed prayers with great concentration and humility till dawn.

She had made it a principle not to accept food from anyone unless it was sure that the host was pious and his sources of income were pure.

The historians are silent about her matrimonial life, and neither has it been detailed how she managed long stays at distant towns to attain knowledge and who was her patron there.

She died sometime in the third century Hijrah.
www.islamictarbiyah.com/

Hannah - Mother of Maryam (a.s)

Her husband's name is ‘Imrân who is the father of Maryam. When she fell pregnant, she took a vow that when she gives birth to the child she will keep him free for the service of the musjid. That is, she will not allow him to get involved in any worldly activity. She was under the impression that she will give birth to a boy because only a boy can be of service to the musjid. At that time, vows of this nature were permissible.

When the time of delivery of the child came, she gave birth to a girl. Out of sadness she said: "O Allah! I have given birth to a girl." She was informed that this girl will be better than boys and that Allah has accepted her. She kept the name of this child Maryam and made a du‘â to Allah that He should protect her and her progeny from shaytân. Rasûlullâh sallallâhu ‘alayhi wa sallam said that shaytân torments every child that is born. However, he was unable to torment Maryam and ‘Îsâ ‘alayhimas salâm.

Bahishti Zewar

Asiyah

ASIYAH
She is the wife of Pharaoh, the king of Egypt who had claimed to be god. Look at the power of Allah that the husband was a shaytan while the wife was so pious that the Quran praise her and our Rasul has spoken about her in the following terms: "There are many men who have reached stages of excellence. However, from among the women, no one reached a stage of excellence except Maryam and Asiyah. It was Asiyah who had saved the life of Musa from the tyrant, Pharaoh."

When Musa 'alayhis salam received prophethood, Pharaoh did not bring iman on him, whilst Asiyah did bring iman on him. When Pharaoh heard about this, he became extremely harsh to her and imposed many punishments on her. However, she did not relinquish her iman and left the world in this state.

Maid of Pharoahs Daughter & A Mistake worth its weight in Gold

The maid of Pharaoh's Daughter
It is mentioned in the book Raudatus Safa that Pharaoh’s daughter had a maid who was under her command and who used to comb her hair, etc. She had believed in Musa alayhis salam. However, she did not expose her iman out of fear for Pharaoh.

Once while she was combing Pharaoh’s daughter’s hair, the comb fell from her hand. When she bent down to pick it up, she recited Bismillah. The daughter asked her: "What was it you recited just now? Whose name is that?" She replied: "it is the name of the one who created your father and also gave him a kingdom." She became astonished and remarked: "Is there anyone greater than my father!" Saying this she ran out to her father, and related the entire incident him.

Pharaoh became extremely angry, called for the maid, and threatened her.
However she unhesitatingly said: " Do whatever you wish, I will not leave my iman."

Nails were fastened to her hands and feet and thereafter hot ash and embers were placed on her. When this had no effect on her, a child who was in her lap was taken and thrown into the fire. While the child was in the fire, it said: "Mother! Be patient and don’t ever leave your iman." She remained steadfast on her iman until she was also thrown into that fire.
Heavenly Ornaments

A mistake worth its weight in gold...
From the Original Arabic Piece by Adel bin Muhammad al-Abdul 'Aalee
Translated by Abu Dujanah

One of the Salaf entered a field, hungry and tired, so he wanted to eat, and his stomach was 'rumbling'. He saw an apple tree, and picked an apple to eat. He ate half of it under the protection of Allah, then he drank from the river near the field. After that, he suddenly realised that he was not aware of what he did due to his hunger, and thought to himself: Woe to you! How can you eat someone else's provision without permission. In remorse he was determined not to leave the place until he found the owner of the garden, and confess to him that he had eaten his provision without his permission. He looked around and saw a house and went up to the door and knocked on it.
The owner came out and asked him what he wanted.

The Salaf said: "I was hungry and entered your garden and took this apple and ate half of it, then I remembered it was not mine, and I came to beg you to forgive me for this mistake."
The man replied, "I will not forgive you except on one condition?"
So the Salaf asked (and he is Thaabit bin Nu'maan), "What is your condition?"
The owner of the garden said: "I want you to marry my daughter."

The honourable Salaf without hesitation said: "yes, I will marry her". The father of the girl then said: "I want you to know that my daughter is blind and cannot see, dumb and cannot speak, deaf and cannot hear."
The revelation shocked Thaabit bin Nu'maan and thoughts flashed through his mind - what a disaster - what's he going to do? Then he remembered that the trials and tribulation he has to endure by accepting this woman as his wife, and taking care of her and serving her is better for him than to eat the food (sadeed) of hellfire due to the fact that he had eaten the apple without permission. He also realised that if he did not make amends, his days in the dunya are numbered. So he promised to marry the girl, and prayed for forgiveness and reward from Allah, the Lord of the Worlds.

The day of marriage came, and the man was nervous and very worried: "How will I enter upon a woman who does not speak, see, or hear?!" What a dilemma, and he wished the earth would swallow him before that happened (i.e. going the wedding ceremony), but he remembered Allah Subhanahu wa Ta'ala and said: "Laa Hawla wa laa quwata illa billah, wa inna lilah wa inna ilayhi raji'oon." He went off to the wedding ceremony and when he arrived, his future bride stood up and greeted him, saying, "Assalamu 'alaykum wa rahmatullahi wa barakatuhu."
When he saw her, it took his breath away and remembered what he had imagined of the hoor il-'ayn in paradise. Gaining his composure, he blurted out: "What is this? So you speak, see, and hear." Thaabit bin Nu'maan then informed her what her father had to told him.

She gave him the most beautiful smile and said: "My father spoke the truth and he didn't lie."
"But why did he tell me things about you which are untrue?
She replied, "My father said I am dumb, because I have never said a word which displeases Allah, nor have I ever spoken to a man whom it is not permissable to speak to. [He said] I am deaf, because I have never sat it in a place where malicious backbiting, gossip or tale-telling takes place. [He said] I am blind because I have never looked at a man who was not permissable for me to look."

So ponder how Allah Subhanahu wa Ta'ala united this pious woman to this pious man.

(Mashallah, & see the offspring of such parents...Imam Abu Hanifa! [Ahmed])


Inshallah I will also start looking at the biographies of muslims past, possibly starting very soon with the wives of the Holy Prophet (pbuh). Let me know your thoughts/ ideas on this please.