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Urs of Rabia al-Adawiyya
Honoring the great female mystic of Islam — the first theologian of pure divine love.
📅 August 10
✦ Why It Matters
Rabia al-Adawiyya (717-801 CE) of Basra, Iraq, was one of the greatest Sufi saints and the first theologian of unconditional divine love. She said she would burn paradise and quench hellfire so people would love God purely for God's sake.
✦ How It Is Observed
Gathering at her shrine in Jerusalem, recitation of her prayers and poetry, Sufi music and dhikr, reflection on the meaning of love without conditions.
✦ Sacred Text
“O my Lord, if I worship Thee from fear of Hell, burn me in Hell; and if from hope of Paradise, exclude me thence; but if for Thine own sake, withhold not from me Thine Eternal Beauty.”
— Prayer of Rabia al-Adawiyya ↗