Sayyida Nafisa-part I

[أبو الحسنيين]

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IN THE NAME OF GOD THE COMPASSIONATE THE MERCIFUL

Subject: THE BLESSED AHL AL BAYT OR PROPHET MOHAMED’S HOUSEHOLD
SAYYIDA NAFISA-PART I

“And Allah only wishes to remove all abomination from you, ye members of the family, and to make you pure and spotless” Holy - Quran 33-33.


Sayyida NAFISA is the daughter of Hasan Al-Anwar, son of Zayd Al-Ablaj, son Hasan Al Sibt son of Imam Ali and our Sublime Lady Fatima Azzahra daughter of our Beloved Prophet Mohamed, Peace & Blessings upon him and his Noble Household.

Sayyida Nafisa was born in Makkah on the 11th of Rabi Al-Awwal, the same night that the Blessed Prophet was born, in the year 145 H, her father had been appointed governor of Madinat Al-Munawwara in the year 150 H. She accompanied her father to Madina at the tender age of five , where she had to memorized the entire Holy Quran and studied Islamic jurisprudence in depth being God-gifted through an extreme intelligence she also became adept in explaining the Quran despite her young age.

Young Nafisa frequented the grave of her grandfather the Beloved Prophet, the People of Madina loved her deeply, and as such she became renowned for her abstemiousness (zuhd) and piety (taqwa), for fasting the day, spending the nights in prayer and for her excessive devotion to worshipping Almighty Allah.

Sayyida Nafisa had many titles by which she was known among the people, derived from her many different miracles (karamat ), she is known as Nafisat Al-Ilm Wa Al Marifa , (the Rare Lady of Knowledge and Gnosis) because of what she achieved and accumulated from knowledge of the Family of the Blessed Prophet (PBUH).

She is also known as Nafisa al-Tahira,( the Rare Lady of Purity), and Nafisat al-Abida, (the Rare Worshipful Lady), and Nafisat al-Darayn, (the Rare one among ladies in this life and the next), and Sahibat al-Karamat, (the Lady of Miracles), and Sayyidat Ahl al-Fatwa, (the Lady of Edicts in deriving rulings and verdicts), and Umm al-Awaajiz, (the Mother of Elderly Women), and Nafisat al-Masriyyin, (the Rare Lady of the Egyptians), because of the Egyptian people’s intense love for her and her love for them, and her being their recourse for their every problem whether collectively or individually.

Sayyida Nafisa used to pray the five prayers regularly behind her father in Masjid an-Nabawi from the age of six ,her father used to take her by the hand and enter inside the room of the grave of the Holy Prophet , he would address the Blessed Prophet directly saying: “Ya Rasullullah!, O Beloved Prophet of Allah! I am pleased with my daughter Nafisa! ”, He continued these visits repeatedly until one day the Blessed Prophet appeared to him in a dream saying to him: “Ya Hasan, I am pleased with your daughter Nafisa, because you are pleased with her, and Allah is pleased with her because I am pleased with her”.

On the 5th of Rajab, 161 H. at the age of sixteen years, Nafisa married her cousin Ishaq Al-Mu’taman son Jafar Assadiq, a direct descendant of Imam Hussain (A.S) and she bore from him a son named Al-Qassim, and a daughter they named Umm-Kulthum, she performed Hajj (pilgrimage to Mecca) thirty times and most of them on foot. She would say, “I am following my grandfather Imam Hussain in doing that, for he (Peace be upon him) said, “I feel shy to meet my Lord having never walked to His House”, for which reason he used to make the pilgrimage walking.

It is said that on her circumambulation or Tawaf around the Ka`aba, she asked Almighty Allah: “O Allah! Be satisfied with me, I see nothing that veils you from me”, she duly memorized the Holy Quran and its explanation. It is said that when she recited Quran she would pray, “O Allah make it easy for me to visit the grave of Sayiddina Ibrahim Al-Khalil”, for she knew he was the father of the Prophets and father of her grandfather Prophet Mohamed (PBUH).


Sayyida Nafisa undoubtedly knew that the mission of her grandfather Prophet Mohamed was due to the prayer of Prophet Ibrahim (Peace be upon him) , when he said, “Our Lord! And raise up in their midst a Messenger from among them who shall recite unto them Thy revelations, and shall instruct them in the Scripture and in wisdom and shall purify them. Lo! Thou, only Thou, art the Mighty, Wise”. [Holy-Quran 2: 125]

It was only after many years that Almighty Allah answered that prayer making it possible for Sayyida Nafisa to visit the grave of Ibrahim Al-Khalil or (Hebron), in what is now (Occupied Palestine), when she finally arrived, she sat there in front of his grave weeping and reciting, “And when Ibrahim said: My Lord! Make this city secure, and save me and my sons from worshipping idols”. [Holy-Quran 14: 35].

As Sayyida Nafisa sat in front of the grave of Prophet Ibrahim Al-Khalil , reciting the Holy Quran, she felt an intense presence, almost tangible, and saw the image of Sayyidina Ibrahim in front of her, at that very moment ,she said, “My heart began to beat harder and my eyes to blink” , she called upon him saying : “O my grandfather! - Ya Jiddee! ” (in the present tense), “I came to you in body and spirit, as my soul has come to you before many times, I now come to you in body as well. I seek your good pleasure with me and I seek your guidance and instruction in order that I may worship Allah until my dying breath.”

In that moment she heard a voice emerging from the image of Sayyidina Ibrahim which was before her saying, “Good tidings my granddaughter! You are chosen to be one of the sanctified, worshipful maidservants of your Lord. My advice to you is to recite Surat Al-Muzammil, wherein Allah says, “O thou folded in garments! Stand (to prayer) by night, but not all night, [Holy-Quran 73:1] until its end and seek to meditate on what you recite and by means of this and through reciting this chapter you will be guided to the forms of worship and devotion that contain no hardship, as Almighty Allah said, “Allah does not burden any soul with more than it can bear”, “O my granddaughter! The intensity of your worship has made your body weak, try to keep everything in balance.”

Zaynab bint Yahya, Sayyida Nafisa’s niece, accompanied her throughout her life as her assistant, staying with her even after her marriage until her passing. Zaynab relates that Sayiddina Ibrahim continued guiding her, saying, “Read the verse ‘Thy Lord doth know that thou standest forth (to prayer) nigh two-thirds of the night, or half the night, or a third of the night, and so doth a party of those with thee” [Holy-Quran73:20] until the end of Surat al-Muzzamil.

Know that Allah made the night prayers voluntary, after it had been made obligatory on the Blessed Prophet, for He knows that many of His servants are engaged during the day in the struggle to educate people in God's Way, or working for their provision, and this work therefore is a form of worship.

Taking into great consideration these pure words and high profile advices , she said, “O my great-grandfather I am going to fulfil your instructions ,and I wish from your pure soul to grant to my soul purity and refinement until I meet The Exalted Allah , whereas He will be pleased with me “, “ She heard the voice of Sayiddina Ibrahim saying “O my granddaughter, Good tidings for you, Allah inspired to me that He has accepted your supplication ( Du’a) , and I will accompany you until we meet in the world of souls in the everlasting life, and we meet on the Judgment Day. Then he recited the verse, “And fear the Day when ye shall be brought back to Allah. Then shall every soul be paid what it earned, and none shall be dealt with unjustly.” [Holy-Quran 2: 281].


When Sayyida Nafisa was 44 years old she moved to Cairo, she arrived on the 26th of Ramadan in the year 193AH , On her way, she passed through the city of Arriche , when people knew of her arrival, they rushed forth en masse to meet her, for her renown as a devout worshipper and lady saint had preceded her. Historians say the men and women of Egypt went to receive her in a huge procession, riding on horses, camels, donkeys and on foot; waiting overnight in tents; greeting her in the morning with the chanting the Testimony of “La Ilaha ila Allah” and “Allahou Akbar”, and accompanying her in a huge procession from Arriche to Cairo, according her great dignity and respect.
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