SPIRIT OF ISLAM JULY 2O18

7 Spirit of Islam Issue 67 July 2018 she successfully calmed him down, employing all her natural gifts of gentleness, sympathy, understanding, and, above all, selfless love. After the Prophet of Islam left this world, great differences arose among Muslims in many matters. During his lifetime, all such issues had been referred to him for a solution. But after the demise of the Prophet, it was now left to his wife Aisha, who had been under his training for many years, to play the very positive role of guide and mentor. Having become fully imbued with the spirit of Islam, she used to give guidance to both male and female Companions of the Prophet. In this way, she successfully resolved such differences. However, in those days there was no platform from which her example could benefit the general public, nor was there the media—such as we have nowadays—to cover such roles and place them on record. In most of the cultures in ancient and medieval societies, women remained indoors and played their role within the confines of their own homes. That is why we know so little about the contribution of women in this arena. The most prominent name of a woman within the Sufi tradition is that of Rabia Basri (713- 801). She was born in 713 CE. into a poor family in Basra, Iraq. She devoted her life to worshipping God and serving others. She lived a life of extreme asceticism, and a large number of disciples gathered around her. Her mystical sayings have become proverbial. The spiritual role of women has never been properly realized because of the failure to institutionalize their role in society. In Rabia Basri’s times, Muslim society was rent with great religious differences. But her strong spiritual personality exerted such a powerful influence that people eventually forgot their doctrinal differences and rallied around her. She laid emphasis on pure divine love, which alone could minimize all these differences. The Prophet of Islam said: “Men and women are two equal halves of a single unit.” Teachings to this effect in the Quran and Hadith ushered in a new age of gender equality. With this new-found freedom, women were able to play a great role in society, particularly women who belonged to royal families. They were highly educated by the standards of their times, Women have always contributed greatly to normalizing conditions at home by relieving tensions and resolving conflicts.