Four years ago in the event of celebrating the islamic new year in Surabaya, my spiritual master had changed the name of the female students league within Thariqah Shiddiqiyyah from Faatimah bint Maimun Haajarullah into Haajarullah. The former is a name taken from the first islamic woman missionary in Java lived sometime before 475 Hijriyah / 1082 Masehi, the year when she died as written on her tomb located in Gresik, East Jawa.
The change into Haajarullah certainly carried a deeper meaning, for I know he would never change something but to the better and more meaningful one than before. And last week he explained the reason of it. And as I practiced his instruction given during the closing ceremony and searched more information about Hagar RA, I experienced something very divine and felt like her soul spoke to me that I ended up crying of humility and of Allah's greatness toward the family of Prophet Ibrahim, peace be upon them. The blessing that they received from Allah is so obviously stated yet so hidden from the world in the history of mankind and especially in Muslim's world.
One statement from my spriritual master is that Hagar RA was the great female warrior ever. And you may question why or how could she be :)
Here's my respond to that question apart from the explanation given by him and as I gained more insight of her life story through my spritual experience.
The Great Female Warrior
| Battlefield of the outside war - Can you also see the war that rage inside every human being? |
If you read in wikipedia (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hagar) the story of Hagar RA you may find the general information about her life from historical point of view based on several sources, especially the old testament. But I don't know if you ever question its truth against the doer herself. I mean as I read the information there, I felt there was something amiss. I will talk about this in detail later. Back to her as a female warrior.
Her battle may had been started long before her encounter with Prophet Ibrahim AS and Sarah RA during their visit in Egypt. For according to the information given, "she was the descendant of prophet Salih AS but her father was killed by Pharaoh Dhu l-'arsh and she was captured and taken as slave. Later, because of her royal blood, she was made mistress of the female slaves." It could be that she had been a monotheist inside the Pharaoh's palace long before prophet Ibrahim AS entered her life. Now, can you imagine the struggle she had to face inside her heart amongst the disbelievers of Allah in Pharaoh's kingdom to be able survive? Had anyone really looked into this and felt her struggle?
Most of us only know that when she was given to Prophet Ibrahim AS and later had to leave her country to follow her new family to Palestine, that was when her story begun.
| Ibrahim AS between Sarah RA and Hagar RA - Their differences had been carried along the history |
To come up with an act of submission one have to resolve their inward struggle to enable them to move forward toward something unknown against their own fear. I think her monotheist faith that she embraced from her forefathers had helped her to resolve her turmoil.
And as the old testament narrated, her life with Sarah RA wasn't much pleasing either. Not that they both weren't good women. I think it was rather because they had quite different character and personality added with their rivalry in winning the love of their husband. I mean I could picture out their rivalry by looking into the lives of the two wives of my teacher. I consider both of them are good women, otherwise a man as wise as my teacher wouldn't take them as wives. However, because they both have quite different character and personality, though outwardly they don't seem to have any problems but when you interact more with them, you will see their rivalry. And this give me another thought..... I wonder if the war between Israel and the Palestine (Arab) was also rooted from their difference? I won't go further with this flash of thought :)
When I read the story about Hagar fleeing from his house during her pregnancy, it made me think deeper and tried to see into her soul what had truly happened. And I saw the helplessness of a woman. You know if she ever felt superior against Sarah RA as mentioned in wiki " When Hagar realized that she was pregnant, she began to despise her mistress. Sarai sensed her slave's attitude which caused her to suffer greatly. Sarai then consulted her husband about the matter who gave her permission to do with Hagar as she saw fit. Sarai dealt with her harshly, which resulted in Hagar fleeing from Abram’s settlement ". (Gen16:4-6), she would never do that. She would stay rooted in that house and tried to win her position. But she didn't do that.
I figured that she thought it was best for all of them to have her leaving the house regardless her love to her husband. It was like she chose to sacrifice her own happiness for the peace of her husband's family rather than lived with them and witnessed their quarrel for having her around. It was her unselfish motive that drove her to flee. And it was the greater command of Allah through the angel that brought her back to that house and had her baby Ishmael born.
Question Yourself
Had the struggle stopped? No, it wasn't. Because as the rivalry between the two women heightened, prophet Ibrahim AS had divine message to separate the two. And he brought Hagar and his beloved son to the valley of Bakkah. And if the wiki narrated in accord to the old testament "Early the next morning, Abraham brought Hagar and Ishmael out together. He released Hagar and her son from being slaves of their household. Hagar would now be a free woman, and Ishmael a free man as a teenager. Under Mesopotamian law, their freedom absolved them from laying claim to any inheritance that Abraham and Sarah had. Abraham gave Hagar bread and water for a journey into the wilderness of Beersheba. She and her son wandered aimlessly until the bottle of water was completely consumed. In a moment of despair, she burst in tears." I would question its truth. You know why?
Because I don't believe that a great man entitled of prophethood would treat his wife and son so crueally. And I don't believe that a free man entitled of prophethood would do as his other wife commanded for the sake of her ego. And I don't believe that a loving man entitled of prophethood would release his wife and son that later their descendant would carry and honour his lineage of prophethood to the great prophet Muhammad SAW. And I certainly don't believe that a man who could invoke prayers as stated in the Qur'an "My Lord, make this a secure city and provide its people with fruits - whoever of them believes in Allah and the Last Day... Our Lord, accept [this] from us. Indeed You are the Hearing, the Knowing. Our Lord, and make us Muslims [in submission] to You and from our descendants a Muslim nation [in submission] to You. And show us our rites and accept our repentance. Indeed, You are the Accepting of repentance, the Merciful. Our Lord, and send among them a messenger from themselves who will recite to them Your verses and teach them the Book and wisdom and purify them. Indeed, You are the Exalted in Might, the Wise." [QS 2: 126-129] could have done such terrible act to his own family unless for the greater cause.
| Hagar RA and baby Ishmael AS- In her faith to Allah she accepted the treatment of her husband Ibrahim AS |
I believe it was under Allah's guidance that prophet Ibrahim AS had to leave his family in a desert, for Allah is the Wisest of All. Because afterall, as mentioned in the Qur'an "And [mention, O Muhammad], when Abraham was tried by his Lord with commands and he fulfilled them. [Allah] said, "Indeed, I will make you a leader for the people." [Abraham] said, "And of my descendants?" [ Allah ] said, "My covenant does not include the wrongdoers." [QS 2: 124] Allah had tried him with certain commands that apparently against his humanly feeling and some of them were connected more with Hagar RA rather than Sarah RA. And as the verse further stated that he fulfilled the commands meant that Hagar had supported him in fulfilling the commands and thus made the two of them to be the leader of mankind, he is in the rank of prophethood and she is in the rank of female warrior.
If you think deeper, was it by coincidence that where she was left was the place in which Ka'bah was located? Because according to Qur'an, it was said that Ka'bah, The House of Allah was the First House in this planet earth [QS 3:96], long before prophet Ibrahim AS raised its foundation [QS 2:127]. It had been there all along, in that deserted desert. And there was where he left his family. It was as if he returned them to Allah, his Lord. And if any man had sacrificed and made offering of his family to Allah, his Lord, hs Most Beloved One, don't you think that he would always remember them in his heart in his remembrance of Him?!
And if you understand the true meaning of proximity, who would then be the closest one to his heart? The one that physically close to him or the one that spiritually close to his heart? Because the true meaning of eternity in sight of Allah is not about the physical proximity; it is in spiritual remembrance that one is worthy of eternally loved. And Hagar RA had been the one that was eternally loved by his husband.
This is also the reason why I wonder if this sentence "He released Hagar and her son from being slaves of their household. Hagar would now be a free woman, and Ishmael a free man as a teenager." was true. Because if the word 'released' meant that he disowned Hagar and Ishmael, in another word she had been divorced by him that she didn't entitle of being called the family of Ibrahim. But as The Truth showed, she was the one that was kept in His House and she was the one that her struggle had been honored in the form of rites during Hajj (sa'ee) as the fulfillment of her husband prayer [QS 2:128]. I think in a prophethood, the relationship between them as husband and wife is very divine and beyond the understanding of common people.
Without her full trust of Allah and her husband, I don't think she or any woman would ever forgive their husband's treatment such that. Only by her submission to the will of Allah, that Hagar accepted her husband treatment by leaving her in that desert. She didn't reprove or reprimand him for leaving her alone in the desert. Even years later during his visit, when he asked and acted strangely enough by telling his dream to slaughter their son, Ishmael she didn't object. She didn't see him as a weird man. She didn't even think of him as a madman. In fact she welcomed him. She treated him well. She introduced him to his own son who by then had grown bigger. She was a woman with a very strong heart even in her lean physical figure.
As she was left in the desert alone with her son, the story in Islamic tradition narrated that she ran from one hill to another hill searching for water. As wiki wrote "The incident of her running between the Al-Safa and Al-Marwah hills is remembered by Muslims when they perform their pilgrimage (Hajj) at Mecca. Part of the pilgrimage is to run seven times between the hills, in commemoration of Hagar's courage and to symbolize the celebration of motherhood in Islam." You see the rank she held amongst all the female mankind including her partner Sarah RA was this. And that made her to be the best example for any women for her devotion to Allah and His Messenger and to their husband.
| Sa'ee between Safa and Marwah - And the memory of your struggle Dear Mother Hagar will always be alive and remembered by us the followers of your husband's religion |
As time flew by, the child had grown up to be a big boy. And one day prophet Ibrahim AS came for a visit. In which during his visit another divine message came to command him to sacrifice his son. Being a mother who loved her son, and had struggled so much to earn a living and raised her son on her own, could you imagine her feeling in hearing that? If it were you, wouldn't you deny that command and think of your husband as crazy? But the history said otherwise. Once again she accepted the news and let her husband proceeded with the command of Allah. If it weren't for her true faith to Allah, I don't think she could stand that kind of trials.
| Hijr Ismael - May Allah sanctify your soul dearest Mother Hagar for you are the epitome of devoted woman wife and mother of all mankind |
And all the struggle she endured inside. She was the witness as well as the subject of the wars that rage inside her. And just like any normal human being, I believe that sometime in her own time, in her mind she questioned the reason behind all the hardship she had to face. And somehow in her own time, she found her answer. And as Allah fulfilled His promise to her as the history told so, she died peacefully in keeping her faith to her last breath.
You see of all women before and after her, there is no one but her had the privilege as high as hers. That her footstep is to be followed by all Muslim who take pilgrimage to Mecca. And that her tomb was located inside the area of Masjidil Haram under Hijr Ishmael. And that the water from her spring well zamzam has been enjoyed and traveled to a great distance on this planet earth and healed so many and as of today after more than 3500 years it was given never run dry to give benefits to its surronding.
Spring of Wisdom
Talking about the family of Ibrahim I can't help but thinking about my dear friend brother Yusuf Muhammad who loves the story of prophet Ibrahim AS. He is also his descendant from the lineage of Sarah RA which gives him the possibility of getting the blessing of his appeal " [Abraham] said, "And of my descendants?" [ Allah ] said, "My covenant does not include the wrongdoers." [QS 2:124]
| Zamzam Spring - Between clarity and the urge inherently within I gathered the wisdom of life |
Long ago, I used to bring forth its water in the form of writings and then something happened that it left me with something like a knot inside and I couldn't do it anymore. I didn't know how to unravel it so I left it as it was and carried on with the outer works. All the writings you have here in the past three to two years were from my older collection before the knot happened. And if you have read some of the articles I wrote here in the past seven months, it was through his effect that the 'knot' that once had binded me to bring forth what was hidden inside had finally unraveled. It was like the innocent cry of thirst from baby Ishmael that urged his mother Hagar to run back and forth till they finally blessed with the spring zamzam. He may not realize or know he did anything about it, but I was the one who felt the effect and I am grateful for him.
Though I know some of the writings are quite profound, I don't think to publish it for it is personal. It is also to avoid any misunderstanding from those who dwell in outer knowledge. They may disagree with me, but it was my experiencing the Truth and I am humbled to be shown something to enrich me and leave me with grateful heart for this life and all its content both the struggle and the joy of being alive in the path of Truth following the religion of Ibrahim.
True is the promise of Allah
True is the virtue of the family of Ibrahim
min ruuhina bi wasilatil ruhil fatihah ila rtuhi Nabiyulloh Ibrahim alaihissalam
From my soul by the soul of surah Al-Fatihah to the soul of prophet Ibrahim peace be upon him
min ruuhina bi wasilatil ruhil fatihah ila ruuhi Ummi Hajar radhiallohu anha
From my soul by the soul of surah Al-Fatihah to the soul of Mother Hagar may Allah sanctify her soul
Al Faatihah.....
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