Al Shifa bint Abdullah ra The Healer and Scholar The Firsts Dr Omar Suleiman

Captioning provided by MUHSEN (www.muhsen.org) Assalamu Alaykum Wa rahmatullahi Wabarakatu, everyone. Bismillah AlHamdulillah was Salatu Wassalamu 'ala Rasulullah wa 'ala alihi wa sahbihi wa-man wa'la Welcome back to The Firsts- Alhamdu lillahi rabbi alAAalameen As we have finished 50 episodes of season one of The Firsts, we are inshaAllah Ta'ala going to spend the next few months with some of the shorter biographies, people whose names are relatively unknown and about whom we may have just couple of paragraphs, but they are from the earliest Muslims, the first Muslims and bi-idhnillah Ta'ala in this last batch of The Firsts, we are going to revive their memory inshaAllah Ta'ala. So the person we are speaking about today is woman by the name of Shifa bint Abdullah al-Adawiya, Shifa Bint Abdullah al-Adawiya. And she is the daughter of Abdullah ibn Abdi Shams and Fatima bint Wahab. She is married to Abu Hathma ibn Hudhayfa Radiallahu Anhu and they had two sons by the names of Sulayman and Masruq Radiallahu ta'ala Anhu. So she is known as Shifa bint Abdullah al-Qurashiya al-Adawiya. She is from Quraysh and she's also from the tribe of Banu Adi, which is the tribe of Umar Radiallahu Ta'ala Anhu. And forgot to mention that the first few bios that we are going to go through inshaAllah Ta'ala, in these short bios are all somehow connected to Umar Radiallahu Ta'ala Anhu. So that's how we're going to batch this first group inshaAllah Ta'ala. So she is related to Umar ibn Khattab Radiallahu Ta'ala Anhu and her name often comes up as if she's one of the Tabi'ah. She's someone that came later on in Islam because the role that she became known for is after the death of the Prophet SallAllahu Alaihi Wasallam. However, her reputation actually precedes Islam and she is considered amongst the very first people to become Muslim, okay? Her name actually was not Al-Shifa, that was her nickname. Her name was actually Layla, but she gained the nickname Al-Shifa and which of course refers to the healer. And this was something that would stick with her for the rest of her life. Now what makes this woman so unique? Number one, her wisdom. She had reputation for her Hikmah. Number two, she was someone that belonged to the small group of people that were literate at the time. Remember when we spoke about Umar Khattab Radiallahu Ta'ala Anhu, we said the majority of people were illiterate in Mecca. Al-Shifa was one of the few women who could actually read and write in Mecca, where they only had about 20 to 30 people, according to biographers that were able to do so. So she acquired the skill of reading and writing of literacy, which was very rare. She learned medicine as well, hence her name, Al-Shifa. And on top of that, she also was calligrapher. So she didn't just know how to write, she used to teach people, particularly, how to do calligraphy. And so we find Hafsa Radiallahu Ta'ala Anha, the wife of the Prophet SallAllahu Alaihi Wasallam, was student of Al-Shifa, obviously related to her. And Al-Shifa taught her how to read, she taught her how to write, she taught her calligraphy as well. So when did she become Muslim? We don't have the exact time, but we know that it was within the first three years of the call of the Prophet SallAllahu Alaihi Wasallam that she embraced Islam and she is also amongst the first women to make the Hijra with the Prophet SallAllahu Alaihi Wasallam to al Medina. Now, here's where it gets even more interesting with her, the Prophet SallAllahu Alaihi Wasallam trusted her, and took her as confidant in seeking her advice in many matters due to her wisdom, particularly when it came to issues of finance, issues of the marketplace, where she had particular understanding. So when they got to Medina, she's considered amongst the first batch of women to make the Hijrah, she had house that was set up for her, between the Masjid and the marketplace. And that was the famous home of Al-Shifa, that was very prominent in Medina. So in Mecca, she was known for her healing, she was known for her reading, she was known for her writing. In Medina, her home was prominently situated between the Masjid and the souk. And so the Prophet SallAllahu Alaihi Wasallam, he used to visit her frequently. And this is where you see some of the beauty of the reverence that these people had for the Messenger SallAllahu Alaihi Wasallam. She always anticipated the next time the Prophet SallAllahu Alaihi Wasallam would visit her family. And so what she did was she had particular izar, particular blanket, particular amenities for the Prophet SallAllahu Alaihi Wasallam, for the rare times that he would come to her home. And when say rare, obviously that is relative to everyone else. mean, to live in Medina, to host the Prophet SallAllahu Alaihi Wasallam is moment that you will never forget, right? But she wanted the Prophet SallAllahu Alaihi Wasallam to frequent her house even more. And so she has everything cut out and ready and prepared for the Prophet SallAllahu Alaihi Wasallam as guest whenever he would come. And so the Prophet SallAllahu Alaihi Wasallam would visit her family and the Messenger SallAllahu Alaihi Wasallam would put on the izar and the blankets and use the amenities that she had for him and the Prophet SallAllahu Alaihi Wasallam would take nap in their family home. So Subhan Allah, mean, think about how beautiful that is for her to have the honor of hosting the Prophet SallAllahu Alaihi Wasallam frequently in Medina. To learn from him Alayhi Salatu Wasallam, to be companion of his and also to be consulted by him SallAllahu Alaihi Wasallam. And when she passed away, her most precious belongings that she left for inheritance were not any of the wealth that she had acquired in Mecca or in her time in Medina, nothing that she had inherited from her husband, but rather the most precious belongings were the things, the clothes, the blankets, the things that the Prophet SallAllahu Alaihi Wasallam used to use when he used to come to her home Radhi Allahu Ta'ala Anha. And so she actually, you know, allowed for Suleiman and Masruq, her children, to inherit those things. And that was considered the most precious of the inheritance of Al-Shifa Radhi Allahu Ta'ala Anha. There are few stories of her there's one narration particular that we find in Abu-Dawwud where the Prophet SallAllahu Alaihi Wasallam entered upon her and Hafsa Radhi Allahu Ta'ala Anha and of course, as we said, she and Hafsa were very close as she was considered from the extended family of Umar Khattab Radhi Allahu Ta'ala Anhu. So she says in an authentic Hadith in Abu Dawud, dakhala Rasulullahi SallAllahu Alaihi Wasallam a'inda Hafsa "The Prophet SallAllahu Alaihi Wasallam entered upon and Hafsa when we were sitting together and he said to me-" allatu allimina hadihi ruqyatan namlati qama allamtihal kitaba "Will you not teach Hafsa how to perform type of healing for ant bites, infections that come as result of ant bites?" Remember she is healer, she knows medicine, she knows how to do ruqya and the Prophet SallAllahu Alaihi Wasallam approved her to continue to do ruqya so long as it was grounded in what was coming from the Quran and the Sunnah, not from the practices of Jahiliyyah, but other types of medicine as well. So she had particular way of treating ant bites. So the Prophet SallAllahu Alaihi Wasallam said, "Will you not teach Hafsa how to cure ant bites and infections that come as result of ant bites, the same way that you taught her, how to read and how to write?" So Subhan Allah, why is this so important to us? And why is it something that is significant? Because we find that the Quran was gathered in the house of who? It was gathered in the house of Hafsa Radhi Allahu Ta'ala Anha. And some of the Ulama mentioned that that is because of her literacy, right? That it was all gathered in her home. And she was unique in that sense, as there were only few people that knew how to read and how to write. So Shifa had something to do with the Radhi Allahu Ta'ala Anha in teaching Hafsa Radhi Allahu Anha how to read, how to write, how to use calligraphy and also how to treat ant bites. So the Prophet SallAllahu Alaihi Wasallam passes away and she maintains that home. And there is story that Umar Radhi Allahu Ta'ala Anhu, when he became the Khalifa, he formally appointed her as being in charge of the marketplace. Now there's nothing that is firm to suggest that entirely. But we do know that Umar RadiAllahu Anhu, at the bare minimum used to frequently consult her on matters of the marketplace, the fiqh of finance, business issues and things of that sort. And of course, Umar RadiAllahu Ta'ala Anhu, who honored the Sunnah of the Prophet SallAllahu Alaihi Wasallam in every way, used to visit her home between the Masjid and the marketplace, just as he saw the Prophet SallAllahu Alaihi Wasallam used to do so. And so we find that Umar as the Khalifa would frequent this woman's house. And on one occasion, he asked her about her children, particularly Suleiman. So her son Masruq was appointed as an Amir somewhere. And he was, considered person of great knowledge, person of great status under Umar Radhi Allahu Ta'ala Anhu. So, Masruq was appointed as an Amir. Her son, Suleiman, was person who was known for his recitation of the Quran and his long nights of prayer. He was Hafiz, and he used to lead the people in prayer. So Umar Radhi Allahu Ta'ala Anhu, on one occasion, asked her why her son, Suleiman was not present at the Fajr prayer. And she replied that Suleiman, her son, had been praying all night long and he fell asleep right before Fajr. And so he wasn't able to actually catch the Fajr in Jama'ah. And so the famous narration of Umar Radhi Allahu Ta'ala Anhu where he said, wasalli subhfil jama'ah "For me to pray Fajr in congregation-" ahhabu ilayya min an usali al layl "Is more beloved to me than praying the entire night. If I'm able to catch Fajr in congregation, that's better than praying the entire night." Because the Prophet SallAllahu Alaihi Wasallam said that whoever catches Isha in congregation, then it is as if that person has prayed the first half of the night and whoever prays Fajr in congregation, it is as if they prayed the entire night. So that's actually the context of this particular narration from Al-Shifa Radhi Allahu Ta'ala Anha. So we find again, Suleiman and Masruq both play an integral role, and they, the only lineage that we see that survives, Shifa Radhi Allahu Ta'ala Anha is through her son, Suleiman, who had two sons and he named his two sons what? Abu Bakr and Uthman, Abu Bakr and Uthman. So Shifa, relative of Umar, is the grandmother now of Abu Bakr and Uthman. And they became narrators of Hadith. And so that is why we find some of the surviving Hadith of this woman who was very early on in Islam, Shifa bint Abdullah Radhi Allahu Ta'ala Anha al-Adawiya amongst the famous Hadith that she narrates. She narrates the famous Hadith that we will talk about, when we talk about this companion of the letter that was sent to Kisra with Abdullah ibn Hudafa Radhi Allahu Ta'ala Anhu. So we'll talk about that Hadith in few weeks In Sha Allah Ta'ala and it's powerful and beautiful story that we find in our history. She also narrates famous Hadith, where she says to the Prophet SallAllahu Alaihi Wasallam or she says about the Prophet SallAllahu Alaihi Wasallam, that Rasoolullah SallAllahu Alaihi Wasallam- su'ila an akhthalil a'mar The Prophet SallAllahu Alaihi Wasallam was asked, "What are the best of actions?" And he said, imaanun billah wajihadun fi sabililah wahadjun mabrur "The belief in Allah Subhan Wa Ta'ala, to strive in the path of Allah and accepted and accepted and perfect, perfected Hajj. So Imaan, Jihad and Hajj. This narration also comes through Shifa Radhi Allahu Ta'ala Anha. The most famous thing that she narrates, is the story of how Umar ibn Khattab Radhi Allahu Anhu was named Amir ul Mu'mineen, the famous tile that's given to him of the commander of the believers. Now if you remember when we spoke about, Umar Radhi Allahu Anhu, when Abu Bakr Radhi Allahu Ta'ala Anhu was alive as the Khalifa, it was simple, he was Kalifa to Rasulillah SallAllahu Alaihi Wasallam, he was the successor of the Prophet SallAllahu Alaihi Wasallam. But you couldn't just keep having the Khalifa of the of the Khalifa of Rasulullah and then the Khalifa of the Khalifa of the Khalifa of the Rasulullah. And so there was curiosity about what Umar Radhi Allahu Ta'ala Anhu was going to be called. And so one of the beautiful stories here, and sometimes it's beautiful just to read about how the Hadith or the narration is transmitted. Imam az-Zuhri Rahimahullah ta'ala, he narrates that Umar ibn Abdi Aziz Radi Allahu Ta'ala Anhu asked Abu Bakr ibn Suleiman, so that's the grandson of Shifa, he asked him, I'm sorry, "Who was the first one to write Amir ul Mu'mineen?" "Who was the first person to call Umar Radhi Allahu Ta'ala Anhu by the name Amir ul Mu'mineen?" Such beautiful and endearing name, the commander of the believers. And he says, my grandmother, As-Shifa was one of the first women to make the Hijra and when Umar Radhi Allahu Ta'ala Anhu went to visit her, he would frequent her on his way to the marketplace. And she told me that one time Umar ibn Khattab Radhi Allahu Anhu who wrote letter to governor in Iraq and said, "Send me two men, two of your best men, so that can ask them about Iraq and its people." So the two men were sent by this governor of Iraq, and they were Labid ibn Rabi'a and 'Adi ibn Hatim, may Allah Subhan Wa Ta'ala be pleased with them. So they came to Medina and they entered into the Masjid And as they entered into the Masjid of the Prophet SallAllahu Alaihi Wasallam, they found 'Amr ibn al-'As Radhi Allahu Ta'ala Anhu and they said to him- ista' dhin lana ala amirul mu'mineen "Can you seek permission from Amir ul Mu'mineen for us to enter upon him?" And 'Amr ibn al-'As Radhi Allahu Ta'ala Anhu he said, "Wallahi, you two have been granted success by Allah Subh'anaHu Wa Ta-A'la in the name that you just addressed him by." Fahuwal amir wa nahnul mu'minoon "For, he is the Amir, he is indeed the commander and we are the believers." So he said that then went to Umar ibn Khattab Radhi Allahu Ta'ala Anhu and said-" As Salaam Alaika ya Amir ul Mumineen "Peace be onto you, commander of the believers." And Umar Radhi Allahu Anhu said, "Why are you calling me that, ibn al-'As?" And he said that, "Well, Labid and 'Adi came to me and this is what they said and you are the Amir and we are the Mu'mineen" And from that day onwards, this is the name that Umar Radhi Allahu Ta'ala Anhu used to go by. So Subhan Allah, this comes through conversation literally between grandmother and her grandson, which then is transmitted to the greatest grandson of Umar ibn Khattab which was Umr ibn Abdil Aziz, the fifth of Khulafa ar-Rashideen Radhi Allahu Ta'ala Anhu Ajmaeen. May Allah be pleased with them all. So, this is the role that she plays. She also has narration similar to that, of Aisha Radhi Allahu Anha, narrating the traits of Umar ibn Khattab Radhi Allahu Ta'ala Anhu, where she once saw some men that were walking very slowly and she asked about them. And they said that these are people that were praying all night. And she said, kaana Umar idha hadath asma wa idha masha asra' wa idha at am'a ashba wa idha dharaba awja That Umar Radhi Allahu Anhu, when he used to speak, he used to make sure everyone heard him, he spoke loudly. And when he walked, he walked fast. And when he fed, he fed generously. And when he hit, he hit hard. So similar narration, to Aisha Radhi Allahu Anhu Ta'ala Anha, that we also find from her speaking about Umar ibn Khattab Radhi Allahu Ta'ala Anhu. And we find that this great woman who was woman of great scholarship, woman of great literacy and above all of that, woman who embraced Islam in the very first years and had that noble position with the Prophet SallAllahu Alaihi Wasallam and Umar Radhi Allahu Ta'ala Anhu would pass away leaving behind some of the Hadith that are narrated by Buhkari, Abu Dawud and Nasa'i. And she passed away in the time of Umar ibn Khattab Radhi Allahu Ta'ala Anhu and Umar Radhi Allahu Ta'ala Anhu would lead the Janazah of this great woman, al-Shifa bint Abdullah al-Adawiya, may Allah Subh'anaHu Wa Ta-A'la be pleased with her. And may Allah allow us to follow in their footsteps, Allahumma Ameen. InSha Allah Ta'ala, I'll see you next time, where we will continue to talk about some of the people around, Umar Radhi Allahu Anhu about whom we usually don't hear much about. As Salaam Alaikum Warahmatullahi Wabarakatuhu (ending chime sound)