Khatam Sharif In honour of the venerable

Sayyida Nafisa At-Tahira

Introduction
Allah has created the malaikah (angels) to constantly worship, praise and glorify Him. They are the purest of his creation, sinless and made of Nur. There are some that are always standing, some always in ruku, and some in sajud, some making tawaaf of the bait ul mamoor and in this way each one is always engaged in a form of ibadat. One of the greatest ibadats loved by Allah Almighty is reciting his kalam, the Holy Quran, yet the angels have been denied the opportunity to participate in this blessed ibadat. Allah has not permitted them, with the exception of Jibrail , to recite the Holy Quran because He has reserved this honour exclusively for mankind and Jinn. This is why when the malaikah, hear the Holy Quran being recited, they come and gather around the person who is reciting it and love to listen attentively, as if in a trance. Rasulullah said, When the malaikah in heaven look upon the earth, they see that it is all dark, except for those places and those houses from which the Holy Quran is recited. The angels see a special light, Nur emanating from these places, shining like a diamond or a star and they descend from the heavens to gather and encircle these places, covering them with their wings. As the Nur of the Holy Quran is very distinct, the Awliya and malaikah can tell it apart from all other Nurs and can see it clearly when the words are recited by someone. If the letters and words from the Holy Quran produce this Nur, then what can be said about those who not only recite the Holy Quran, but adopt it in their lives? Their whole being becomes Nur and this becomes distinct, shining throughout the ages. When the Tabiin asked Umm al Mu'minin, Sayyida Aisha about the akhlaq, manners and characteristics, of Rasulullah she replied, Rasulullah s manners were the Holy Quran. This implies that as we have one written form of the Holy Quran, we also have another living example, the embodiment of the teachings of the Holy Quran. Indeed Rasulullah was both; he taught people the Holy Quran, as in sabaq and the surahs, and he also lived the

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example of the Holy Quran through his manners, behaviour, dealings, and characteristics. In regards to Rasulullah Allah Almighty even declares in the Holy Quran, Indeed, you have the best of manners. In this way all those that follow Rasulullah and live their lives instilling these traits, their akhlaq, mannerisms exemplify the Holy Quran. Thus, they form a special bond with the Holy Quran and become inseparable from it. From the family of Rasulullah , one such person who was so attached to the Holy Quran throughout her life was Sayyida Nafisa . Her manners and conduct were so perfect, that whoever had the good fortune of being in her presence felt that they were in the presence of Rasulullah .

The Ahl- e Bayt

Sayyida Aisha narrates, that Rasulullah , Imam Hasan , went out one morning wearing a striped and wrapped him under the cloak and then

cloak made from black camel's hair. He went to the house of Hadrat Ali , Sayyida Fatimah said: and Imam Husayn

Allah only desires to take away any un-cleanliness from you, O people of the household, and purify you (thorough purifying). Apart from the Ahl-e Bayt mentioned in the above Hadith, various scholars and Awliya have given their opinions as to which people are also included in the Ahl-e Bayt. They are the wives of Rasulullah Imam Malik Shafii , Ahl-e Abbas the children of Hadrat Abbas (Rasulullahs brothers. uncle), Ahl-e Aqil, Ahl-e Jafar, these are the families of both of Hadrat Alis and Imam Abu Hanifa states it applies to all of Bani Muttalib.

, sate it extends to all of Bani Hashim. Imam

Rasulullah once mentioned that; There are two things, if you keep hold of them firmly, you will not go astray, one of them is the Book of Allah and the other is my itrat, my descendants, my offspring, The Ahl-e Bayt. They will not separate until they meet me on the Hawd e Kawthar, on the Day of Judgment. Sayyida Nafisa beautifully exemplifies this hadith because not only was she a direct

descendant of Imam Hasan , but also a perfect example of someone who had a great connection with the Holy Quran throughout her life.

Birth and Childhood

Sayyida Nafisa was born in Makkah on the 11th of Rabi` al-Awwal, the same night that Rasulullah was born, in the year 145 H. She was the daughter of Sayyid Hasan al-Anwar

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, the son of Sayyid Zaid al-Ablaj , the son of Imam Hasan , grandson of Rasulullah . Her father had been appointed governor of Madina al-Munawwara in the year 150 A.H. She accompanied her father to Madinah at the tender age of five. There she memorized the entire Holy Quran and studied Islamic jurisprudence in depth. Being extremely intelligent she also became adept in explaining the Holy Quran, despite her young age. Sayyida Nafisa frequented the grave of her grandfather Rasulullah . She 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 Rasulullah . He would address him directly saying: "Ya Rasulullah , O Beloved Prophet of Allah! I am pleased with my daughter Nafisa!" He continued these visits repeatedly until one day, Rasulullah 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. At the age of sixteen years, Sayyida Nafisa was married to her cousin Sayyid Ishaq al-

Mutaman , son of Imam Jafar Sadiq , a direct descendant of Imam Husayn . She bore from him a son named Sayyid Qasim and a daughter named Sayyida Umm-Kulthum. She performed hajj (pilgrimage to Makkah) thirty times; most of them on foot. She would say, I am following my grandfather Imam Hasan in doing that, for he said, I feel shy to meet my Lord having never walked to His House,' and hence he would make the pilgrimage walking. The People of Madinah loved her deeply. She became renowned for her asceticism ( zuhd) and piety (taqwa), for fasting in the day whilst reciting the Holy Quran continuously, spending the nights in prayer and for her excessive devotion to worshipping Allah Almighty. It is said that when she recited the Holy Quran she would pray, "O Allah make it easy for me to visit the grave of Sayyiduna Ibrahim " for she knew it was due to his prayer that Allah finally sent His beloved, Rasulullah , with the final message of the Holy Quran.

Journey to Cairo
After many years Allah Almighty answered her prayer. She journeyed to Hebron, Jerusalem and stayed at the shrine of Sayyiduna Ibrahim . One day as she was reciting the Holy Quran at the grave, she was overwhelmed by a vision of Sayyiduna Ibrahim , who welcomed her and expressed his pleasure and acceptance. He gave her glad tidings that she will attain closeness to her Lord. He then instructed her to regularly recite surah Muzammil. Sayyida Nafisa had great devotion and love for Sayyiduna Ibrahim remembered her experiences of this visit. and always

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As Sayyida Hajra , Sayyiduna Ibrahim s wife was from Egypt. Rasulullah said that these people have been blessed with Divine protection and so they should be treated with kindness and mercy. Once Rasulullah instructed the Sahaba , When you enter Egypt, then treat the Coptic (the local Egyptian people) well, because for them is protection and mercy. In another hadith narrated by Muadh bin Jabal , Rasulullah said, After me, when you have conquered Egypt, then from it, take a group of soldiers, because that group of soldiers are the best soldiers on earth, the best group of people. Abu Bakr Siddiq asked, Why is that? Rasulullah said, Because they will be protected, under Allahs Protection until the Day of Judgement. No doubt, due to this strong connection with Sayyiduna Ibrahim , when Sayyida Nafisa was 44 years old, she moved to Cairo. When people became aware of her arrival, thousands set off from their homes to welcome her into the city. Many set up tents the day before in anticipation of her arrival, for they understood the great blessings and Allah Almightys Mercy that was soon to descend upon them. They knew that not only was she a devout worshipper and lady saint, but she belonged to the Ahl-e Bayt. When she finally arrived, they greeted her with the chanting of 'la ilaha illAllah' and 'Allahu Akbar', and accompanied her in a huge procession into the city, treating her with great dignity and respect. Ibn Abbas narrates, that Rasulullah said, Love Allah for the countless bounties upon you and love me because you love Allah and love my Ahl-e Bayt, because of your love for me. When she first came to Cairo, the River Nile dried up, so people came to her and asked her for dua. Sayyida Nafisa gave a cloth of her veil, which the people placed upon the River. Even before the people reached their homes, the Nile began to flow again.

Longing for Madinah

In the beginning, Sayyida Nafisa stayed in the house of a notable merchant of Cairo, Jamaluddin Abdullah al-Jassas, who had a large house and was able to cater for the visitors. People came from every distant corner of Egypt to visit her and to take blessings from her. Sayyida Nafisa felt that her presence might become too great a burden on her hosts, so she moved to a place of her own. This move still did not bring a stop to the flood of Egyptians coming from distant areas. They often arrived in huge groups staying overnight to receive her baraka, especially women who came simply to touch her and request her du`a. Sayyida Nafisa would not only look after

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her guests by praying for them, but she would also encourage them to recite the Holy Quran and follow its teachings. She would explain the benefits of reciting the Holy Quran quoting the Hadith of Rasulullah where he said Whoever recites a letter from the Book of Allah, he will be credited with a good deed, and a good deed gets a ten-fold reward. I do not say that Alif-Lam-Mim is one letter, but Alif is a letter, Lam is a letter and Mim is a letter. However due to the sheer number of people that would visit Sayyida Nafisa ,she felt that she was losing time for worship, recitation of the Holy Quran and remembrance of Allah. Abu Musa al-Ashiri narrates, Rasulullah said, The example of the believer who recites or studies the Holy Quran, is the example of an orange. Its taste is sweet and its fragrance is beautiful. The example of the believer who does not recite or study the Holy Quran is like a dry date. It doesnt have a fragrance but it is still sweet. The hypocrite who recites the Holy Quran, is like a colocynth, a fruit which smells very nice but tastes bitter and the hypocrite who does not recite the Holy Quran, is like basil which has neither fragrance and is bitter in taste. Hence Sayyida Nafisa decided to leave Egypt and return to Madina al-Munawwara as she felt her heart was telling her to visit her grandfather's grave. When the people of Cairo found out about her decision to leave, thousands came to see her and begged her to remain in Egypt. They even pleaded with the Governor of Egypt, As-Sirri bin al-Hakam, to ask Sayyida Nafisa to stay. So he spoke to her and politely asked her to stay for the sake of the people who needed her. She said, "I am a weak lady and these people have gathered in their thousands, which prevents me from observing my daily recitations. Also my home is too small to accommodate all these people. I feel as though I am not looking after my guests appropriately. The governor replied, "O granddaughter of Rasulullah ! From the depths of my heart, without asking anything in return, for the sake of Allah I am giving you a large mansion I own in the district of Dirr as-Sabah. I beg you to accept this house from me and to use it in whatever way you wish. Assign two days; Saturday and Wednesday for the people to visit you, and dedicate the other days purely for worship." Sayyida Nafisa your offer." went into deep meditation. Finally she lifted her head and said, "I accept

So she moved to the mansion and only received people on Saturdays and Wednesdays, so she could devote the rest of her days to the worship of Allah by continuously praying and reciting the Holy Quran.

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Sayyida Nafisa had Jewish neighbours, who had a disabled daughter, as both her feet were joined together. One day the mother was going to the hammam, and had no one to leave her daughter with. The mother asked her daughter if she would be ok on her own, but the girl said no I am afraid, why dont you leave me next door with Sayyida Nafisa ? The lady went to the house of Sayyida Nafisa and saw she was busy in prayer, so she just left the girl in one corner of the room and went out. She knew the girl wouldnt be any trouble to her as she couldnt move. After a while Sayyida Nafisa began making wudu, and the water flowed towards the girl. The water touched her feet and she became cured. When her mother came back, this girl walked to the door to welcome her, her mother was ecstatic that her daughter had recovered. That very same day both husband and wife came to Sayyida Nafisa and entered into the fold of Islam. One day the governor of Egypt sent Sayyida Nafisa 100,000 dirhams. He said, "Take this money from me. I ask nothing in return, but I thank Allah for this opportunity to repent. I give this money to you because of your piety." Her generosity and affection was such that she took that money as her own and distributed it to the poor until nothing remained. Princes, nobles and many ordinary people sent her gifts. She accepted them, and then distributed them in whatever way she liked. She would never keep anything for herself, as she always considered others above herself. Ibn Umar said, Rasulullah said, It is not permissible to be jealous except for two reasons; it is permissible to be jealous of a person who has been granted the Holy Quran, and he recites it day and night. Or a person who has been granted wealth and he spends it day and night in Allahs way. Uthman ibn Affan narrates, Rasulullah learn the Holy Quran, and teach it to others. said, The best amongst you are those who

Alongside Sayyida Nafisas daily worship and recitation of the Holy Quran she would hold various gatherings to pass on her knowledge of hadith and tafsir of the Holy Quran. In doing so she hosted most of the scholars of her time, such as Imam al-Shafi`i who had moved to Egypt from Baghdad five years after Sayyida Nafisas arrival in Cairo. When Imam Shafi`i arrived in Egypt, he immediately formed a connection with Sayyida Nafisa based on her adherence to faith and piety.

Imam Shafii
Like Sayyida Nafisa , Imam Shafi`i also had a strong connection to the Holy Quran so much so that it is said he would complete at least sixty recitations of the Holy Quran during

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the month of Ramadan. He would also lead the taraweeh prayers in the Masjid of Sayyida Nafisa , whilst she was part of the prayer congregation. Although Imam Shafi`i was a pillar of fiqh in his own right, he would regularly sit in Sayyida Nafisas association, learning hadith and tafsir of the Holy Quran. She had such a connection and profound understanding of the Holy Quran that her explanations would reveal the secret mysteries within the Holy Quran. She was after all the descendent of Sayyiduna Ali who, when explaining about Surah Fatiha, stated that all of the Holy Quran is summarised in Surah Fatiha and all of Surah Fatiha is summarised in Bismillah hir Rahman nir Rahim, and all of Bismillah hi Rahman nir Rahim is summarised in the dot under the Ba . Were I to give sharr, commentary on that dot, it would fill seventy camel loads. This is the vastness of the knowledge, the Ahl-e Bayt have of the Holy Quran. When Imam Shafi`i would be ill, he would send one of his students to visit her on his

behalf and advise him to state to her "Your cousin ash-Shafi`i is sick and requests your du`a." Immediately, Sayyida Nafisa would raise her hands in supplication, asking Allah to cure Imam Shafi`i . By the time the student returned to Imam Shafi`i already cured because of her dua. he would find him

On one occasion Imam Shafi`i fell sick and as usual sent a student messenger asking Sayyida Nafisas du`a. Instead of raising her hands for dua, she stated, "Tell him that may Allah make his meeting with Him the Best of meetings and may Allah lift him to His nearness." When the student returned with this message, Imam Shafi`i understood that his death

was imminent. Immediately Imam Shafi`i wrote a will requesting that Sayyida Nafisa should pray the funeral prayers (salat al-janaza) over him. A few days later Imam Shafi`i passed away and Sayyida Nafisa carried out his will.

However due to her ill health, the body of Imam Shafi`i was brought to her. There she prayed the funeral prayer (salat al-janaza) over him from the women's section, following Imam al-Buwaiti who lead the prayer. The congregation at the janaza, heard a voice saying, Allah has forgiven all those who prayed here because of Imam Shafi`i Sayyida Nafisa . and Allah has forgiven him by the honour of

Demise Due to constant worship and struggle day and night Sayyida Nafisas health deteriorated. When asked what her meals consisted of, her niece Sayyida Zainab who served her for forty

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years replied, "My aunt used to eat once every three days. She had a basket hanging in her niche and if she wanted something to eat she would find it in that basket. She never ate anything other than food from her husband and that which she found in the basket. I was very surprised by all this, and I asked, where does this come from? She said, O Zainab, anyone who puts his trust in Allah, then the whole universe becomes his servant. On another occasion Sayyida Zainab pleaded to Sayyida Nafisa , "You must take care of yourself." To which she replied, "How shall I take care of myself before I reach my Lord? Ahead of me are so many barriers which no one can cross except the successful ones (alfaizun)." When she began to feel her death approaching, Sayyida Nafisa dug her grave with her own hands inside her home. Every day she would enter the grave and worship in it, as a reminder of the coming afterlife. She used to pray all her supererogatory prayers inside that grave. She is reported to have recited the Holy Qur`an while sitting in her grave six thousand times, and then granted the rewards of that recitation to all deceased Muslims. When Sayyida Nafisas illness worsened, she wrote to her husband, who was living in Madina al-Munawwara, asking him to return to Egypt. He came with their children Sayyid Qasim and Sayyida Umm Kulthum. She became very ill at the beginning of Ramadan, 208 H. Her companions asked her to stop fasting to keep her strength. She refused, saying, "I have been asking Allah to die fasting for thirty years; now you want me to break the fast?" Upon her demise her husband prepared to move her body to be buried in Jannat al-Baqi. However the governor and people of Egypt implored him not to do that, but to bury her in the grave she had dug with her own hands. They even collected a large sum of money and offered it to him. Returning the next day, they asked for his decision. He replied, "I have decided to bury her here. I saw Rasulullah in a dream last night, and he told me, 'Give them back their money and bury your wife in Egypt.'" As the news broke of her passing the people of Egypt were stunned and felt an immense tragedy. Coming from every village in Egypt, they gathered at her house in Cairo, lighting candles and weeping. For them they had lost a generous, considerate mother, a true embodiment of the Holy Quran, an extremely pious member of the Ahl-e Bayt whose prayers were never rejected, a beacon of knowledge, and a great source of blessing, baraka, It was a time of sorrow and mourning throughout Egypt. People were lamenting, crying, and calling on Allah by His Names and Attributes.

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Legacy Even to this day, hundreds and thousands of people go and pay their respects to Sayyida Nafisa . It is a place full of life where one feels at peace because Sayyida Nafisa was at peace with her Lord. There is a Hadith sharif, that Rasulullah said, Allah has created certain people to fulfil the needs of human beings. Sayyida Nafisa is definitely such a person, because she helped people all her life, and continues to do so here and shall do so in the hereafter. One of the brothers who went to visit Sayyida Nafisa mentions his account:I remember the first time when we entered the mazar, we took off our shoes. The ladies went on one side and the men on the other. There is a gold jali and a white drape inside almost dressed like a bride. We sat down, and I had a good feeling about the place. I remember crying; almost every time I went there I would cry. Even so it was a loving and warm feeling. The people would come in as if they were just dropping by, to their own house or to their grandmas house. It was all very casual and informal and I have not seen that attitude anywhere else. They would come, touch the jali, some would rub their face, on it and some would talk to them, some sing to them and some just do dua, there would also be many people who would be reciting the Holy Quran or reading their awrads quietly. I noticed that there was a constant influx of new people all the time. We even saw full wedding processions coming inside and the bride and her groom would sit and ask Sayyida Nafisa to pray that their marriage would be successful and blessed. On Friday after Juma there was be a large gathering where Dhikr took place, after which sweets would be distributed. One day I remember I was sat there and my friend was in front of me reading. There was a wall on my right and behind me, no one else was there. When I opened my eyes, I saw this dry miniature rose. I thought where has this come from? I saw it once or twice, and thought maybe I should pick it up. I didnt see it there when I first sat down but decided to pick it up and placed it into my turban. Sayyida Nafisa established a link with the Holy Quran in her lifetime and Allah Almighty has honoured that connection after she has passed away. Every day and night you can hear the Holy Quran or witness some other ibadat at her mazar. Even thirteen centuries later this practise is still seen there, as she lived, breathed and died with the Holy Quran. This is proof that Allah has indeed preserved the connection.

Al-Fatiha

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