Rabi'a From Narrative to Myth: The Many Faces of Islam's Most Famous Woman Saint, Rabi‘a al-‘Adawiyya

By: Rkia Elaroui Cornell

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Synopsis: Rabi&‘a al-&‘Adawiyya is a figure shrouded in myth. Certainly a woman by this name was born in Basra, Iraq, in the eighth century, but her life remains recorded only in legends, stories, poems and hagiographies. The various depictions of her – as a deeply spiritual ascetic, an existentialist rebel and a romantic lover – seem impossible to reconcile, and yet Rabi&‘a has transcended these narratives to become a global symbol of both Sufi and modern secular culture. In this groundbreaking study, Rkia Elaroui Cornell traces the development of these diverse narratives and provides a history of the iconic Rabi&‘a&’s construction as a Sufi saint. Combining medieval and modern sources, including evidence never before examined, in novel ways, Rabi&‘a From Narrative to Myth is the most significant work to emerge on this quintessential figure in Islam for more than seventy years.