Hadhrat Nafeesa (May Allah shower His Mercy on her)

  The descendent of the grandson of the Holy Prophet (Sallallahu alaihi wa sallam), Imam Hasan (May Allah be well pleased with him), Hadhrat Syeda Nafeesa bint Hasan Muthanna bin Zaid (May Allah be well pleased with them) was very virtuous and the very embodiment of piety and the recourse of the jurisprudents and the Hadith experts.

 

And why shouldn’t she be so, as she was brought up in a household which was without peer in piety and knowledge.

 

Her stature can be easily understood with the fact that a great jurisprudent and Imam of the age studied, Imam Shafa'ee (May Allah be well pleased with him) under her.  Imam Shafa’ee (May Allah be well pleased with him) passed away in her lifetime.  His students and devotees placed the bier of the Imam in the presence of Hadhrat Nafeesa (May Allah shower His Mercy on her) as the great scholar Ibn Mulaqqin has written in Tabaqaat Ul Auliya.

 

Glad tidings of her birth

 

It was the custom of Hadhrat Nafeesa’s (May Allah shower His Mercy on him) father that he would give lessons in Masjid Al Haraam.  He would quench the thirsts of those who desired jurisprudence and the Hadith sciences.  One day he was busy in this that a slave-girl came to him and said:  O Imam!  Congratulations be to you!  The Lord Almighty has granted you a beautiful girl with a blessed and radiant face.  Such beauty, we haven’t seen before.  Radiance emanates from her pearl-like teeth and her face illuminates.

 

On hearing all this, Imam Hasan Muthanna, who was famously known as Anwar, performed a prostration of thankfulness and showered that slave-girl with his generosity.  He then told the slave-girl:  Tell the family to name her as Nafeesa (literally pure).  Allah-willing, she will remain so.

 

Then Imam Hasan (May Allah shower His Mercy on him) supplicated:  O Allah!  You have granted me a most beautiful girl.  Accept her and include her among those whom you love and include her among those who enjoy Your proximity whom You love and who love You.

 

At that time, a messenger from the Caliph Mansoor brought a letter for Imam Hasan (May Allah shower His Mercy on him).  He would keep reading it and keep crying.  A large gathering of students was present and they asked him the reason for it.  Imam Hasan (May Allah shower His Mercy on him) said:  The caliph has appointed me the governor of Madina.  Now, I am going to go to the city of my Master.  People congratulated him and said:  It is the good luck of the people of Madina that a descendent of the Holy Prophet (Sallallahu alaihi wa sallam) will govern them and fill the land with justice.  Along with this order, the caliph had also sent 20,000 Dirhams as a gift.

 

In these times, the birth of girls is considered to be an ill omen.  If someone has multiple daughters, people become depressed.  If the previous lines are read, it becomes clear that girls are a mercy of Allah Most High.  Almighty Allah grants sustenance along with girls.  Just see!  Here Hadhrat Nafeesa (May Allah shower His Mercy on her) was born and there, her father, whose life was already a success, became a success even from the worldly point of view.  Maybe, that’s why this maxim is famous in Urdu:

 

Transliteration: Beti roti lekar aati hai.

 

Translation: A girl brings sustenance (Rizq) along with her.