Alfiyyat Umm al-Muminin Aisha - al-Rawda al-Aniqa fi Nusrat al-Afifa al-Siddiqa
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Alfiyyat Umm al-Muminin Aisha: al-Rawda al-Aniqa fi Nusrat al-Afifa al-Siddiqa (The Thousand-Line Poem on the Mother of the Believers Aisha: The Elegant Garden in Championing the Chaste Truthful One) is a contemporary didactic poem in Arabic verse composed by the Egyptian Azhari scholar Yahya al-Samuli (Abu Malik Yahya ibn Atiyyah ibn Yahya al-Samuli al-Azhari) on the life, virtues, and defense of the Mother of the Believers Aisha bint Abi Bakr .
Composition and Purpose
The work was composed as an entry for an international research and literary competition dedicated to supporting and defending Aisha, initiated by the Saudi scholar Muhammad al-Arifi . The author completed the text in al-Muqattam, Cairo, on the night of Tuesday, 2 Jumada al-Ula 1432 AH (5 April 2011 CE) .
In addition to its primary title, the author designated alternative titles for the poem: al-Urwa al-Wuthiqa fi Nusrat al-Afifa al-Siddiqa (The Firm Handhold in Championing the Chaste Truthful One) and Qamiʿ al-Rafida fi Nusrat al-Afifa al-Muʾayyadah (The Subduer of the Rafidites in Championing the Chaste Supported One) . The stated objective was to produce a comprehensive poetic synthesis of Aisha's biography grounded in the Quran and the Prophetic Sunnah, while rebutting polemical claims and historical doubts raised against her .
Contents and Methodology
Structured as an alfiyyah (a poem of roughly one thousand lines), the text covers several thematic dimensions of Aisha's life and scholarly status:
- Biography and Prophetic Household: Her lineage, upbringing in early Islamic Mecca, marriage to the Prophet Muhammad ﷺ, daily life in the prophetic household, and her status as the Prophet's beloved wife in this life and the hereafter .
- Virtues and Scholarly Prominence: Her extensive narrations of hadith, expertise in Islamic jurisprudence (fiqh), inheritance law (faraʾid), poetry, and medicine, as well as her legal rectifications and clarifications made to fellow Companions .
- Theological Precepts and Polemical Defenses: Sunnite theological principles establishing her membership within the Prophet's household (Ahl al-Bayt), the divine vindication of her honor in the Quran during the Incident of the Slander (Hadith al-Ifk), and a contextual defense of her actions during the early civil strife and the Battle of the Camel as an unintended error in independent reasoning (ijtihad) without oppressive intent .
- Death: Her final illness, her dialogue with Abdullah ibn Abbas, and her burial in Medina .
Reception and Publication
The poem was awarded the Distinguished Research Prize (Jaʾizat al-Buhuth al-Mutamayyizah) in Dr. Muhammad al-Arifi's global contest in defense of Aisha . Following this recognition, the poem was published in its first edition in 1432 AH / 2011 CE by Dar al-Taqwa in Cairo . The author also prepared an extensive prose commentary on the poem titled al-Sharh al-Wafi .
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