Mawaqif La Tunsa - Min Sirat Walidati Rahimaha Allah
- Author died
- 1440 AH
- Editions
- Safir Press
Mawaqif La Tunsa: Min Sirat Walidati Rahimaha Allah (Unforgettable Moments: From the Biography of My Mother, May Allah Have Mercy on Her) is a biographical treatise written by the Saudi scholar Saeed bin Wahf al-Qahtani (d. 1440 AH / 2018 CE) documenting the life, virtues, and religious conduct of his mother, Nashta bint Saeed ibn Muhammad ibn Jaza'ah (c. 1345–1428 AH) .
Composition and Purpose
Al-Qahtani finalized the treatise on Sunday, 4 Ramadan 1428 AH, shortly after his mother's death . He composed it as an act of filial devotion (birr) to preserve her life story, highlight her wisdom and piety, and encourage readers to supplicate for her forgiveness and mercy . The text was published as an independent booklet within his authored series and was later included as the fifth treatise in Majmu' Rasa'il al-Shabb al-Salih Abd al-Rahman bin Saeed al-Qahtani, compiled on 4 Muharram 1431 AH, due to her close connection to her deceased grandsons, whom she had delivered at birth as a midwife .
Contents and Structure
The book is arranged into twenty-one numbered sections detailing the chronology of her life, her daily worship, and notable incidents :
- Early Life and Marriage: Born around 1345 AH in the outskirts of al-Arin near Abha to a Bedouin family of pastoralists, she was raised in an illiterate yet devout environment . Around 1370 AH, after spending twenty-five years with her father, she married Ali ibn Wahf ibn Muhammad as his second wife . She gave birth to four sons: Saeed (the author, born c. 1372 AH under a lote tree while herding sheep), Husayn (born 1375 AH during the flash flood known as Kharif Kuwayyi'), Sa'd (born 1382 AH), and Hadi (born c. 1386 AH) .
- Transition and Learning: Around 1384–1385 AH, the family transitioned from nomadic pastoralism to farming in the village of al-Baqla in Wadi al-Gharas . In 1400 AH, she moved with the author to Riyadh . Although illiterate into her late adulthood, she began learning the Arabic alphabet in 1403 AH and subsequently enrolled in a women's Quranic memorization school at the Armed Forces housing in Riyadh, where the author served as imam . By 1423 AH, at the age of seventy-eight, she had memorized eight ajza' (from Surah Ya-Sin through Surah al-Nas) .
- Worship and Devotion: The author records her observance of voluntary fasts (the six days of Shawwal, Arafah, and Ashura), continuous daily dhikr, regular listening to the Quran Radio and the program Nur 'ala al-Darb, four completed Hajj pilgrimages (in 1398, 1403, 1408, and 1416 AH), and annual Umrah trips every Ramadan from 1400 to 1426 AH .
- Charity and Moral Stances: She distributed all her accumulated wealth prior to her death, including donating 40,000 riyals toward the construction of a mosque dedicated to Ali ibn Wahf in Turayb, and 16,500 riyals from her sold gold and savings toward the Mosque of Abd al-Rahman ibn Awf . She actively attended training courses on ritual washing of the deceased at the al-Rajhi Mosque in Riyadh after turning eighty, and strictly enforced family adherence to Islamic practices, such as waking her children for dawn prayers with cold water and urging her relatives to maintain the beard and avoid wasteful habits .
- Illness and Death: In late Dhu al-Hijjah 1426 AH, she developed a severe illness affecting her back, liver, and abdominal organs . She was admitted to King Fahad Medical City in Riyadh in Sha'ban 1427 AH and again in Rabi' al-Thani 1428 AH . She died on Friday, 27 Rajab 1428 AH (at approximately 5:40 PM) at about eighty-three years of age . She was washed and prayed over at the al-Rajhi Mosque in al-Rabwah and buried in al-Nasim Cemetery in Riyadh .
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