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Daughter of Hasan b. Zayd, grandson of Hasan b. Ali; a lady of the Prophet's household (Ahl al-Bayt), deeply devout and living a life of renunciation, whose tomb is among the most visited in Cairo. Her full name is al-Sayyida Nafisa bint al-Hasan b. Zayd b. al-Hasan b. Ali b. Abi Talib; she is known by the epithets al-Tahira and al-Hurra al-taqiyya.
She was born in Mecca in 145 (762) and grew up there and in Medina, where her father served as governor. The source notes that it may be surmised she suffered great hardship at the threshold of girlhood, when her father was dismissed by the caliph Abu Ja'far al-Mansur on a charge of attempted rebellion, imprisoned, and his property confiscated. When she came of age she married Ishaq al-Mu'taman, son of Imam Ja'far al-Sadiq; she had by him a son named Qasim and a daughter named Umm Kulthum, but these children did not continue her line.
According to a strong report she went with her husband Ishaq to Cairo (Fustat) in 201 (816-17) and lived there until her death. A great crowd of the people of Fustat came out to meet her; for some months she stayed as a guest in the house of Jamal al-Din Abd Allah b. Jassas. During this time both Egyptians and people from other lands all but vied with one another to visit her. As her visitors multiplied and a great press arose in the quarter where she lived, the governor of Egypt, Ubayd Allah b. al-Sari b. al-Hakam, assigned her a large house of his in the quarter where her tomb stands today and limited visits to two days a week.
It appears that she possessed considerable learning in Qur'anic exegesis, hadith and Sufism. The source attributes the great interest and love shown to her through history to her descent from the Prophet and to her being a very pious woman who lived a life of renunciation. It is related that she ate very little, slept little, prayed and fasted much, made the pilgrimage thirty times, and had a grave dug inside her house into which she would at times descend to worship. For this reason she is counted among the descendants of Ali who are given a special place in the Sufi biographical works.
She died in Ramadan 208 (January 824). Although her husband wished to take her body to Medina, at the wish of the people she was buried in the house where she had lived in Fustat.
Her Circle of Influence — Foremost among her visitors were Sufis and scholars such as Bishr al-Hafi, Ahmad b. Hanbal and Imam al-Shafi'i. According to the sources, Imam al-Shafi'i visited Nafisa often when he went to Egypt and learned hadith from her; when al-Shafi'i died, his bier was brought to her house so that she too could pray the funeral prayer over him. Her visitors increased still further after her death. Ibn Taghribirdi says that her fame spread in the East and the West.
Her Tomb and Complex — After her burial in her house in Fustat, a tomb was built over her grave by the governor of Egypt, Ubayd Allah b. al-Sari b. al-Hakam. In later periods the tomb was repaired many times and, with new buildings added beside it, turned into a complex. The chief works of building were carried out in 532 (1138) by the Fatimid caliph al-Hafiz li-Din Allah, in 693 (1294) by the Mamluk sultan Muhammad b. Qalawun, and in 1170 (1757) by the Ottoman governor Hekimoğlu Ali Paşa. Today, besides a mosque, there are various buildings, a library and Sufi cells around the tomb; notable especially for its gold and silver ornament, the tomb is among the most frequented places of visitation in Cairo.
Miracles
The following are reports that appear in the source as TRANSMISSIONS; the atlas records them not as 'this is what happened' but as 'this is what the sources relate'.
The Jewish man's daughter — Al-Sakhawi ascribes the great number of Nafisa's visitors in Fustat to a wonder she performed: he relates that when she healed a Jewish man's daughter who could not walk, some ninety Jews, together with the girl's family, became Muslims, and that as the news spread her visitors rapidly increased and a great press arose in the quarter where she lived. (Source: TDV İslâm Ansiklopedisi, NEFÎSE bint HASAN, vol. 32)
A possessor of wonders — Ibn Taghribirdi says that Nafisa was a woman of wonders and proofs; al-Sakhawi too transmitted some of the reports concerning her wonders and virtues. (Source: TDV İslâm Ansiklopedisi, NEFÎSE bint HASAN, vol. 32)
Differing Scholarly Views
Sayyida Nafisa belongs to the Prophet's household and is remembered with reverence in different scholarly traditions. The atlas takes no side in this entry; it records the views the source transmits side by side, together with those who hold them. The source article is written within the Sunni scholarly tradition; the author's own interpretations are marked below separately as 'the source'.
Her journey to Egypt — The source gives the year of her journey to Egypt as 201 (816-17) "according to a strong report". Al-Sakhawi writes that she went to Egypt after visiting the grave of Abraham in Bayt al-Maqdis. The source, as its own interpretation, states that Nafisa in fact wished, on the occasion of this visit, to get away from Iraq, where the descendants of Ali were kept under heavy pressure, and crossed from Jerusalem to Egypt, where there were influential people who would welcome them. The atlas records this interpretation as the author's.
Devotion shown to her tomb — Here the source sets different assessments side by side. Ibn Khallikan says that the Egyptians felt a great devotion to Nafisa that never lessened, because it was believed that prayers made at her grave were answered; al-Maqrizi likewise writes that Nafisa's tomb was one of the four places in Egypt where prayers were answered. Al-Dhahabi, on the other hand, records that some of the common people showed excessive reverence to the tomb and carried it to the point of associating partners with God; al-Yafi'i too draws attention to improper conduct he himself witnessed at the tomb. The atlas passes no judgment between the assessments of these scholars; since the etiquette of visitation requires the approval of qualified scholars, it is not written in this entry.
Sources
- TDV İslâm Ansiklopedisi (DİA) — Rıza Savaş · vol. 32, pp. 531-532, entry “NEFÎSE bint HASAN”
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