Women of Jannah

Asiya bint Muzahim

Despite being married to the worst human being who ever walked the face of the earth, Asiya (may Allah be pleased with her) still was a woman of perfect iman.

Asiya bint Muzahim
by Omar Suleiman at Quranweekly

Today we are going to read about a very special woman. Allah (SWT) describes her in the Quran saying, “ضَرَبَ اللَّهُ مَثَلًا لِّلَّذِينَ آمَنُوا امْرَأَتَ فِرْعَوْنَ” [Đaraba Al-Lahu Mathalāan Lilladhīna 'ĀmanūAimra'ata Fir'awna] (66:11) – that Allah (SWT) has given an example to those who believe of the wife of Firaoun (Pharoah during the time of Moses). And the reason why Allah (SWT) called her the wife of Firaoun is to show us that this woman, the wife of Firaoun, Asiya bint Muzahim radiyaAllahu ‘anha, may Allah be pleased with her, despite being married to the absolute worst human being who has ever walked the face of the Earth, she still was a woman of perfect iman (faith) as the Prophet (SAWS) described her.

That’s why in the previous ayah Allah (SWT) says, “ضَرَبَ اللَّهُ مَثَلًا لِّلَّذِينَ كَفَرُوا امْرَأَتَ نُوحٍ وَامْرَأَتَ لُوطٍ” [Đaraba Al-Lahu Mathalāan Lilladhīna KafarūAimra'ata Nūĥin Wa Aimra'ata Lūţin] (66:10) – That Allah (SWT) gives an example to those who disbelieve of the wives of Noah and Lut. That these women despite being married to prophets, who obviously have perfect iman, still managed to disbelieve. So Allah (SWT) was showing us that iman is an individual struggle and it is attained by the individual. And your associations and your affiliations and your families will not be able to save you on the Day of Judgment.

Nevertheless, when we are talking about Asiya, it is absolutely phenomenal, extraordinary who this woman managed to become despite being married to Firaoun. When we look at her biography, we don’t find much about her even when we look at Biblical sources, we don’t find much about her. We find that her life is very similar initially to the wife of a king or a prince that you would see in the Middle East today. A very secretive life, not much is known about her. You don’t know where she came from, you don’t know much about her family and even until today, usually you don’t even know the names of the wives of the kings. And so in this situation with Asiya, the only thing that we know about her is that she was a very beautiful woman, obviously, that came from a very rich family. So her father was obviously an important man as well. She was in an arranged marriage with Firaoun as was their tradition. At the same time she was only known for her generosity. So when we look at Firaoun obviously we see the opposite of generosity. We see Asiya ‘alayha alsalam was a very generous woman. This woman, her story starts, atleast from an Islamic perspective, or when things get interesting, is when one day she is at the Nile River with her maids and as she is sitting there with her maids at the Nile, she sees this small crate come and her maids think when they see this box that it must be some form of treasure that is inside of it. Instead, when they open this box they find a baby. And that baby was Musa ‘alayhi alsalam, look at the precision of Allah (SWT)’s divine decree. Not only did Allah (SWT) tell Musa ‘alayhi alsalam’s mother to place him in the Nile, and don’t worry he’ll be taken care of, he will be safe, and let your heart be at ease, but Allah (SWT) on top of just taking care of Musa ‘alayhi alsalam, planned it in a way that Asiya ‘alayha alsalam would be outside at that moment and would see this box come by and then take Musa ‘alayhi alsalam, open that box and she fell in love with the baby. She was absolutely in love with the baby. And subhanAllah when we say ‘in love’, this is something that was from her fitra, from her nature because the Prophet (SAWS) he said, “الأرواح جنود مجندة” []- an authentic hadith in Saheeh Muslim. The Prophet (SAWS) said, ‘the souls are like constricted soldiers.’ They’re like troops. And rasool Allah (SAWS) said, “” [] – in the realm of souls, those souls that loved one another and that came close to each other in that realm, come close to each other in this realm of dunya. They have a natural affinity towards each other in this dunya. Which is why sometimes you love people for the sake of Allah even though you barely know them. And those that do not get along, don’t get along in this world as well.