LET ME TELL you about one of the greatest women given Jannah: Asiya.
We don’t know many details about her life, but we know enough. She came from a powerful, wealthy family in Egypt, and—as was the custom—her marriage was arranged.
To none other than the greatest tyrant in history: Pharaoh. A man so arrogant he claimed to be god, and so ruthless he ordered the execution of newborn boys from Bani Isra’il to protect his throne.
But Allah ﷻ had different plans. Asiya was part of those plans. She was the one who had no children and found baby Musa in a basket floating down the Nile. She rescued him from the water and protected him from Pharaoh, showing a mother’s love for an innocent child.
وَقَالَتِ ٱمْرَأَتُ فِرْعَوْنَ قُرَّتُ عَيْنٍ لِّى وَلَكَ لَا تَقْتُلُوهُ عَسَىٰٓ أَن يَنفَعَنَآ أَوْ نَتَّخِذَهُۥ وَلَدًا وَهُمْ لَا يَشْعُرُونَ
And the wife of Pharaoh said: “[He will be] a comfort of the eye for me and for you. Do not kill him; perhaps he may benefit us, or we may adopt him as a son.” And they perceived not. (al-Qassas 28:9)
It was she who appointed Musa’s (as) mother to be his wet nurse and she who raised him in their house.
Later when Musa (as) came back as a Prophet of Allah ﷻ, it was she who believed in him and His Lord. She may have been the wife of Pharaoh, but that didn’t define who she was.
She was fully aware of what Pharaoh would do if she revealed her iman, so she kept it hidden.
But one day something terrible happened.
Pharaoh had a daughter from another wife. That daughter had a servant—a hairdresser. One day, as she was combing the princess’s hair, her iron comb fell, and she instinctively said: “Bismillah.”
Startled, the princess asked: “You mean my father?”
“No,” she replied. “My Lord and the Lord of your father is Allah.”
The daughter said: ‘I will tell him about that.’
So, she told him and Pharaoh summoned her and said: ‘Do you have a Lord other than me?’
She said: ‘Yes, my Lord and your Lord is Allah.’
Pharaoh was furious. He ordered that a great copper vessel shaped like a cow be heated up. Then he ordered that the hairdresser and her five children be thrown into it.
She said: ‘I have a request to make of you. I would like my bones and my children’s bones to be gathered together in one cloth and buried.’ Forever an inseparable mother, full of love for her children.
He granted her wish.
He ordered that her children be thrown into it in front of her, one by one. Then the last one, an infant still suckling.
Such was her love that she wavered. But the baby was given the power of speech. He said: ‘O mother, go ahead, for the punishment of this world is easier to bear than the punishment of the Hereafter.’
And so, the family of the hairdresser came to an end in this dunya.
Where do you think they are? In Jannah of course. Many, many years later, our Prophet ﷺ smelt a beautiful perfume whilst he travelled with Jibreel (as) during the mi’raj. He asked Jibreel (as) what that smell was. It was the smell of the perfume of the hairdresser in Jannah!
But going back to our story. The incident was meant to be a warning to others. But it had quite the opposite effect on one person.
There was someone who saw what happened to the hairdresser. Asiya. The wife of Pharaoh. What had she witnessed? Innocents being killed just for believing in Allah ﷻ. It had an unimaginable effect on her.
She could not be silent anymore. She could not hide her iman anymore. She knew what might happen to her. She knew what her husband was capable of. But there was a fire that ignited in her that wouldn’t die down. It is like the ayah:
ٱلَّذِينَ قَالَ لَهُمُ ٱلنَّاسُ إِنَّ ٱلنَّاسَ قَدْ جَمَعُوا۟ لَكُمْ فَٱخْشَوْهُمْ فَزَادَهُمْ إِيمَٰنًا وَقَالُوا۟ حَسْبُنَا ٱللَّهُ وَنِعْمَ ٱلْوَكِيلُ
‘Those to whom hypocrites said, “Indeed, the people have gathered against you, so fear them.” But it [merely] increased them in faith, and they said, “Sufficient for us is Allah, and [He is] the best Disposer of affairs.’ (ale Imran 3:173)
Where there should have been more fear, the scene only made her more fearless.
So, she went to Pharaoh. And she told him who she believed in, in Allah, the Lord of Musa. Imagine Pharaoh’s anger. He tried to persuade her to turn back. But she refused. Like the magicians who found the truth and surrendered themselves completely to Allah, she too submitted herself to Allah ﷻ.
Pharaoh took to what he knew best. Torture. He stripped her of her dignity and had her put out in the burning sun and beaten. She was a queen of her land. Now lesser people laughed at her.
Asiyah would taunt her torturers and Pharaoh. She would ask who had won the contest. They would say: ‘Musa and Harun won.’
She would say: ‘“I believe in the Lord of Musa and Harun.”
She would call upon her Lord:
رَبِّ ٱبْنِ لِى عِندَكَ بَيْتًا فِى ٱلْجَنَّةِ وَنَجِّنِى مِن فِرْعَوْنَ وَعَمَلِهِۦ وَنَجِّنِى مِنَ ٱلْقَوْمِ ٱلظَّٰلِمِينَ
‘My Lord, build for me near You a house in Paradise and save me from Pharaoh and his deeds and save me from the wrongdoing people.’ (at-Tahreem 66:11)
When her torturers would tire and walk away, the angels would shade her with their wings, and she would see her home in Paradise.
Finally, Pharaoh said to those around him: ‘Look for the largest rock you can find. If she remains on what she said, throw it on her. If she retracts what she said, she will remain my wife.’
When they came to her, she looked towards the sky and saw her home in Paradise. She remained firm on iman. Allah ﷻ took her soul before the rock was thrown on her lifeless body.
What can we learn from her story?
We are not defined by the people around us or our circumstances. We are defined by our choices.
Asiya had everything the dunya could offer. She was royalty. She lived in luxury. She never knew hardship.
But she gave it all up. Why?
Her du’a tells us: “My Lord, build for me near You a house in Paradise.”
She didn’t ask for a house in Jannah first. She asked for nearness to Allah ﷻ—and then for a house.
There comes a time in each of our lives when we must choose. When silence is no longer an option. When comfort is no longer worth the price. When we must decide whether we live for the dunya or for the akhirah.
For Asiya, that moment was the death of the hairdresser and her children.
And for us?
In the face of genocide—when thousands upon thousands of innocent children and women are being killed in the most horrific ways—how can we stay silent? For so many around the world, this is the moment.
If you are still asleep, what more do you need to wake up? What more do you need before you say enough is enough?
For those whose lives Allah has taken in Gaza, I pray that each one is given glimpses of their house near Allah in Jannah before they leave this world.
And for those tyrants who have betrayed them, I wait for their kingdoms to fall, very soon, and that Allah rewards them like He will reward Pharoah. Ameen.
Living For Islam 