(Zubaidah – The Wife of Haaroon Rasheed – Part One)
With every passing day, there are people who enter this world, taking their first breath and commencing the journey of life, and there are people who take their last breath and depart, never to return. However, from the billions of souls who came and went, only a select few left such a legacy that they earned themselves an entry in the pages of history.
One such person was a woman who was named Amatul ‘Azeez, but was more commonly known as Zubaidah. It is reported that her grandfather, the famous Abbasid ruler, Abu Ja’far Mansoor, had given her the nickname Zubaidah on account of her radiant and beautiful complexion.
She was the wife of the renowned Khaleefah, Haaroon Rasheed whom she had married in 165 A.H. Apart from her husband being a powerful ruler and khaleefah, her son, known as Al-Ameen, and many of her close family members were also rulers of the Muslims. She thus enjoyed a position of distinction in the ruling family.
(Wafayaatul Aa’yaan vol. 2, pg. 314, Al-Muntazam vol. 8, pg. 278 and Taareekhul Islam vol. 15, pg. 156)
Hereunder, we will discuss her qualities, outstanding generosity and the long-standing legacy which she left for the Ummah.