60. “My Lord! Build me a house in Paradise near You.”  رَبِّ ٱبْنِ لِى عِندَكَ بَيْتًۭا فِى ٱلْجَنَّةِ       

 Who invoked this dua?

   بِسْمِ ٱللَّٰهِ ٱلرَّحْمَٰنِٱلرَّحِيمِ

Answer: Asiyah bint Muzahim – Firaun’s wife.

The year in which the Prophet Musa (AS) was born, the tyrant King Firaun, was killing the male children born to the Isralites. Allah says in Quran, “Indeed, Pharaoh arrogantly elevated himself in the land and divided its people into subservient groups, one of which he persecuted, slaughtering their sons and keeping their women. But it was Our Will to favour those who were oppressed in the land, making them models of faith as well as successors; and to establish them in the land; and through them show Pharaoh, Haman and their soldiers fulfilment of what they feared. (i.e. birth of a Prophet)” (28:4 to 6).

Allah continue the story like this: “We inspired the mother of Moses: “Nurse him, but when you fear for him, put him then into the river, and do not fear or grieve. We will certainly return him to you, and make him one of the messengers. And it so happened that Pharaoh’s people picked him up, only to become their enemy and source of grief. And the wife of Pharaoh said, "[He will be] a comfort of the eye [i.e., pleasure] 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.” (28:7 to 9).

The wife of Pharaoh, the Queen, named Asiyah bint Muzahim, arranged Musa’s own mother as a wet nurse, and loved him as her own son. This was Allah's wish. When Musa (AS) came as a Prophet to Firaun’s Palace and showed Allah’s miracles she believed the Lord of Musa (AS) and Harun (AS). Being a tyrant’s wife, who says himself as God, she kept her faith secret.

When she witnessed the cruel punishment of her daughter’s hairdresser, she gained courage and started showing her true faith to ‘One God’. She, becoming a woman of strong and perfect emaan, went to Firaun and said “I disbelieved you and believe the Lord of Musa (AS) and Harun (AS).” Qatadah said: “Firaun was the most tyrannical and disbelieving person on Earth, and by Allah, his disbelief did not affect his wife when she decided to obey her Lord.”

Firaun asked her to leave her faith. But she refused. He asked: “You know what consequences you will get?” She said “Yes”. So he started torturing her to the meanest extent. He degraded her, starved her, stripped her, tied her hands and legs in four stakes with her face exposed to scorching sun. A large stone was kept on her chest. There was no body there to support that great queen. She was patiently enduring all the tortures, seeking help from her Lord by invoking Him: “My Lord! Build me a house in Paradise near You, deliver me from Pharaoh and his evil doing, and save me from the wrong doing people.” رَبِّ ٱبْنِ لِى عِندَكَ بَيْتًۭا فِى ٱلْجَنَّةِ وَنَجِّنِى مِن فِرْعَوْنَ وَعَمَلِهِۦ وَنَجِّنِى مِنَ ٱلْقَوْمِ ٱلظَّـٰلِمِينَ  She preferred the nearness of her Lord, her Creator, rather than to be a Queen with all wordly luxury and power. She loved to be in Paradise. She was calling only her Lord to save her from those ٱلْقَوْمِ ٱلظَّـٰلِمِينَ  (wrong doing people).

Abu `Uthman an-Nahdi reported that Sulayman said: “Firaun’s wife was tortured in the heat of the Sun. When her torturers would take a break and walk away, the Angels would shade her with their wings, and she would see her home in Paradise.”

They cannot do anything to her deep faith. Her Lord accepted her prayer, opened the sky and showed her palace in the Paradise. Seeing that, she smiled. Her cruel husband cannot tolerate that smile ordered his men to throw a large boulder so that her body is shattered to pieces. Mean while her Lord took her soul. They throwed the boulder only to her lifeless body.

Her pain, endurance, strong faith and total submission has been witnessed in Quran as “the best believer”. It says: “And Allah sets forth an example for the believers: the wife of Pharaoh” (66:11). What a great reward for this fearless woman!

Aahadhees about Asiyah:

Al-Hafiz ibn Hajar said: “Among the virtues of Asiyah, the wife of Pharaoh, is that she chose death over royal privilege and torment in this world over the luxury in which she was living. And her insight concerning Musa (AS) was correct when she said “A comfort of the eye for me” (Fath al-Bari, 6/448)

Abu Musa al-Ash’ari said: The Messenger of Allah ﷺ said: “The men who attain perfection are many, but there are no women who have attained perfection apart from Asiyah the wife of Pharaoh and Maryam bint ‘Imran, and the superiority of `Aishah over all other women is like the superiority of tharid over all other foods.” (Narrated by al-Bukhari, 3230; Muslim, 2431)

Ibn `Abbas said, the Messenger of Allah ﷺ drew four lines on the ground, then he said, “Do you know what this is?” We said, “Allah and His Messenger know best.” He said: “The best of the women of Paradise are Khadijah bint Khuwaylid, Fatimah bint Muhammad, Asiyah bint Muzahim (the wife of Pharaoh), and Maryam bint ‘Imran – may Allah be pleased with them.” (Narrated by Ahmad, 2663. Classed as sahih by al-Albani in Sahih al-Jami’, 1135)

Anas narrated that the Prophet ﷺ said: “Sufficient for you among the women of the world are Maryam the daughter of ‘Imran. Khadijah bint Khuwaylid, Fatimah bint Muhammad and Asiyah bint Muzahim (the wife of Pharaoh).” (Narrated and classed as sahih by al-Tirmidhi, 3878).

Prayer: May Allah give us also such strong faith and total submission and lead us in right path and build a house in the Paradise for us also! Ameen!

الحمدلله