A brief introduction
Her name is Hafsah Bint-e-Sīrīn, and her Kunyah is Umm-e-Huzayl. She is the sister of the great interpreter of dreams, Sayyiduna Imām Muhammad Bin Sīrīn رَحْمَةُ الـلّٰـهِ عَلَيْه. She رَحْمَةُ الـلّٰـهِ عَلَيْها was from Basra. She is included amongst the Tābi’ī females.
Marriage and children
She was married to Sayyiduna ‘Abdul Rahmān Bin Uzaynah رَحْمَةُ الـلّٰـهِ عَلَيْه, from whom, Sayyiduna Huzayl رَحْمَةُ اللهِ عَلَيْه was born. (Tahdhīb al-Kamāl fī Asmā’ al-Rijāl, vol. 11, p. 704)
Devotion to worship
It is narrated that she رَحْمَةُ الـلّٰـهِ عَلَيْها did not leave her chamber of worship for 30 years without a need. She would recite half of the Holy Qurān every night and fast all year round, excluding the two ‘Eids and the days of Tashrīq. She purchased a maid from the market who was once asked what she considered of her owner. She replied, ‘She is a very pious woman, if - Allāh forbid - she ever commits a mistake, she keeps offering Salāh all night long and keeps crying.’ She رَحْمَةُ الـلّٰـهِ عَلَيْها would persuade the youth towards worship and say, ‘O youth! Perform good deeds in your youth as these are the days for performing good deeds.’
The home would be illuminated
She رَحْمَةُ الـلّٰـهِ عَلَيْها would light a lamp at night and stand for worship. Many times it would be the case that her home would remain illuminated until the morning even after the lamp had extinguished.
The Science of Recitation [of the Qurān]
She had special mastery of the science of recitation [of the Qurān]; this is the very reason that if Imām Muhammad Ibn-e-Sīrīn رَحْمَةُ الـلّٰـهِ عَلَيْه had any doubt in the matter of recitation [of the Qurān], he would therefore refer to his sister, Sayyidatuna Hafsah رَحْمَةُ الـلّٰـهِ عَلَيْها. (Sifah al-Safwah, part 2, vol. 2, pp. 21, 22)
The observation of the Qādī of Basrah
The Qādī [judge] of Basrah, Sayyiduna Imām Iyās Bin Mu’āwiyah رَحْمَةُ الـلّٰـهِ عَلَيْه says, ‘I do not know of anyone whom I can give superiority over Hafsah.’
Service to Hadīth
She رَحْمَةُ الـلّٰـهِ عَلَيْها has narrated Ahadīth from many great personalities including the companions of the Prophet Sayyiduna Anas and Sayyidatuna Umm-e-‘Atiyyah Ansāriyyah رَضِىَ الـلّٰـهُ عَـنْهُما, her brother Yahyā Bin Sīrīn and the mother of Imām Hasan Basrī رَحِمَهُمُ الـلّٰـه.
Her narrations of Ahadīth are recorded within the Sihāh Sittah[1].
Passing away
She رَحْمَةُ الـلّٰـهِ عَلَيْها says that once, Sayyiduna Anas Bin Mālik رَضِیَ اللہُ تَعَالٰی عَنْہُ asked me, ‘In which state would you want to meet death?’ I replied, ‘In a plague, as for every Muslim who dies in a plague is martyrdom.’ She رَحْمَةُ الـلّٰـهِ عَلَيْها passed away in 101 AH. (Tahdhīb al-Tahdhīb, vol. 10, pp. 463, 464; Tabaqāt Ibn-e-Sa’d, vol. 8, p. 352)
[1] (The Sihāh Sittah are known as the six famous books of Hadīth whose names are as follows:
۔1Sahīh Bukhārī
۔2Sahīh Muslim
۔3Sunan Abī Dāwūd
۔4Sunan al-Tirmidhī
۔5Sunan al-Nasā’ī
۔6Sunan Ibn-e-Mājah
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