Asiya: Difference between revisions

'''Āsīya''' (Arabic: {{ia|آسیة}}) was the wife of [[Pharaoh]] and the daughter of Muzahim b. 'Ubayd who played a role in taking the prophet [[Musa (a)]] out of the [[Nile]] River. She is admired in the [[Qur'an]] and [[hadith]]s. In some [[Shiite]] hadiths, she is referred to as [[Khadija bt. Khuwaylid]]'s companion in the [[Heaven]].

Asiya believed in Musa's (a) [[prophethood]]. She concealed her faith from the Pharaoh. Some scholars have appealed to her secret faith as evidence for the permissibility of [[taqiyya]] (dissimulation).

Asiya was the daughter of Muzahim b. 'Ubayd and the wife of Pharaoh.<ref>Ibn al-Athīr, ''al-Kāmil fī l-tārīkh'', vol. 1, p. 169.</ref> According to some sources, she was an [[Israelite]].<ref>Ibn Kathīr, ''al-Bidāya wa l-nihāya'', vol. 1, p. 239.</ref> And some sources considered her as Musa's (a) paternal aunt.<ref>Kāshānī, ''Khulāṣat al-Manhaj'', vol. 4, p. 152.</ref>

==In the Qur'an==

Asiya's name does not appear in the Qur'an, but [[exegetes]] have taken "the wife of Pharaoh" which has occurred twice in the Qur'an to refer to Asiya. According to the verse 9 of [[Sura al-Qisas]], when the baby Musa was taken out of the river, Asiya was there and encouraged the Pharaoh to keep him alive.<ref>Qummī, ''Tafsīr Qummī'', vol. 2, p. 135.</ref> Moreover, Asiya is admired in the verse 11 of [[Sura al-Tahrim]] (as believing in [[God]] despite her companionship with the Pharaoh), in contrast to the wives of [[Noah (a)]] and [[Lot (a)]], who were [[infidel]]s despite their companionship with prophets.<ref>Ṭabāṭabāʾī, ''al-Mīzān'', vol. 19, p. 344.</ref> According to this latter verse, Asiya asked God to give her a house in the Heaven and save her from the Pharaoh and the cruel people.<ref>Qurʾān, 66:11.</ref>

According to some Quranic [[verse]]s, although Asiya lived in the Pharaoh's palace, she believed in God. When she saw the [[miracle]] of Musa's (a) staff or rod (turning into a snake), she believed in him. She concealed her faith from the Pharaoh, and when he learned about her faith, he asked her to give up worshiping God, but she refused to do so. The Pharaoh tortured her.<ref>Ibn al-Jawzī, ''al-Muntaẓam'', vol. 1, p. 346.</ref> He ordered that her arms and legs be tied to nails, her body be put under the sun, and a giant stone be put on her head. She was killed after these tortures.<ref>Ṭabrisī, ''Majmaʿ al-bayān'', vol. 10, p. 739.</ref>