Rabia

The story

Rabia by Susu Laroche - 18 mins - 16mm film and digital video. Rābiʼa al-ʼAdawiyya of Basra (d. 801) occupies a singular place within the history of early Islamic mysticism. An ascetic, teacher, and poet, she became the nucleus of a devotional tradition organised around an uncompromising proposition that God should be loved neither from fear of punishment nor in anticipation of reward, but without guarantee or an ulterior end. Film and sound by Susu Laroche. Featuring Sandhaya Tamu and Jess Maybury. Text by Alexandre Montserrat.