A contemplative stance toward the fundamental question favoritism raises—whose worth matters and why?—kept alive as an open inquiry rather than settled answer.
Favoritism rests on a settled answer: some people matter more than others due to blood, ability, status, or alignment with our values. Rabia's approach suggested living this as a perpetual question rather than a conclusion. She asked: if all beings are created in the divine image, how can some matter less? If God loves all creation equally, how can I withhold equal attention from all? If I will die and all my preferences will become irrelevant, what am I protecting through my favoritism? Keeping these questions alive—rather than dismissing them as idealistic—changes how we move through the world. In families, this might mean repeatedly asking: am I giving this child the attention she deserves, or the attention my guilt allows? In organizations: am I advancing this person because they're best for the role, or because they're familiar? In communities: am I making space for voices that challenge me, or only for those that confirm my thinking? The cost of closed answers about worth—of deciding certain people simply matter less—is a hardened heart. The practice of living the question requires softness, willingness to be wrong, and acceptance of the discomfort of not knowing. Rabia's legacy suggests that favoritism diminishes most when we refuse to settle the question of human worth, keeping ourselves perpetually accountable to its mystery and depth.
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