Pure Devotion Without Calculation

Rabia famously rejected devotion based on reward or punishment, teaching instead a love that seeks nothing in return. This principle transforms how we understand belonging. Instrumental belonging—including others because they are useful, entertaining, or profitable—is a form of conditional inclusion that inevitably becomes discrimination when utility ceases. Rabia's pure devotion reveals the difference between authentic belonging and transactional relationship. When groups are excluded from belonging because they lack economic value or social status, it is precisely this calculative belonging that enables discrimination. By examining belonging through the lens of pure devotion, we recognize that true inclusion cannot be negotiated through utility or exchange. Rabia's framework suggests that communities built on unconditional acceptance have no logical mechanism for exclusion. This concept applies directly to systemic discrimination by showing that belonging based on what people do or have will always create hierarchies of worth, while belonging based on shared existence transcends such measurement.