Purification Through Losing All Preference

Rabia taught that spiritual advancement required burning away all desires except love of the divine. This includes the desire to be preferred, favored, or elevated above others. This concept reframes the struggle against favoritism not as moral obligation but as spiritual practice. When we stop seeking to be favored, we become free from anxiety about status. When we stop favoring others, we become free from the burden of maintaining preference and the guilt of exclusion. This purification is not deprivation; it is liberation. In her own life, Rabia demonstrated this: she sought neither power nor comfort, neither recognition nor security. She was utterly free because she had released the hooks of preference. For contemporary communities, this suggests a practice: ask each person to notice where they seek favoritism and where they grant it. The seeking reveals where we believe our worth is conditional. The granting reveals where we believe love must be rationed. Over time, this practice builds communities of people increasingly free from these compulsions. The cost of holding onto favoritism is the cost of remaining unfree. Rabia's way offers liberation to those willing to let go.