Rabia's openness to travelers, beggars, and outsiders shows that true belonging includes the capacity to recognize yourself in those outside your tribe, dissolving the boundary between insider and outsider.
Rabia's legacy includes stories of her welcoming strangers with the same reverence she offered to scholars and saints. Her spiritual vision recognized the Divine in every being, which fundamentally undermined tribal belonging and created a radical inclusivity. This concept suggests that the ability to belong truly is inseparable from the ability to see the stranger as a mirror—to recognize in the outsider a reflection of your own seeking, vulnerability, and worth. Fitting in requires maintaining boundaries: us versus them, acceptable versus unacceptable. Belonging, in Rabia's vision, requires dissolving those boundaries through compassionate recognition. The Stranger as Mirror is both a practice and a lens: when you encounter someone outside your group, ask what they reflect back to you about your own unlived possibilities or unacknowledged parts. This softens the boundary between belonging and othering. It also suggests that if you belong to a community that requires you to despise or exclude strangers, you do not truly belong—you are fitting in to a limited vision.
Peri can explain this concept, give practical examples, help you decide whether it applies to your situation, or recommend a journey if appropriate.
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