Fatima Zahra

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This article is about Muhammad's daughter. See Fatima for other meanings.

Fatimah bint Muhammad or popularly Fatimah Zahra (Arabic: فاطمة الزهراء‎ "Fatimah the Radiant") (c. 614-632) was the daughter of the Islamic prophet Muhammad and his first wife Khadijah bint Khuwaylid Al-Kubra. Modern descendants of Muhammad trace their lineage exclusively through Fatimah, because she was the only child of Muhammad who had children that survived. Muhammad had no boys who reached adulthood. ^{[citation needed]}

1 Biography
2 Legacy
3 See also
4 References
5 External links

[edit] Biography

Born Friday 20th of Jumada al-akhir 2 AH (614 CE) in Mecca or 14th Jumada al-awwal 606 CE - 3th Jumada al-thani 11 AH (632 CE) at Medina

She was born in Mecca around 614 (Shi`a tradition) or 606 CE (Sunni tradition).

In 624, she was married to her father's cousin, Ali

She was buried privately in a secret and still unknown grave at Jannat al-Baqi.

[edit] Legacy

Welcome, welcome,

Mother of all mothers of the world.

The city of Medina is full of flowers from the flower of Ahmad (Fatimah)(Alayhi Salaam),

Bring flowers because the flower of Ahmad has come,

The house of Mostafa is illuminated. Heaven and earth and the sky are full of light,

The whole universe, heaven and the skies were dark,

They became brilliant from the face of the mother of the seyyids.

-- Song to Fatimah, cited in Kalinock 2003

She was survived by two sons and two daughters:

Hasan ibn Ali, the second Shi`a Imam
Husayn ibn Ali, the third Shi`a Imam
Umm Kulthum bint Ali. Sunni view that Umar's marriage to Umm Kulthum denotes this person.
Zaynab bint Ali

[edit] Muslim views

After Khadijah, Muhammad's first wife, Muslims regard Fatima Zahra as the greatest woman that has lived, the leader of all women in Paradise, and a paragon of female virtue. She was the first wife of the first Shi'a Imam, the mother of the second and third, and the ancestor of all the succeeding Imams; indeed, the Fatimid dynasty is named after her^[1]

They also call her Al-Zahra, the Lady of Light. The khamsa, an amulet popularly believed to ward off evil and widely used in the Maghreb, represents the hand of Fatima.

Muslims regard her as a loving and devoted daughter, mother, and wife, a sincere Muslim, and an exemplar for Muslim women. It is believed that she was very close to Muhammad and her distinction from other women is mentioned in many of his Hadiths: "Fatima is a part of my flesh: whoever causes her to be upset, upsets me." ^[2] Her children, his grandsons the second Shi’a Imam Hassan ibn Ali and third Shi’a Imam Husayn ibn Ali were very dear to him. Shi'a and Sunni Muslims generally agree on these basic facts, but give very different detailed accounts of her life.

Both Shi'a and Sunnah honour her as a part of the Ahl al-Bayt, and agree on the Hadith of Fatimah's status.

Amulet with two hands of Fatimah, bearing the inscriptions "Allah is the guardian", "Allah brings consolation in all trials". Hammered silver with filigree and cloisonné enamel decoration. 14th-15th century, Andalousia, Spain.

[edit] Sunni view

According to Sunni historians, Fatima Zahra was the youngest of four daughters whom Khadijah bore to Muhammad. She died of natural causes, at the age of twenty-three or twenty-four, surviving her father by only a few months. Sunni historians do not accept the accounts of her injuries and miscarriage at the hands of Umar and his men. In the Sunni view, Fatimah shares the position of primary example to all women with A'isha and Khadija. She was relegated as a lesser figure in terms of history and the hadith, as her position aligned her with Ali and she was considered too sectarian.^[3]

[edit] Shi'a view

Main article: Shi'a view of Fatimah

According to Shi'a scholars, Fatima Zahra was Muhammad's only daughter. ^[4]. The Sunni belief that he had other daughters by Khadijah denies Ali ibn Abu Talib the distinction of being Muhammad's only son-in-law. She is held in highest of esteem, as being the single most ideal example for all women; in terms of her purity and the eventual martyrdom of her son, she is considered to be the Muslim counterpart to the Christian Mary, mother of Jesus; indeed, one of her names is Maryam al-Kubrá, or "the greater Mary". ^[5]

[edit] See also

[edit] References

^ Esposito, John; ed. Oxford History of Islam Oxford; 1999 ISBN 0-19-510799-3
^ Sahih Bukhari Translation, Vol. 5, Book 57, Number 111
^ Kassam-Hann, Zaya. "Transcendence and the Body: Fatimah as a Paradigmatic Model." Feminist Theology: The Journal of the Britain & Ireland School of Feminist Theology May 2002 Issue 30, p77, 17p
^ See Genealogy of Khadijah's Daughters for further discussions. and also see here
^ Kassam-Hann 2002, p 84.