Fatimah

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Fatimah bint Muhammad (20th of Jumada al-thani (615 AD) – 3rd of Jumada al-thani 11 AH (632 AD)), popularly known as Fatimah Zahra (Arabic: فاطمة الزهراء‎). She is regarded by most Muslims as the youngest of four daughters of Muhammad, though the Shi'as believe she was Muhammad's only daughter. Modern descendants of Muhammad trace their lineage exclusively through Fatimah and her only husband Ali ibn Abi Talib (the first Shi’ah Imam and the fourth Sunni Caliph), because she was the only child of Muhammad who had children that survived. Muhammad had no sons who reached adulthood.^[1]

[edit] Biography

The dates mentioned for the birth, marriage, and death of Fatima varies in different sources. Several Sunni sources mention her birth happening in the same year as the reconstruction of Kaaba (five years before Muhammad receiving the revelation), while most Shi’a sources mention five years after the declaration of the prophet hood. Some sources have even mentioned her birth on at the same year of revelation. This places Fatima's birth sometime between 606 to 615 CE.^[2]

When she attained the age of puberty, it became necessary for her to marry. But she needed a person who must be her match. So that he would appreciate her status and perfection and maturity of virtues and he would know what was the real value and virtue of a human being. This is the very aim of Islam, which as a result strengthens the marital relations. When she became marriage bound many men including Abu Bakr and Umar sent their messages for asking her hand in marriage. But the Islamic Prophet Muhammad said, "I am waiting for the revelation in this connection."

The revelation came and Fatima's husband was also nominated. God ordered the Islamic Prophet Muhammad, "Oh my prophet get the light (Noor) married to the light i.e., get Fatima married with Ali." When Ali ibn Abi Talib approached the Islamic Prophet Muhammad to request the hand of Fatima in marriage, although he had nothing with him from the wealth of the world, yet he possessed a gem, which was the reflection of everything including piety and human nobility.

The Islamic Prophet Muhammad having acceded to his request entered the house to ask Fatima about her opinion about it. He said to her "Oh daughter you know that Ali is the one who was the first ever faithful out of the lot. I had prayed to God, to give the best husband for you. Therefore, God has selected Ali as your husband, so what is your opinion?" Fatima remained silent. The father took her silence as the token of her being agreed and got her married with him.

After the aggregation of the tribe of Bani Hashim and the friends and relations by the order of the Islamic Prophet Muhammad took place, the Islamic Prophet Muhammad delivered a Khutba (religious speech), sermon, and got Fatima married to Ali over a dowry equivalent to four hundred Masqal Silver (one Masqal comes to nearly 3.45 grams).

A companion (Sahabi) stated, "The Islamic Prophet Muhammad got a sheep slaughtered and invited a few persons and made them witnesses upon the marriage.

After one month of the Nikah, in the 2nd Hijra on the marriage night, the Islamic Prophet Muhammad held Fatima by her hand and handing her hand over to Ali and said, "Oh Ali, Fatima is the best wife for you." Thereafter, he addressed Fatima and said "Oh Fatima, Ali is a good husband for you." Then he said. "Now, both of you move towards your real home."

The women of Bani Hashim, Ansar, and Muhajireen, after taking their dinner, rode Fatima on the camel of the Islamic Prophet Muhammad and took her along to Ali's house with great fervor. Ali and Fatima started living near Quba mosque at a distance of eight kilometers from Medina where the Islamic Prophet Muhammad had stayed on migration from Mecca and had waited a week for Ali to join him.

After some time Ali came to the city and selected a house adjacent to the house of the Islamic Prophet Muhammad. Because the Islamic Prophet Muhammad could not tolerate the separation of Ali and Fatima, since, it was a great shock for him. The house of Ali which was made of mud and date timber was exactly opposite to the window of the Islamic Prophet Muhammad's house so that he could daily see them.

[edit] Fatimah beside Muhammad’s deathbed

The Islamic Prophet Muhammad was on the bed of ailment and illness. His head was in the lap of Ali ibn Abi Talib and Fatima was weeping holding the hand of her father. Suddenly, the Islamic Prophet Muhammad opened his eyes and when he saw her weeping. He said, "Oh daughter! Recite the holy Quran for me." Fatima recited a few verses from the holy Quran. The Islamic Prophet Muhammad wanted to listen to her daughter’s voice in the last moments of his life and therefore he asked her to recite the Holy Quran. No sooner, the Islamic Prophet Muhammad passed away the house turned into a mourning house. The delicate heart of Fatima took a deep effect by her father's death.

Only a few hours later, another big grief took shape, the right of her husband was extorted and usurped. Fatima, with the help of a few faithful companions of his father, defended the right of her husband strongly. So far so, that one day she went to the Islamic Prophet Muhammad's mosque along with the women of Bani Hashirn and Ansar and by delivering a speech described her object and point of view. After hearing her speech all of the audience started weeping, but there was no body to give a positive response to the voice of Fatima.

Their faces were covered with the dust of abjectness, misery, and misfortune. She returned to her house with a heave and grieved heart and said to Ali, "Oh Abul Hassan why have you sit down with your hands upon each other like weak, feeble, powerless and unable men and why don't you defend your right?" Ali said, "Oh the daughter of the Prophet, Do you not want that your father's name be pronounced in the mosque? Don't you have the desire that the cause and mission of your father remains alive? Fatima said, "Why not?"

Then he said, "If I draw the sword today (as the enemy wishes) the efforts of your father will be finished and we will become unsuccessful. On hearing this, Fatima got silent and thereafter, she did not utter any word. She started her silent war in the same manner as her husband Ali spent twenty-five years in a great-oppressed state.

[edit] Death

Fatima was sure that none of her plans can mature in connection with Ali. Therefore, she did everything possible so that a wrong foundation for the caliphate is not laid. But evidently and obviously she could not succeed in her efforts and was compelled to face hopelessness and dismay.

After that, it became hard for her to live and she became fed up with the world and day by day got keen and restless for her death. Till at last, on Monday the 3rd of Jumada al-thani, 11th of Hijra, She bade fare well to her children and husband and passed away. She died in the same year as her father had died. At the time of her sorrowful demise Hassan ibn Ali was 7 years old, Hussain ibn Ali was 6 years old, Zaynab bint Ali was 5 years old, and Umm Kulthum bint Ali was 3 years old.

She is buried in Jannatul Baqi.

[edit] Legacy

She was survived by two sons and two daughters:

• Hasan ibn Ali
• Husayn ibn Ali, the second Shi`a Imam
• Zaynab bint Ali
• Umm Kulthum bint Ali. Sunni view that Umar's marriage to Umm Kulthum denotes this person, but Shi’ah strongly disagree.

[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^[3]

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."^[4] Her children, his grandsons the second Shi’a Imam Hassan ibn Ali and 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 honor 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 her step-mother A'isha and her mother Khadijah bint Khuwaylid. 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.^[5]

[edit] Shi'a view

Main article: Shi'a view of Fatimah

According to Shi'a scholars, Fatima Zahra was Muhammad's only daughter.^[6]. 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 Shi’as counterpart to the Christian Mary, mother of Jesus; indeed, one of her names is Maryam al-Kubrá, or "the greater Mary".^[7]

[edit] Sufic view

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According to the Sufi elect it is Fatimah Zahra, as the Virgin Mary, also known as Maryam al-Kubra, who manifested herself at Fatima in Portugal in 1917 as "Al Zahra" or the "Lady of Light". Thus, as Muhammed said: the Mahdi would be of "the children of Fatimah". As the "greater Mary" it is another of Muhammed's prophecies that came true here when he said: "No Mahdi but Jesus; the Son of Mary". It was Fatimah as the "Mary of Fatimah" who brought forth the "Star of the Crescent Moon"; the Sun of Fatimah: the Son of Maryam al-Kubra. This figure is the Lamb of the Virgin; the Mahdi who bears the Name of "the Slain Lamb": Christ Jesus. Thus the "Mahdi" and the "Messiah" are one and the same.^[8]That Ali stands as the "slain Lamb" and Fatimah as "the Virgin" should give some idea of what happened at Fatimah Portugal when the "Presence of the Lamb" was manifested; because Ali died like another sacrificial Lamb; and that Lamb of God has a long shadow; back to the "foundation of the world" in fact.

[edit] See also

• Islamic Prophet Muhammad
• Ali ibn Abi Talib
• Fatimah bint Muhammad
• Hassan ibn Ali
• Hussain ibn Ali
• Ali ibn Hussayn
• Muhammad al-Baqir
• Ja'far al-Sadiq
• Musa al-Kazim
• Ali al-Rida
• Muhammad al-Taqi
• Ali al-Hadi
• Hasan al-Askari
• Muhammad al-Mahdi
• Abbas ibn Ali
• Timing of Sahaba becoming muslims
• Sura Al-Kawthar
• Hand of Fatima
• Book of Fatimah
• Succession to Muhammad
• Historiography of early Islam
• Disputes over Islamic historical dates

[edit] References

[edit] External links

Sunni links:

• A biography of Fatimah. — USC-MSA Compendium of Muslim Texts
• Sunni refutation of the Shi'a view — alinaam.org.za

Shi'a links:

• Third Infallible Fatima (sa), Daughter Of The Holy Prophet (SAW) — alshiatalk.com
• Baabeilm.org
• Biography and picture gallery — karbala-najaf.org
• Picture gallery and quotes — ezsoftech.com
• Shia.org
• "Sunni Traditions in praise of Syeda Fatima Zahra (AS)" — article at shianews.com