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Fatimah was the fifth child of Muhammad and Khadijah. She was born at
a time when her noble father had begun to spend long periods in the solitude
of mountains around Makkah, meditating and reflecting on the great mysteries
of creation.
This was the time, before the Bithah, when her eldest sister Zaynab was
married to her cousin, al-Aas ibn ar Rabiah. Then followed the marriage
of her two other sisters, Ruqayyah and Umm Kulthum, to the sons of Abu
Lahab, a paternal uncle of the Prophet. Both Abu Lahab and his wife Umm
Jamil turned out to be flaming enemies of the Prophet from the very beginning
of his public mission.
The little Fatimah thus saw her sisters leave home one after the other
to live with their husbands. She was too young to understand the meaning
of marriage and the reasons why her sisters had to leave home. She loved
them dearly and was sad and lonely when they left. It is said that a certain
silence and painful sadness came over her then.
Of course, even after the marriage of her sisters, she was not alone
in the house of her parents. Barakah, the maid-servant of Aminah, the
Prophet's mother, who had been with the Prophet since his birth, Zayd
ibn Harithah, and Ali, the young son of Abu Talib were all part of Muhammad's
household at this time. And of course there was her loving mother, the
lady Khadijah.
In her mother and in Barakah, Fatimah found a great deal of solace and
comfort in Ali, who was about two years older than she, she found a "brother"
and a friend who somehow took the place of her own brother al-Qasim who
had died in his infancy. Her other brother Abdullah, known as the Good
and the Pure, who was born after her, also died in his infancy. However
in none of the people in her father's household did Fatimah find the carefree
joy and happiness which she enjoyed with her sisters. She was an unusually
sensitive child for her age.
When she was five, she heard that her father had become Rasul Allah,
the Messenger of God. His first task was to convey the good news of Islam
to his family and close relations. They were to worship God Almighty alone.
Her mother, who was a tower of strength and support, explained to Fatimah
what her father had to do. From this time on, she became more closely
attached to him and felt a deep and abiding love for him. Often she would
be at Iris side walking through the narrow streets and alleys of Makkah,
visiting the Kabah or attending secret gatherings off, the early Muslims
who had accepted Islam and pledged allegiance to the Prophet.
One day, when she was not yet ten, she accompanied her father to the
Masjid al-Haram. He stood in the place known as al-Hijr facing the Kabah
and began to pray. Fatimah stood at his side. A group of Quraysh, by no
means well-disposed to the Prophet, gathered about him. They included
Abu Jahl ibn Hisham, the Prophet's uncle, Uqbah ibn Abi Muayt, Umayyah
ibn Khalaf, and Shaybah and Utbah, sons of Rabi'ah. Menacingly, the group
went up to the Prophet and Abu Jahl, the ringleader, asked:
"Which of you can bring the entrails of a slaughtered animal and throw
it on Muhammad?"
Uqbah ibn Abi Muayt, one of the vilest of the lot, volunteered and hurried
off. He returned with the obnoxious filth and threw it on the shoulders
of the Prophet, may God bless him and grant him peace, while he was still
prostrating. Abdullah ibn Masud, a companion of the Prophet, was present
but he was powerless to do or say anything.
Imagine the feelings of Fatimah as she saw her father being treated in
this fashion. What could she, a girl not ten years old, do? She went up
to her father and removed the offensive matter and then stood firmly and
angrily before the group of Quraysh thugs and lashed out against them.
Not a single word did they say to her. The noble Prophet raised his head
on completion of the prostration and went on to complete the Salat. He
then said: "O Lord, may you punish the Quraysh!" and repeated this imprecation
three times. Then he continued:
"May You punish Utbah, Uqbah, Abu Jahl and Shaybah." (These whom he named
were all killed many years later at the Battle of Badr)
On another occasion, Fatimah was with the Prophet as he made; tawaf around
the Kabah. A Quraysh mob gathered around him. They seized him and tried
to strangle him with his own clothes. Fatimah screamed and shouted for
help. Abu Bakr rushed to the scene and managed to free the Prophet. While
he was doing so, he pleaded: "Would you kill a man who says, 'My Lord
is God?'" Far from giving up, the mob turned on Abu Bakr and began beating
him until blood flowed from his head and face.
Such scenes of vicious opposition and harassment against her father and
the early Muslims were witnessed by the young Fatimah. She did not meekly
stand aside but joined in the struggle in defence of her father and his
noble mission. She was still a young girl and instead of the cheerful
romping, the gaiety and liveliness which children of her age are and should
normally be accustomed to, Fatimah had to witness and participate in such
ordeals.
Of course, she was not alone in this. The whole of the Prophet's family
suffered from the violent and mindless Quraysh. Her sisters, Ruqayyah
and Umm Kulthum also suffered. They were living at this time in the very
nest of hatred and intrigue against the Prophet. Their husbands were Utbah
and Utaybah, sons of Abu Lahab and Umm Jamil. Umm Jamil was known to be
a hard and harsh woman who had a sharp and evil tongue. It was mainly
because of her that Khadijah was not pleased with the marriages of her
daughters to Umm Jamil's sons in the first place. It must have been painful
for Ruqayyah and Umm Kulthum to be living in the household of such inveterate
enemies who not only joined but led the campaign against their father.
As a mark of disgrace to Muhammad and his family, Utbah and Utaybah were
prevailed upon by their parents to divorce their wives. This was part
of the process of ostracizing the Prophet totally. The Prophet in fact
welcomed his daughters back to his home with joy, happiness and relief.
Fatimah, no doubt, must have been happy to be with her sisters once again.
They all wished that their eldest sister, Zaynab, would also be divorced
by her husband. In fact, the Quraysh brought pressure on Abu-l Aas to
do so but he refused. When the Quraysh leaders came up to him and promised
him the richest and most beautiful woman as a wife should he divorce Zaynab,
he replied:
"I love my wife deeply and passionately and I have a great and high esteem
for her father even though I have not entered the religion of Islam."
Both Ruqayyah and Umm Kulthum were happy to be back with their loving
parents and to be rid of the unbearable mental torture to which they had
been subjected in the house of Umm Jamil. Shortly afterwards, Ruqayyah
married again, to the young and shy Uthman ibn Allan who was among the
first to have accepted Islam. They both left for Abyssinia among the first
muhajirin who sought refuge in that land and stayed there for several
years. Fatimah was not to see Ruqayyah again until after their mother
had died.
The persecution of the Prophet, his family and his followers continued
and even became worse after the migration of the first Muslims to Abyssinia.
In about the seventh year of his mission, the Prophet and his family were
forced to leave their homes and seek refuge in a rugged little valley
enclosed by hills on all sides and defile, which could only be entered
from Makkah by a narrow path.
To this arid valley, Muhammad and the clans of Banu Hashim and al-Muttalib
were forced to retire with limited supplies of food. Fatimah was one of
the youngest members of the clans -just about twelve years old - and had
to undergo months of hardship and suffering. The wailing of hungry children
and women in the valley could be heard from Makkah. The Quraysh allowed
no food and contact with the Muslims whose hardship was only relieved
somewhat during the season of pilgrimage. The boycott lasted for three
years. When it was lifted, the Prophet had to face even more trials and
difficulties. Khadijah, the faithful and loving, died shortly afterwards.
With her death, the Prophet and his family lost one of the greatest sources
of comfort and strength which had sustained them through the difficult
period. The year in which the noble Khadijah, and later Abu Talib, died
is known as the Year of Sadness. Fatimah, now a young lady, was greatly
distressed by her mother's death. She wept bitterly and for some time
was so grief-striken that her health deteriorated. It was even feared
she might die of grief.
Although her older sister, Umm Kulthum, stayed in the same household,
Fatimah realized that she now had a greater responsibility with the passing
away of her mother. She felt that she had to give even greater support
to her father. With loving tenderness, she devoted herself to looking
after his needs. So concerned was she for his welfare that she came to
be called "Umm Abi-ha the mother of her father". She also provided him
with solace and comfort during times of trial, difficulty and crisis.
Often the trials were too much for her. Once, about this time, an insolent
mob heaped dust and earth upon his gracious head. As he entered his home,
Fatimah wept profusely as she wiped the dust from her father's head.
"Do not cry, my daughter," he said, "for God shall protect your father."
The Prophet had a special love for Fatimah. He once said: "Whoever pleased
Fatimah has indeed pleased God and whoever has caused her to be angry
has indeed angered God. Fatimah is a part of me. Whatever pleases her
pleases me and whatever angers her angers me."
He also said: "The best women in all the world are four: the Virgin Mary,
Aasiyaa the wife of Pharoah, Khadijah Mother of the Believers, and Fatimah,
daughter of Muhammad." Fatimah thus acquired a place of love and esteem
in the Prophet's heart that was only occupied by his wife Khadijah.
Fatimah, may God be pleased with her, was given the title of "az-Zahraa"
which means "the Resplendent One". That was because of her beaming face
which seemed to radiate light. It is said that when she stood for Prayer,
the mihrab would reflect the light of her countenance. She was also called
"al-Batul" because of her asceticism. Instead of spending her time in
the company of women, much of her time would be spent in Salat, in reading
the Quran and in other acts of ibadah.
Fatimah had a strong resemblance to her father, the Messenger of God.
Aishah, the wife of the Prophet, said of her: "I have not seen any one
of God's creation resemble the Messenger of God more in speech, conversation
and manner of sitting than Fatimah, may God be pleased with her. When
the Prophet saw her approaching, he would welcome her, stand up and kiss
her, take her by the hand and sit her down in the place where he was sitting."
She would do the same when the Prophet came to her. She would stand up
and welcome him with joy and kiss him.
Fatimah's fine manners and gentle speech were part of her lovely and
endearing personality. She was especially kind to poor and indigent folk
and would often give all the food she had to those in need even if she
herself remained hungry. She had no craving for the ornaments of this
world nor the luxury and comforts of life. She lived simply, although
on occasion as we shall see circumstances seemed to be too much and too
difficult for her.
She inherited from her father a persuasive eloquence that was rooted
in wisdom. When she spoke, people would often be moved to tears. She had
the ability and the sincerity to stir the emotions, move people to tears
and fill their hearts with praise and gratitude to God for His grace and
His inestimable bounties.
Fatimah migrated to Madinah a few weeks after the Prophet did. She went
with Zayd ibn Harithah who was sent by the Prophet back to Makkah to bring
the rest of his family. The party included Fatimah and Umm Kulthum, Sawdah,
the Prophet's wife, Zayd's wife Barakah and her son Usamah. Travelling
with the group also were Abdullah the son of Abu Bakr who accompanied
his mother and his sisters, Aishah and Asma.
In Madinah, Fatimah lived with her father in the simple dwelling he had
built adjoining the mosque. In the second year after the Hijrah, she received
proposals of marriage through her father, two of which were turned down.
Then Ali, the son of Abu Talib, plucked up courage and went to the Prophet
to ask for her hand in marriage. In the presence of the Prophet, however,
Ali became over-awed and tongue-tied. He stared at the ground and could
not say anything. The Prophet then asked: "Why have you come? Do you need
something?" Ali still could not speak and then the Prophet suggested:
"Perhaps you have come to propose marriage to Fatimah."
"Yes," replied Ali. At this, according to one report, the Prophet said
simply: "Marhaban wa ahlan - Welcome into the family," and this was taken
by Ali and a group of Ansar who were waiting outside for him as indicating
the Prophet's approval. Another report indicated that the Prophet approved
and went on to ask Ali if he had anything to give as mahr. Ali replied
that he didn't. The Prophet reminded him that he had a shield which could
be sold.
Ali sold the shield to Uthman for four hundred dirhams and as he was
hurrying back to the Prophet to hand over the sum as mahr, Uthman stopped
him and said:
"I am returning your shield to you as a present from me on your marriage
to Fatimah." Fatimah and Ali were thus married most probably at the beginning
of the second year after the Hijrah. She was about nineteen years old
at the time and Ali was about twenty one. The Prophet himself performed
the marriage ceremony. At the walimah, the guests were served with dates,
figs and hais ( a mixture of dates and butter fat). A leading member of
the Ansar donated a ram and others made offerings of grain. All Madinah
rejoiced.
On her marriage, the Prophet is said to have presented Fatimah and Ali
with a wooden bed intertwined with palm leaves, a velvet coverlet, a leather
cushion filled with palm fibre, a sheepskin, a pot, a waterskin and a
quern for grinding grain.
Fatimah left the home of her beloved father for the first time to begin
life with her husband. The Prophet was clearly anxious on her account
and sent Barakah with her should she be in need of any help. And no doubt
Barakah was a source of comfort and solace to her. The Prophet prayed
for them:
"O Lord, bless them both, bless their house and bless their offspring."
In Ali's humble dwelling, there was only a sheepskin for a bed. In the
morning after the wedding night, the Prophet went to Ali's house and knocked
on the door.
Barakah came out and the Prophet said to her: "O Umm Ayman, call my brother
for me."
"Your brother? That's the one who married your daughter?" asked Barakah
somewhat incredulously as if to say: Why should the Prophet call Ali his
"brother"? (He referred to Ali as his brother because just as pairs of
Muslims were joined in brotherhood after the Hijrah, so the Prophet and
Ali were linked as "brothers".)
The Prophet repeated what he had said in a louder voice. Ali came and
the Prophet made a du'a, invoking the blessings of God on him. Then he
asked for Fatimah. She came almost cringing with a mixture of awe and
shyness and the Prophet said to her:
"I have married you to the dearest of my family to me." In this way,
he sought to reassure her. She was not starting life with a complete stranger
but with one who had grown up in the same household, who was among the
first to become a Muslim at a tender age, who was known for his courage,
bravery and virtue, and whom the Prophet described as his "brother in
this world and the hereafter".
Fatimah's life with Ali was as simple and frugal as it was in her father's
household. In fact, so far as material comforts were concerned, it was
a life of hardship and deprivation. Throughout their life together, Ali
remained poor because he did not set great store by material wealth. Fatimah
was the only one of her sisters who was not married to a wealthy man.
In fact, it could be said that Fatimah's life with Ali was even more
rigorous than life in her father's home. At least before marriage, there
were always a number of ready helping hands in the Prophet's household.
But now she had to cope virtually on her own. To relieve their extreme
poverty, Ali worked as a drawer and carrier of water and she as a grinder
of corn. One day she said to Ali: "I have ground until my hands are blistered."
"I have drawn water until I have pains in my chest," said Ali and went
on to suggest to Fatimah: "God has given your father some captives of
war, so go and ask him to give you a servant."
Reluctantly, she went to the Prophet who said: "What has brought you
here, my little daughter?" "I came to give you greetings of peace," she
said, for in awe of him she could not bring herself to ask what she had
intended.
"What did you do?" asked Ali when she returned alone.
"I was ashamed to ask him," she said. So the two of them went together
but the Prophet felt they were less in need than others.
"I will not give to you," he said, "and let the Ahl as-Suffah (poor Muslims
who stayed in the mosque) be tormented with hunger. I have not enough
for their keep..."
Ali and Fatimah returned home feeling somewhat dejected but that night,
after they had gone to bed, they heard the voice of the Prophet asking
permission to enter. Welcoming him, they both rose to their feet, but
he told them:
"Stay where you are," and sat down beside them. "Shall I not tell you
of something better than that which you asked of me?" he asked and when
they said yes he said: "Words which Jibril taught me, that you should
say "Subhaan Allah- Glory be to God" ten times after every Prayer, and
ten times "AI hamdu lillah - Praise be to God," and ten times "Allahu
Akbar - God is Great." And that when you go to bed you should say them
thirty-three times each."
Ali used to say in later years: "I have never once failed to say them
since the Messenger of God taught them to us."
There are many reports of the hard and difficult times which Fatimah
had to face. Often there was no food in her house. Once the Prophet was
hungry. He went to one after another of his wives' apartments but there
was no food. He then went to Fatimah's house and she had no food either.
When he eventually got some food, he sent two loaves and a piece of meat
to Fatimah. At another time, he went to the house of Abu Ayyub al-Ansari
and from the food he was given, he saved some for her. Fatimah also knew
that the Prophet was without food for long periods and she in turn would
take food to him when she could. Once she took a piece of barley bread
and he, said to her: "This is the first food your father has eaten for
three days."
Through these acts of kindness she showed how much she loved her father;
and he loved her, really loved her in return.
Once he returned from a journey outside Madinah. He went to the mosque
first of all and prayed two rakats as was his custom. Then, as he often
did, he went to Fatimah's house before going to his wives. Fatimah welcomed
him and kissed his face, his mouth and his eyes and cried. "Why do you
cry?" the Prophet asked. "I see you, O Rasul Allah," she said, "Your color
is pale and sallow and your clothes have become worn and shabby." "O Fatimah,"
the Prophet replied tenderly, "don't cry for Allah has sent your father
with a mission which He would cause to affect every house on the face
of the earth whether it be in towns, villages or tents (in the desert)
bringing either glory or humiliation until this mission is fulfilled just
as night (inevitably) comes." With such comments Fatimah was often taken
from the harsh realities of daily life to get a glimpse of the vast and
far-reaching vistas opened up by the mission entrusted to her noble father.
Fatimah eventually returned to live in a house close to that of the Prophet.
The place was donated by an Ansari who knew that the Prophet would rejoice
in having his daughter as his neighbor. Together they shared in the joys
and the triumphs, the sorrows and the hardships of the crowded and momentous
Madinah days and years.
In the middle of the second year after the Hijrah, her sister Ruqayyah
fell ill with fever and measles. This was shortly before the great campaign
of Badr. Uthman, her husband, stayed by her bedside and missed the campaign.
Ruqayyah died just before her father returned. On his return to Madinah,
one of the first acts of the Prophet was to visit her grave.
Fatimah went with him. This was the first bereavement they had suffered
within their closest family since the death of Khadijah. Fatimah was greatly
distressed by the loss of her sister. The tears poured from her eyes as
she sat beside her father at the edge of the grave, and he comforted her
and sought to dry her tears with the corner of his cloak.
The Prophet had previously spoken against lamentations for the dead,
but this had lead to a misunderstanding, and when they returned from the
cemetery the voice of Umar was heard raised in anger against the women
who were weeping for the martyrs of Badr and for Ruqayyah.
"Umar, let them weep," he said and then added: "What comes from the heart
and from the eye, that is from God and His mercy, but what comes from
the hand and from the tongue, that is from Satan." By the hand he meant
the beating of breasts and the smiting of cheeks, and by the tongue he
meant the loud clamor in which women often joined as a mark of public
sympathy.
Uthman later married the other daughter of the Prophet, Umm Kulthum,
and on this account came to be known as Dhu-n Nurayn - Possessor of the
Two Lights.
The bereavement which the family suffered by the death of Ruqayyah was
followed by happiness when to the great joy of all the believers Fatimah
gave birth to a boy in Ramadan of the third year after the Hijrah. The
Prophet spoke the words of the Adhan into the ear of the new-born babe
and called him al-Hasan which means the Beautiful One.
One year later, she gave birth to another son who was called al-Husayn,
which means "little Hasan" or the little beautiful one. Fatimah would
often bring her two sons to see their grandfather who was exceedingly
fond of them. Later he would take them to the Mosque and they would climb
onto his back when he prostrated. He did the same with his little granddaughter
Umamah, the daughter of Zaynab.
In the eighth year after the Hijrah, Fatimah gave birth to a third child,
a girl whom she named after her eldest sister Zaynab who had died shortly
before her birth. This Zaynab was to grow up and become famous as the
"Heroine of Karbala". Fatimah's fourth child was born in the year after
the Hijrah. The child was also a girl and Fatimah named her Umm Kulthum
after her sister who had died the year before after an illness.
It was only through Fatimah that the progeny of the Prophet was perpetuated.
All the Prophet's male children had died in their infancy and the two
children of Zaynab named Ali and Umamah died young. Ruqayyah's child Abdullah
also died when he was not yet two years old. This is an added reason for
the reverence which is accorded to Fatimah.
Although Fatimah was so often busy with pregnancies and giving birth
and rearing children, she took as much part as she could in the affairs
of the growing Muslim community of Madinah. Before her marriage, she acted
as a sort of hostess to the poor and destitute Ahl as-Suffah. As soon
as the Battle of Uhud was over, she went with other women to the battlefield
and wept over the dead martyrs and took time to dress her father's wounds.
At the Battle of the Ditch, she played a major supportive role together
with other women in preparing food during the long and difficult siege.
In her camp, she led the Muslim women in prayer and on that place there
stands a mosque named Masjid Fatimah, one of seven mosques where the Muslims
stood guard and performed their devotions.
Fatimah also accompanied the Prophet when he made Umrah in the sixth
year after the Hijrah after the Treaty of Hudaybiyyah. In the following
year, she and her sister Umm Kulthum, were among the mighty throng of
Muslims who took part with the Prophet in the liberation of Makkah. It
is said that on this occasion, both Fatimah and Umm Kulthum visited the
home of their mother Khadijah and recalled memories of their childhood
and memories of jihad, of long struggles in the early years of the Prophet's
mission.
In Ramadan of the tenth year just before he went on his Farewell Pilgrimage,
the Prophet confided to Fatimah, as a secret not yet to be told to others:
"Jibril recited the Quran to me and I to him once every year, but this
year he has recited it with me twice. I cannot but think that my time
has come."
On his return from the Farewell Pilgrimage, the Prophet did become seriously
ill. His final days were spent in the apartment of his wife Aishah. When
Fatimah came to visit him, Aishah would leave father and daughter together.
One day he summoned Fatimah. When she came, he kissed her and whispered
some words in her ear. She wept. Then again he whispered in her ear and
she smiled. Aishah saw and asked:
"You cry and you laugh at the same time, Fatimah? What did the Messenger
of God say to you?" Fatimah replied:
"He first told me that he would meet his Lord after a short while and
so I cried. Then he said to me: 'Don't cry for you will be the first of
my household to join me.' So I laughed."
Not long afterwards the noble Prophet passed away. Fatimah was grief-striken
and she would often be seen weeping profusely. One of the companions noted
that he did not see Fatimah, may God be pleased with her, laugh after
the death of her father.
One morning, early in the month of Ramadan, just less than five month
after her noble father had passed away, Fatimah woke up looking unusually
happy and full of mirth. In the afternoon of that day, it is said that
she called Salma bint Umays who was looking after her. She asked for some
water and had a bath. She then put on new clothes and perfumed herself.
She then asked Salma to put her bed in the courtyard of the house. With
her face looking to the heavens above, she asked for her husband Ali.
He was taken aback when he saw her lying in the middle of the courtyard
and asked her what was wrong. She smiled and said: "I have an appointment
today with the Messenger of God."
Ali cried and she tried to console him. She told him to look after their
sons al-Hasan and al-Husayn and advised that she should be buried without
ceremony. She gazed upwards again, then closed her eyes and surrendered
her soul to the Mighty Creator.
She, Fatimah the Resplendent One, was just twenty nine years old.
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