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Fatimah Bint Muhammad
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 whe n 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 Ta lib 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 othe r 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 str ength 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, gathe red 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 thu gs 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 imprecati on 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 a nd 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 daught ers 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 theft 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 w ith 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 Qurays h 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 Uthma n 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 s eek 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 h
ad 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 tendernes s, 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 a ngers 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 o nly 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 sta nd 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 cravin g 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 g ratitude 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 re port 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 twen ty 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 Madin ah 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 sol ace 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 aft er 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
theft 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 ti mes 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 ho use 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 tha t 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." ,P."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 h umiliation 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 sorrow s 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 a nd 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 int o 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 t he 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 four th 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 no t 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 d estitute 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
d evotions.
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 th e 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 loo king 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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Source: Companions of
the Prophet-Abdul Wahid Hamid
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