"Bi Ismillahy Ar-Rahman
Ar-Rahim - In the name of God the Beneficent the Merciful
Inna 'atai'nakal Kawthar
- Verily We have given thee (O' Our Apostle Muhammad!) The Kawthar
(Abundance)
Fa sally li Rabbuka wa
inhar - So pray thou unto thy Lord! and offer sacrifice
Inna shani-aka huwwal
abtar" - Verily your enemy shall be the one cut off (of his progeny)
This Holy verse was
revealed to the Prophet (SAW) when the people of Quraish (particularly
Omar Bin Aas and Hakam bin Aas) were taunting the Prophet and calling
him "Abtar" (literarily speaking it means the animal whose tail is cut
off, meaning here the one who has no one to inherit him, no descendent)
because none of his male progeny (sons) lived. At the time Lady Khadija
had given birth to a son, named Tahir, who had just died. In fact all of
his children died at a very tender age, except Lady Fatima (AS). So to
console the Prophet, this verse was revealed to him. It also stands for
the stream in Heaven, called Kawthar, which has been exclusively
reserved for the Prophet.
In the above verse, she
is referred to as "Al Kawthar" (the fountain of Paradise).
When she was conceived,
the Prophet (SAW) had been in the cave of Mount Hira where he had been
praying, meditating and receiving instructions from His Lord. Angel
Gabriel appeared to the Prophet and gave some fruit from Heaven. He said
to him "Your Creator has sent you these fruits to eat and commands you
to go back to your house and be with your wife. Your wife will then bear
you a child that will be the fountain of your progeny. The child will be
named Fatima".
The Prophet obeyed His
Lord's command and Lady Fatima was born. And the Prophet has been
repeatedly quoted as saying "when I long for Paradise, all I have to do
is smell Fatima. She is made from Paradise". The Prophet (SAW) had the
utmost respect for his daughter, so much so that whenever she would
enter a room, he would interrupt whatever he was doing, he would get up
to greet her and sit her next to him. He had so much love and respect
for her that he gave her the title of "Ummi Abuha" (the mother of her
father). It is really a miracle that the people who called the Prophet "abtar"
have been eradicated from the face of the Earth, whereas it is
impossible to count the number of descendants (the Sadats) the Prophet
has.
She was patience. Her
patience was beyond limit. She grew up during the period when her Holy
father was undergoing the harshest period of his life. She lived to
witness the immense wealth of her mother Lady Khadija (AS) being
dispersed amongst the poor and the needy without any discrimination (ie;
beggars from all walks of life used to come to their house for food and
shelter, regardless of their colour, race or beliefs). They went through
the most extreme conditions, so much so that Lady Khadija (AS) who used
to be the wealthiest woman of Arabia (ie; the princess of Arabia, as she
had so much wealth) ended up sleeping on a straw mat, on the floor. This
and the clothes she had on her back were the only possessions she was
left with when she died.
She was courage. Her
courage was an example to all, men and women alike. During the battles
raged by the 'Kufars' (unbelievers) against her father and Islam, she
was always present, by his side, attending to him and the injured
soldiers.
In the battle of Uhud,
where the Muslim forces suffered their greatest losses because the
soldiers deserted the Prophet at the onset of the fighting, she was the
only woman seen at her father's side who had been seriously injured by
the enemy.
She had the knowledge of
Hal Lil Beit. Her father was the "City of Knowledge" and her husband was
its "gate". Lady Fatima (AS) lived her short life surrounded by this
"Knowledge". During her exchange with Abu Bakr, she contradicted every
single one of his claims and arguments by extensively quoting the Holy
Qur'an. Her whole sermon to Abu Bakr was reciting the verses of the
Qur'an and explaining to him when they were revealed to her father, why
they were revealed to her father and what they meant! She was barely 18
years old. When her mother died, Lady Fatima was about seven years old.
Like all the Ma'soomeen, she did not have any formal or informal
education. Yet Lady Fatima used to hold Qur'anic classes and lectures
for women. She would teach them how to read it, what it meant, etc...
In her sermon to Abu
Bakr, she started by praising and thanking the Lord, then she made the
testimony about the uniqueness of God, she said the shahada: "I testify
that there is no God except for Allah, and I testify that my father
Mohammed is His slave and Messenger and I testify that I am his daughter
Fatima". She in fact identified herself to the audience before starting
her lecture on Abu Bakr! When the people knew who she was, there was no
escape for Abu Bakr. He had to let her speak. She concluded by cursing
him and all those who had turned away from God's religion and message.
She was justice itself.
She taught her children to be just and she practiced what she preached.
She had a maid called Fiddha. Lady Fatima would alternate the house
chores with her. Fiddha would one day do the house work while Lady
Fatima would cook and look after the children, and the next day Fiddha
would cook and look after the children while Lady Fatima did the house
work (remember in those days there were no vacuum cleaner, nor washing
machines nor dish washers. It was all done by hand, every day).
She was generosity. Her
generosity was without limit! One day a beggar came and knocked at her
door. He wanted some food to feed himself and his family. She gave him
the meal she had prepared for her family. That day, herself, Imam Ali
and their children Al Hassan and Al Hussein had been fasting. It wasn't
Ramadan. But they had decided to fast for three days. So they had no
food left to eat that night.
The next day, a similar
thing happened and Lady Fatima gave them the meal she had prepared for
her family. This mind you did not deter them from fasting the third day.
On the third day, again the same thing happened and again Lady Fatima
gave the meal away!
On her wedding day to
Imam Ali (AS) her father bought her a new dress to wear for her wedding.
When it was time to perform the wedding ceremony, the Prophet (SAW)
asked to go and get changed. He asked her to wear her wedding dress. She
replied "I'm wearing it". The Prophet looked at her and said "but this
is not the
dress I bought you. This
is an old dress and you have been wearing for a long time. Where is the
dress I have bought you?" She replied "hasn't the Prophet taught me that
when I give charity I should give things that are dearest to me and not
things I no longer need or want"? The Prophet said "yes, that's true".
She said "I gave it away this afternoon to a poor lady who came begging
for clothes to wear". The Prophet was deeply touched and said to her "go
back to your room and you will find another dress for you to wear. This
dress is sent to you from Allah (SWT)". She went to her room and found a
dress sparkling with precious stones and diamonds.
On another occasion, the
Prophet and some of his companions were in the Mosque when a man entered
asking for charity. He had no money to buy food for his children. It
just happened that at the time no one seemed to be carrying any money
with them (or if any one did, they did not want to part with it). The
Prophet told the man to go to Fatima's house, and to ask her for
something. The man went and knocked at the door. Lady Fatima answered
and the man requested some charity. All Lady Fatima had left was a neck
less made of pearls. She gave it to the man. The man returned to the
Mosque and told the Prophet what had happened and asked if anyone would
buy the neck less from him as he needs to buy food for his family. Ammar
ibin Yassir (one of the true companions of the Prophet) had in the
meantime arrived at the Mosque and heard the story. He purchased the
neck less from the man, gave it to his slave instructing him to take it
back to Lady Fatima and that he also, the slave was a present from
AmLady Fatima. TLady Fatima's hoandid as instructed. Lady Fatima told
him, "I release you, you are free". The slave looked up to the sky and
praising the Lord said "You truly are Merciful! You have satisfied a
hungry man, you have freed a slave and you have returned the neck less
to its owner, all this in the span of only a few minutes". She was "Sayeedat
Nisa-al Alameen" (the mistress of the women of the world).
In the "hadith-al Kisaa"
(the tradition of the cloak) when God wanted to purify the Prophet and
his household, Angel Gabriel asked God who was under the Cloak. God
answered: "Fatima, her father, her husband and her children"! He did not
say "My Messenger and his family", He said "Fatima and her family"! Also
in Karbala, Hur (the commander of Yazid's armed forces) was asked by his
companions why he looked so troubled. He said that what they were doing
was wrong, they had cut off Imam Hussein and his party from food and
water following Yazid's orders. They were doing this to "Hussein the son
of Fatima"! Of course Hur later on joined Imam Hussein's camp and
committed martyrdom fighting his previous soldiers in the army of Yazid.
Her "Iman" (faith) had
no limit. Once a blind man came to see the Prophet (SAW). Lady Fatima
(AS) veiled herself before opening the door and letting him in. When the
blind man left, the Prophet asked her why she covered herself knowing
that the man was blind. Lady Fatima replied: "it is true he cannot see
me with his eyes, but he can still see me (ie; perceive me) with his
other senses". It has been scientifically proven that if we lose the
function of one of our five senses the other four tend to be heightened
(meaning they become sharper). So what Lady Fatima said, in other words,
is that even though he is blind, he can still feel and sense my
appearance through his other senses, therefore I have to cover myself.
On her death bed, she
instructed Lady Zeinab (who was only five years old) to look after her
older brothers (Imams Al Hassan and Al Hussein) and be a mother to them.
She asked her to be with Imam Hussein at Karbala and convey to him his
mother's blessings before he is martyred by the enemy.
She instructed Amir Al
Mu'mineen to marry her cousin Imama. She told him: "my dear husband,
after I die I want you to marry my cousin Imama as our son Hussein is
very fond of her. She is the only one he will let approach him. You know
how sensitive he is and I fear for his safety". Imam Hussein was very
attached to his mother and when she died he was barely 6 years old. He
would not have accepted any one to take her place.
The most accepted
traditions relate that she had been struck by Umar ibinl Khattab and
crashed with the door that was forced against her, breaking her ribs. It
is important to remember one of the traditions of the Prophet here.
Whenever he visited his daughter he would knock at her door and say
"As-salaam 'Alaykum ya ahel baity" (peace be on you o people of my
house). He would repeat this three times and if nobody answered he would
go away. He would not open the door and enter his own daughter's house!
Yet Umar forced the door on her knowing full well she was behind it as
she had been talking to him. She was stabbed in her stomach. She was
pregnant at the time. The wounds caused her to loose her unborn child
and, eventually, she died a few days later. Having said her last
goodbyes to her family, she requested that she be left alone so that she
may perform her prayers. When Imam Ali returned to her bedroom a while
later, he found her still on the floor, in the "sajda" (prostrating)
position that we perform during our prayers. The same position Imam Ali
(AS) will be when he in turn is murdered.
Like her father before
her and like her husband and children after her, Lady Fatima always
remembered her duties towards her Creator. Until the very last minute,
the very last second of her life, she prayed to God, praised Him and
thanked Him for His mercy.
She had instructed Imam
Ali to bury her in secret. The Prophet had foretold that "whoever
attends Fatima's funerals will enter Paradise". She did not want Abu
Bakr and Umar and all those who were the cause of the split in Islam and
who remained silent during the three months after the Prophet's death to
attend her funerals. She was angry with them and she did not want to
reward them with Paradise. They have disobeyed the command of Allah,
they had distorted the sayings of her father the Prophet, they had
usurped her property and deprived her and her family from their rights.
Imam Ali acted according
to her request. He buried her at night time and only his children were
allowed to be with him. The next day, Abu Bakr, led by Umar and followed
by an army came to Imam Ali and asked him to reveal her burial place as
they wanted to pay their last respect and perform the required prayers "salaat-al
maout" (the prayer for the dead) on her. See the hypocrisy; first they
kill her, then they want to pray for her!
Imam Ali (AS) told them
that was not necessary and that he had already performed all the
obligatory rituals, like he did when the Prophet died (again reminding
them of their guilt). But they would not listen to reason. As they
persisted in their request and insisted so much, Imam Ali led them to
the burial place where there were four tombs, not one. They asked which
one was hers, and Imam Ali said he could not remember as Lady Fatima had
been buried at night, it was dark, etc... Umar again (the cause of all
the problems the Muslims are facing today and Abu Bakr being twice as
guilty for allowing him to get away with it and not rectifying the wrong
they both did when he had the opportunity) urging Abu Bakr got him to
order that all four tombs be unearthed so that they can identify the one
that belonged to Lady Fatima, then they would rebury her themselves and
perform the prayers.
Imam Ali had been deeply
grieved by the recent events that had taken place. Remember the Prophet
had only passed away three months earlier. Then the events that led to
his Caliphate being usurped had taken place, Fadak, etc... And finally
the wounding and killing of his most beloved wife with her unborn child
all these were weighing very heavily on his heart. Imam Ali could take
no more. He drew his sword and said: "By Allah Who has created the
Heavens and the Earth and everything in between, Fatima's grave will not
be desecrated by immoral people like you. I will hasten your journey to
hell if you dare approach and touch her tomb"! The first one to back off
was the "Farouk" Umar. He hid behind Abu Bakr! Nobody dared to approach.
They all followed their leaders and left the burial site. And to this
day Lady Fatima's grave remain a secret. Nobody knows which one is her
grave, except the Ahl Lil Beit of course.
When Imam Al Mahdi "ajjal
Allah farajoo" (may Allah hasten his coming) reappears and after having
rid the world of oppression and injustice, he will take the faithfuls to
her grave. There he will lead the prayers with Prophet Jesus standing
behind him so that the believers are all able to enter Paradise.
I pray Allah that He has
mercy on us and forgives our sins and that we may be among the faithful
ones.