FATIMA'S YOUTH
Lady
Fatima Zahra (A) opened her eyes to the world to enjoy prophetic
fatherly love and to suckle Khadija's milk, which was mixed with
excellent morals and perfection.
Growing
in the house of revelation, gave her the chance to achieve the highest
degree of perfection and excellence. The Prophet (S) taught her
divine knowledge and endowed her with special intelligence, so that she
realized the true meaning of faith, piety, and the reality of Islam.
The
virtuous upbringing of Fatima by Allah's Messenger as accompanied by her
capability to perceive divine facts and her spiritual brilliance and
preparedness to ascend to the highest levels of perfection.
Parallel
to this, was Allah's will that Fatima Zahra should face many sorrows and
live in anguish from the very beginning of her life. She opened her eyes
to see her father being fought by his relatives and strangers and
treated with hostility by the infidels and polytheists. For instance,
Fatima might have entered the Sacred Mosque and seen her father reading
Quran in the private chamber of Ismael (around Kaaba), while polytheists
were harming him and waging a psychological war against him. One day,
Fatima saw the infidels pour camel placenta on her father while he was
prostrating to Allah; so she cleaned his back and while bitterly crying,
cursed he unbelievers and supplicated to Allah to punish them. But the
infidels were sarcastic, in the same respect as any lowly people and
rubble would be.
Ibn
Abbas reported that the Quraishians once held a meeting in the Sacred
Mosque and vowed by their Idols that as soon as they saw Muhammad, they
would all participate in killing him; upon hearing this, Fatima (A) went
crying to her father and informed him of their conspiracy.
The
crisis became more intense when the Messenger of Allah was forcefully
confined to Abu Talib's trail (valley) along with his family and all the
members of Abu Talib's family. They lived in an atmosphere overtaken by
fear and anxiety of the constantly expected attack by the infidels at
night. The situation grew even worse when the polytheists drew up a
treaty to besiege Bani Hashim and impose economic sanctions against
them; this treaty allowed no one to sell or buy anything from them,
including food supplies.
Therefore, the cries of starving children reached the ears of all Meccan
inhabitants. The people of Mecca were divided into two groups: One who
was enjoying the misfortunes of the Bani Hashim and the other was deeply
affected with their misery.
This
situation continued for more than three years. Fatima was one of those
who suffered from this siege, which resulted in awakening the spirit of
struggle, honesty and endurance in her; it was as if she was spending a
period of training and exercise for the near future.
Nevertheless, the predicament was made easier when Fatima saw the
courageous hero, Abu Talib, aided by Hamza keeping steadfast and helping
her father in every way against the infidels' aggression. Abu Talib
declared his adherence to Islam through uttering poetry. Once, the
Quraishan heads objected to Abu Talib's support of the Prophet; they
said to him: "We will give you a handsome, generous, and courageous
Quraishan youth (Amarh Ibn al-Walid) to become your son, if you give us
your nephew -Muhammad - who disunites us and humiliates our idols, so
that we may kill him!"
Abu
Talib said: "This is an unfair offer! Do you mean to give me
your son, so I can feed him for you and I give you my nephew to kill?
(If this is your way of dealing) then each one of you should give me his
son to kill if you want me to give you Muhammad to kill."
Abu
Talib's honorable stands in protecting the Prophet were numerous. Had it
not been for his faith and strong adherence to Islam, he would not have
been steadfast in defending the Messenger and his divine faith. Contrary
to Abu Talib, another uncle of the Prophet (S), Abu Lahab-fought
fiercely and opposed the Prophet. His shameful conduct was recorded in
various history books and in the Holy Quran. |