There is No Contradiction in Traditions about Fatima’s Mushaf

 

This same individual has claimed that the traditions relevant to Fatima’s mushaf contradict each other because some of them refer to its being the dictation of the Messenger of Allah and the writing of Ali[1] (A.S.) whereas others state that an angel used to visit her after the demise of her father (A.S.) to talk to her and that Ali (A.S.) was the one who wrote down what went on, hence it was Fatima’s mushaf.[2]

In response, we would like to state the following:

The meaning of “contradiction” in the noorratives is that each apparently belies the other, one confirms something while the other denies it, or vice versa. If there are no common grounds among them, some of them have to be eliminated if there is a reason.

The traditions which refer to “mushaf Fatima” are not like that. There are common grounds among them. The book referred to as “mushaf” may have been called so because it combined tablets together, some of it was the dictation of the Messenger of Allah (A.S.) and the handwriting of Ali (A.S.) while the other part was dictated by the angel to Fatima (A.S.) and handwritten by Ali (A.S.). It was written after the demise of the Messenger of Allah (A.S.) when that angel used to visit her and entertain her, and this mushaf also contains the will of Fatima (A.S.); so, examine such texts.[3]

To sum up, the purpose may simply be the fact that the Messenger of Allah (A.S.) undertook the dictation of some of the contents of the book in order to prove that it is accepted and endorsed by him (A.S.) in order to confirm the authenticity of what the book contains and its significance.

As regarding the tradition which states that Gabriel (A.S.) was the one who entertained Fatima (A.S.), it does not contradict the tradition saying that an angel used to talk to her and entertain her, for this angel may be Gabriel himself[4], yet al-Majlisi has described this tradition as authentic[5], so refer to it.

[1]Refer to Basa’ir al-Darajat, pp. 153, 155, 161. Al-Majlisi, Bihar al-Anwar, Vol. 46, pp. 41, 42, 47, 48, 49, 271.

[2]Al-Kulayni, Al-Kafi, Vol. 1, pp. 41, 240, 457, 458. Basa’ir al-Darajat, pp. 157, 153, 159. Al-Khara’ij wal-Jara’ih, Vol. 2, p. 526. Al-Majlisi, Bihar al-Anwar, Vol. 26, pp. 41, 240, and Vol. 43, pp. 79-80, and Vol. 22, pp. 545-546. Refer also to Vol. 47, p. 65. There are numerous references recorded on the footnotes of Al-Khara’ij wal-Jara’ih. `Awalim al-`Ulam (in the section dedicated entirely to al-Zahra’ [a]), Vol. 11, pp. 483, 447 citing p. 132 of Al-Muhtadir. Diya’ al-`alaman (manuscript), Vol. 2, pp. 38-39.

[3]Basa’ir al-Darajat, pp. 157-158. Al-Majlisi, Bihar al-Anwar, Vol. 26, p. 43. Al-Kulayni, Al-Kafi, Vol. 1, p. 241.

[4]Al-Majlisi, Bihar al-Anwar, Vol. 43, p. 79 and Vol. 26, p. 41. Basa’ir al-Darajat, p. 153. Al-Kulayni, Al-Kafi, Vol. 1, p. 241. Al-Khara’ij wal Jara’ih, Vol. 2, p. 526. There are numerous references in its footnotes. Diya’ al-`alaman (manuscript), Vol. 2, p. 38.

[5]Refer to Vol. 5, p. 342 of Rawdat al-Muttaqan. Mir’at al-`Uqal, Vol. 3, p. 59. Jala’ al-`Uyan, Vol. 1, p. 183.