Courage of al-Jahiz

 

How great the distance is between this man who specifically chooses a tradition wherein clues of alteration and forgery are quite obvious, claiming that al-Zahra’ (A.S.) was pleased with those who went to visit her to appease her, despite all the factual and historical and tradition evidences belying such a claim, and the other man who is very well known as having deviated from the line of Ali (A.S.) and of being especially interested in denying the merits of Ali (A.S.) while supporting his foes, i.e. the famous writer, `Amr ibn Bahr al-Jahiz! The latter says the following in his well known dissertation titled “Al-`Abbasiyya” as transmitted from him by Shaikh al-Tusi, may Allah have mercy on him:

 

When he (Abu Bakr) deprived her of her inheritance and was unfair to her and even assaulted her and committed a great sin against her, making her taste oppression and losing all hope of justice, and when she realized how weak she was, and how few her supporters were, she said to him, “By Allah! I shall invoke Allah’s retribution against you.”

He said, “By Allah! I shall supplicate to Him for you.”

She said, “By Allah! I shall never speak to you.”

He said, “By Allah! I shall never renounce you.”

So, if they do not deny that Abu Bakr was truly rejected by her, then the rejection of Fatima (A.S.) of him is by itself a proof testifying to her claim. The least they could have done in such a situation was to acquaint her with that of which she had no knowledge (if anything), or reminding her of that which she had forgotten (if anything), or correcting her mistake (if any), and exonerating her above anything lowly or that she would say anything wrong, or oppress a just person, or boycott someone who sought to remain attached to her. So, if you find them blaming neither of the opponents, then the matters are equal and the causes are straightforward, and reverting to the roots of how Allah has decided regarding faring with one’s inheritance is better for us and for yourselves and more obligatory on us and on you... If they say, “How can anyone even think that Abu Bakr would be unfair to her or assault her while whenever Fatima (A.S.) became more harsh with him, he became more lenient and kind, and how so when she said to him, “By Allah! I shall never speak to you,” he said, “By Allah! I shall never renounce you,” then when she said, “By Allah! I shall invoke Allah’s retribution against you,” he said, “By Allah! I shall supplicate to Him for you”?^[1]

Then he tolerates all this harsh talk from her at the government’s headquarters and in the company of the Quraishites and the sahaba when the caliphate was in need of pride and prominence and the respect and eminence it required? Yet all of that did not prohibit him from talking to her as someone who was apologetic, seeking nearness to her, safeguarding her honorable status, trying his best to get close to her heart... saying, “Nobody in poverty is dearer to me than you, nor anyone closer to my heart in ease, but I heard the Messenger of Allah (A.S.) say, `We, prophets, do not leave inheritance; whatever we leave behind is charity.’”