Universal Spirituality

Fatimah was the youngest daughter of Muhammad and Khadijah. Though the couple already had three daughters before her they expressed great happiness at her birth (605 CE).

Going against the accepted custom, her mother did not send her beloved youngest daughter away to be nursed in any of the surrounding villages, but kept baby Fatima with her and nursed her herself. She loved her too much to entrust her to anyone else’s care.

Fatima 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 his Prophethood, when Fatima’s eldest sister Zaynab was married to Abu al-Aas ibn ar Rabiah who was son of Khadija’s sister Halah.

Then followed the marriage of her two other sisters, Ruqayyah and Umm Kulthum, to the sons of Abu Lahab, a paternal relative 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 when 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 Talib were all part of Muhammad’s household at this time. And of course there was her loving mother, the lady Khadijah who was the richest businesswoman in Makkah with her Export and Import business.

In her mother and in Barakah, Fatimah found a great deal of solace and comfort. In Ali, who was about two years older than her, she found a friend. They played and grew up together.

When she was five, she heard that her father had become Rasul Allah, the Messenger of God. It was 610 CE and the Prophet was forty years old.

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 strength 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 seen walking through the narrow streets and alleys of Makkah, visiting the Kabah or attending secret gatherings of 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, gathered around 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 thugs 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.

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, the Prophet’s best friend, rushed to the scene and 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 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 their 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 with joy, happiness and relief.

Fatimah, no doubt, must have been happy to be with her sisters once again. The Quraysh brought pressure on Abu al-Aas to divorce their eldest sister Zaynab, but he refused.

When the Quraysh leaders came up to him and promised him a rich and the 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.”

Eventually, he did accept 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 Uthman ibn Affan 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 seek 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. This terrible time left an effect on her health which lasted till the end of her life.

The siege of Shi’b Abi Talib lasted for three long years. 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.

When the Boycott 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 had sustained them through the difficult period.

The year in which Sayyidah Khadijah, and later Abu Talib- who took care of the prophet when he was an orphan, died is known as The Year of Grief.

Fatimah, now a young lady, was greatly distressed by her mother’s death. She wept bitterly and for some time was so grief-stricken that her health deteriorated. It was even feared she might die of grief.

Although her older sister, Umm Kulthum, stayed in the same household and managed all household responsibilities, took care of father and sister, 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 tenderness, she devoted herself to looking after his needs. So concerned was she for his welfare that she came to be called Umm Abi-ha which means ‘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 angers me.”

He also said: “Sufficient for you among the women of all realms/worlds are Mariam (Virjin Mary) bint Imran, Khadijah bint Khuwailid, Fatima bint Muhammad and Asiyah, the wife of Fir’awn (Pharaoh).”

Fatimah thus acquired a place of love and esteem in the Prophet’s heart that was only occupied by his wife Khadijah.

Fatimah, may God be pleased with her, was given the title of “al-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. 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, a close family friend and one of the noble companions of the Prophet, said of her:

“I have not seen any one of God’s creation resemble the Messenger of God more in respect of manners, way and conduct than Fatimah, may God be pleased with her. When the Prophet saw her approaching, he would welcome her, stand up and kiss her (on forehead or on the back of the hand), 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 stand up and welcome him with joy and kiss him (on forehead or on the back of the hand).“

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.

“(The Abrar or the Virtuous) give food—despite their desire for it—to the poor, the orphan, and the captive,”

Qur’an 76:8

She had no craving 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 gratitude to God for His grace and His inestimable bounties.

Fatimah migrated to Madinah a few weeks after the Prophet did (622 CE). 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, Zayd’s wife Barakah and her son Usamah, Ali and his mother Fatima bint Asad who was a second mother to the Prophet who took care of him in his childhood along with her husband Abu Talib. Ali’s mother also took care of Fatima Zahra after the death of Khadija along with Umm Kulthum and Barakah.

Travelling with the group also were Abdullah the son of Abu Bakr who accompanied his mother and his sisters, Aishah and Asma. There might be a few other male and female companions of the Prophet with them as well.

In Madinah, Fatimah lived with her father in the simple dwelling he had built near the mosque.

In the second year after the Hijrah (migration), she received proposals of marriage through her father, 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 report 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 ibn Affan 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 twenty-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 Madinah 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’s life with Ali was simple. 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 but they were happy and deeply in love with each other.

Ali worked as a drawer and carrier of water and she as a grinder of corn.

One day she said to Ali: “I have grinded until my hands are blistered.”

“I have drawn water until I have pains in my chest,” said Ali.

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 Fatimah’s house and she had no food. When he eventually got some food, he gave 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 that 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 in 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 and prayed two rakats as was his custom. Then, as he often did, he went to Fatimah’s house.

Fatimah welcomed him, kissed his forehead and cried.

“Why do you cry?” the Prophet asked.

“I see you, O Rasul Allah,” she said, “Your colour is pale and your clothes have become worn and shabby.”

“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 humiliation 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.

Together they shared in the joys and the triumphs, the sorrows 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 (624 CE). 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.

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 into the ear of the new-born baby 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.

People used to hear laughter of children while passing by Ali and Fatima’s happy home.

Fatimah would often bring her two sons to see their grandfather who was exceedingly fond of them. Later he would take them to the 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.

Prophet Muhammad’s eldest daughter, Zaynab bint Muhammad, died in 629 CE in Medina, following complications from a miscarriage she suffered years earlier when attacked by Quraysh while migrating from Makkah.  Fatima’s daughter Zaynab later became famous as the “Heroine of Karbala”.

Fatimah’s fourth child was also a girl and Fatimah named her Umm Kulthum after her sister who had died (630 CE) the year before after an illness.

It was only through Fatimah that the progeny of the Prophet was perpetuated. The Prophet’s male child Qasim bin Muhammad had died in his infancy and the two children of Zaynab named Ali and Umamah died young. Ruqayyah’s child Abdullah also died when he was not 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 destitute Ahl as-Suffah. As soon as the Battle of Uhud (625 CE) 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 with Ali’s help.

At the Battle of the Ditch (627 CE), 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 devotions.

Fatimah also accompanied the Prophet when he made Umrah in the sixth year after the Hijrah after the Treaty of Hudaybiyyah (628 CE).

In the following year, she and her sister Umm Kulthum, were among the mighty throng of Muslims who took part with the Prophet in the Liberation of Makkah (630 CE).

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 (632 CE), the Prophet confided to Fatimah, as a secret not yet to be told to others:

“Jibril (Gabriel) 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.

One day he called 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.

When Fatima was asked about it she 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.”

In another narration, the Prophet also said: “‘Don’t you like to be the chief of all the ladies of Paradise or the chief of the believing women? So I laughed for that.”

Not long afterwards the noble Prophet passed away (632 CE) Fatimah was grief-stricken and she would often weep profusely, day and night.

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 six 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 looking after her. Salma was the wife of Prophet’s paternal uncle Hamzah.

She requested 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 children and advised that she should be buried quietly and privately. She then closed her eyes and surrendered her soul to the Mighty Creator.

She, Fatimah the Resplendent One, was just twenty-seven years old.

Sayyidina Hasan (ra), her eldest child said,

“I saw my mother standing in her mihrab on the night of Friday. She continued bowing and prostrating until dawn, praying for the believers and mentioning them by name — yet she never prayed for herself.”

He also said: I heard her constantly praying for all the faithful; praying for people; praying for the public affairs of the Islamic world. In the morning I asked her,

“Oh mother! My mother! you prayed the whole night, you prayed for everybody but you didn’t pray for yourself!”

She answered, “My son, first the others, and then ourselves!”

This shows how elevated her spirit was.

Sayyidina Ali ibn Abi Talib (ra) once said,

“I often see that Fatima Zahra is cooking food and invoking Allah’s Name as well, grinding millstone and reciting the verses of the Holy Qur’an also.”

People love to be buried beside or near their loved ones. Fatima might as well had expressed interest to be buried near her father.

Her tomb is adjacent to the Prophet’s chamber (hujurah) where the Prophet was laid to rest; near the Door of Fatima which was the entrance of her home, inside the Rawdhah of Masjid an-Nabawi or the Prophet’s mosque in Madina al-Munawwara.

(Compiled)