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Fatima (S.A.), the Fountain of Perpetual Abundance

“O’ Fatema! On the Day of Resurrection, your Shi’ites (true followers), the followers of your progeny (Ahl al-Bayt), and the Shi’ites of (your husband) the Commander of the Faithful (Imam Ali), will enter Paradise along with you.” – Prophet Muhammad (SAWA)

The above is a well-documented hadith narrated by prominent authorities of all denominations of Islam including our Sunni brothers.

Contrary to misconceptions – mainly because of the seditious propaganda of the enemies of Islamic unity – the word Shi’ite which in Arabic stands for “a devoted adherent” is extensively found in ancient Sunni texts, in a positive sense, to denote the steadfast followers of the Ahl al-Bayt, with direct quotations from Prophet Muhammad (SAWA).

In fact, many authoritative Sunni scholars and poets have been proud to call themselves the Shi’ites of Imam Ali (AS) and Hazrat Fatema az-Zahra (SA) as well, in view of the peerless position vouchsafed by God Almighty in the Holy Qur’an for the daughter and son-in-law of the Prophet.

It was the sunnah and seerah or the paramount practice and behaviour of the Prophet in expounding the Holy Qur’an and his Infallible Ahl al-Bayt as the Thaqalayn (Two Priceless Intertwined Modes of Guidance).

To cite a few examples, books like the Sahihs of Bukhari and Muslim, the Sunans of Termezi, Ibn Maja, and Nasai, the Musnad of Ahmad ibn Hanbal, the Mustadrek of Hakem, the Tafasir (exegetes of the Holy Qur’an) of Tha’labi, Fakhreddin Razi, Zamakhshari, and Suyouti, the Tawarikh (histories) of Tabari, Khateeb al-Baghdadi, Ibn Asaker and Ibn Atheer, and the works of other leading Sunni authors that followed them such as Ibn Hajar, Dhahabi, Qondouzi, etc, refer to the divine rewards enumerated by the Prophet regarding love and affection for Imam Ali (AS), Hazrat Fatema (SA), and their progeny, the Ahl al-Bayt.

In short, all devoted Muslims in every age and era, whatever their school of jurisprudence, have longed to be listed by God among those who on the Day of Judgement could avail of the intercession of Hazrat Fatema Zahra (SA), the Lady of Paradise, as Shi’ites or true followers by virtue of their adherence to the Prophet’s sunnah.

But alas, despite the explicit words of God and the Last and Greatest Messenger in her favour, and in spite of the exemplary life led by this noblest lady of all times, we see a group of ruffians, including certain companions of her father, storming the house of the Pride of the Virgin Mary with crowbars and fire, and finally felling the door upon her.

As a result of this horrible tragedy, no sooner had Prophet Muhammad (SAWA) departed from the mortal world, his daughter suffered broken ribs, a miscarriage that led to the martyrdom of the first member of the blessed Ahl al-Bayt (the stillborn Mohsin), and eventually joined him in heaven.

Why did those who claimed to be Muslims indulge in such blasphemous mayhem against the only surviving offspring of the Prophet? Hadn’t they heard the famous saying of the Prophet: “Fatema is a part of me, and whoever hurts her, has hurt me, and whoever hurts me, has hurt God?”

Was thirst for political power in this transient world worth more than the perpetual bliss of paradise? Wasn’t violation of the sanctity of the threshold of the Lady of Paradise at which Prophet Muhammad (SAWA) used to salute every morning after revelation of the Verse of Purity (33:3), a sure passport to eternal damnation?

How could they commit such a sacrilege against the Lady referred by God as Kowthar (Fountain of Perpetual Abundance) in the surah of the same name, and remain totally deaf and dumb to her immortal sermon in defence of the Wilaya or Divinely-decreed authority of her husband in which she detailed the fundamentals of Islam including Towheed (Monotheism), Adl (Divine Justice), Prophethood, Imamate, and Ma’ad (Day of Resurrection)?

These unanswered questions recur in our minds every year when we commemorate Ayyam-e Fatemiyeh (13th Jamadi al-Awwal till 3rd Jamadi at-Thani)

Hopefully, in this age of enlightenment when scrutinizing of facts are making the truth of the Holy Qur’an and the dynamism of the Prophet’s shari’ah (code for orderly life and civil society) more manifestly clear, we Muslims ought to probe what went wrong in the early days of Islam.

Until we find out why Fatema (SA) and her blessed household were subjected to such cruelties that culminated in the blood-curdling tragedy of Karbala, our yearning for Islamic unity, peace, progress and freedom from the hegemony of the infidels, and most importantly our longing for Paradise in the Hereafter, will only remain a wishful thought.

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