Seerah

Fatima, the truthful one and principal of Eve’s daughters, grew up during the advent of Islam. She grew up while Islam was at the stage of progress. The Prophet Muhammad, the savior of mankind and master of Adam’s children (a.s) brought her up. He supplied her with his wisdom and perfection. He poured on her a ray of his sacred soul. He supplied her with the noble qualities of his great soul, that she might be a model for the women of his community, an ideal of human perfection, and a symbol of purity and chastity.

The Prophet (a.s) showed her love that he showed to none other than her, for she was the righteous survival daughter from his pure wife Khadija,[1] mother [1] Khadija al-Qurashiya, al-Asadiya, daughter of Khuwaylid bin Asad, was the wife of the Prophet, may Allah bless him and his family. She was the first to believe in him according to the unanimous agreement of the Muslims. In the pre-Islamic period she was called al-Tahira (the pure one). She was very rich. She hired men to trade with her property. She heard that Allah’s Apostle, may Allah bless him and his family, was truthful in speech, great in honesty, and noble in ethics. So she sent for him and asked him to trade with her property. He responded to her and went to Sham (Syria) along with her boy called Maysara. When he arrived in Sham, he sat in the shadow of a tree close to the hermitage of a monk. The monk looked at them and asked Maysara: “Who is that man?” “He is from Quraysh, among the people of the Sacred City (Mecca),” replied Maysara. “None sits in the shadow of the tree except a prophet,” explained the monk. Then Allah’s Apostle, may Allah bless him and his family, sold the things he had brought. He bought what he wanted, and then he returned to Mecca. He gave Khadija the property and the profits. Maysara told Khadija about the monk’s statement.

your noble moral traits, and your truthful speech.

” Then she proposed to him. She was from the middle of Quraysh in lineage, the greatest of them in honor and wealth. The Apostle went away and told his uncles about her statement. So his uncle Hamza went out and visited her father. He asked him for his daughter’s hand, and he responded to that. Allah’s Apostle, may Allah bless him and his family, married her. She was forty years old, and his holy age was twenty-five years. When Allah’s Apostle (a.s.) was sent as a prophet, she was the first to believe in him and to help him. When he heard a detested thing from those who opposed him and accused him of lying, she relieved him and made easy to him the affairs of the people. Because of her great jihad in Islam, Allah’s Apostle (a.s.) gave her good news of a reed house in the garden where there is neither noise nor tiredness. Gabriel carried to her greetings from Allah. The Prophet (a.s.) said in respect of her: “Four (women) are the best of the women of the world. (They are) Maryam, daughter of Imran, Asya, daughter of Muzahim and Fir‘un’s wife, Khadija, daughter of Khuwaylid, and Fatima, daughter of Muhammed. Allah’s Apostle (a.s.) always remembered her, to of the faithful, may Allah be pleased with her. Khadija was kind and affectionate to the Prophet. She believed in him before other than her. She appropriated her wealth and abilities to straighten Islam and to spread its mission, to the extent that her wealth ran out. The Prophet (a.s) did not forget the efforts she rendered to Islam. So he thanked her very much. After her death he always asked Allah to have mercy on her. He mentioned her loyalty and kindness, to the extent that A’isha was angry with him and said to him: “Why do you remember an old woman whose corners of the mouth were red? Allah has given you (a wife) better than her in place of her!”

The Prophet (a.s) became angry and he said to her: “Allah has not given me (a wife) better than he! She believed in me when the people accused me of lying, and helped me with her wealth when the men deprived me. I was given children from her and was deprived of children from other than her.”[1]

Khadija helped the Prophet when the Qurashi tyrants were angry with him. She stood beside him to protect him and to save his message through her great wealth. He was given a child from her and was not given from other than her. He was given from her (Fatima), the mistress of the women of the world, the like of Virgin Mary, daughter of Imran in chastity and purity. He was given Fatima al-Zehra’, peace be on her. She was called Fatima because Allah has protected her and her progeny from the Fire.[2]

the extent that when he slaughtered a ewe, he went to Khadija’s relatives and gave them some of its meat as gift. Khadija died three years before Hijra. It was said that she died three days after the death of Abu Talib. Accordingly, misfortunes continuously befell Allah’s Apostle (a.s.). She died in the month of Ramadan at age of sixty-five. She was buried at al-Hijoon. This has been mentioned in the books Usd al-Ghaba, al-Isaba, al-Isti‘ab.

Notes:

[1] Is‘af al-Raghibeen. A narration similar to that has been narrated in Ahmed’s Musnad, vol. 6, p. 150, al-Isti‘ab, Usd al-Ghaba, al-Isaba, and Sinan Ibn Maja.

[2] Ibn Hajar, al-Sawa‘iq, p. 96. In this book it has been mentioned: “Ali, peace be on him, asked Allah’s Apostle (a.s.): ‘Why has she been called Fatima?’ ‘Allah has protected her and her progeny from the Fire,’ he (a.s.) replied.” Al-Hafiz Muhib al-Deen al-Tabari has mentioned the tradition in his book Dhakha’ir al-‘Ukkkba, p. 26. In it he has mentioned: “Imam Ali bin Musa al-Rida narrated the tradition through its chain of authorities and its words. (He said) that Allah’s Apostle (a.s.) said: ‘Allah, the Great and Almighty, protected from the Fire my daughter Fatima, her children, and those who love them.’” It has been narrated on the authority of Ibn ‘Abbas, may be pleased with him, who said: “Allah’s Apostle (a.s.) has said: ‘Surely my daughter Fatima having eyes with a marked contrast between white and black (hawra’). She did not menstruate.’ He named her Fatima because Allah protected her and those who love her from the Fire.’” The tradition has been narrated by al-Nisa’i.

Adapted from: "The Life of Imam al-Hasan al-Mujtaba (a.s.)" by: "Ayatullah Kashif al-Ghita"