Her life
- The daughter of the Messenger of God and Sayyida Khadija bint Khuwaylid; the wife of Imam Ali; the mother of Imam al-Hasan, Imam al-Husayn, Sayyida Zaynab and Umm Kulthum, and of al-Muhsin, whom she lost before his birth. One of the People of the Cloak and, in Shia belief, one of the Fourteen Infallibles.
- Born in Mecca, in the house of Sayyida Khadija near the Mas'a, on 20 Jumada al-Thani in the fifth year after the Mission began (615 CE), as the Shia sources record (al-Kafi; Manaqib Ibn Shahrashub; I'lam al-Wara). Al-Shaykh al-Mufid and al-Kaf'ami give the second year of the Mission.
- As a child in Mecca she saw the polytheists' cruelty to her father, lived three years under the siege of Banu Hashim in Shi'b Abi Talib, and lost her mother Sayyida Khadija and her father's uncle and protector Abu Talib. After her father's hijra she migrated to Medina with Imam Ali and other women of the family.
- Many sought her hand; the Prophet refused all but Imam Ali, saying: The marriage of Fatima is a heavenly ordainment and requires a divine verdict. He told her of Ali's virtues and she consented (al-Amali of al-Tusi). Imam Ali gave the price of his armour as her dowry (Kashf al-Ghumma), and the marriage was held in the mosque (Dala'il al-Imama), in 2 AH, after Badr, in Shawwal or Dhu al-Hijja.
- In their home she called Imam Ali the best of husbands, and in public addressed him with honour as Abu l-Hasan. In their early years they were often without food for al-Hasan and al-Husayn; she never complained, and spun wool to help him. When the Prophet sent Fidda to serve her, she divided the work with her: one day Fidda, the next day herself (Dala'il al-Imama).
- Before her father's passing she stood with him in his struggle: she tended him at Uhud (Bihar al-Anwar), brought him provisions at the Battle of the Trench, and accompanied him at the conquest of Mecca (al-Maghazi).
- Her worship: long prayers, night vigils, fasting, praying for others, such as her neighbours, and visiting the graves of the martyrs. Salman al-Farsi saw her hand mill turning by itself while she recited the Qur'an; the Prophet told him: God has sent Gabriel to grind for her (Manaqib Ibn Shahrashub 3:116-117).
- On her wedding night she gave her wedding dress to one in need. She, Imam Ali and their two sons gave away their food for three days to a poor man, an orphan and a captive, and the verses of al-It'am in Surat al-Insan were revealed in their honour (al-Tibyan of al-Tusi, and others).
- She is among the Ahl al-Bayt of the Verse of Purification (33:33), on which the Shia ground her infallibility (Manaqib Ibn Shahrashub; al-Shafi of al-Sharif al-Murtada); among those whose love is the reward of the Mission in the Verse of Love (42:23); and the only woman the Prophet took to the Mubahala against the Christians of Najran (3:61), with Imam Ali, al-Hasan and al-Husayn.
- The Prophet said Fatima is a part of him: whoever angers her angers him (al-Amali of al-Mufid; al-Amali of al-Tusi; Musnad Ahmad), and he equated her pleasure and anger with the pleasure and anger of God. He called her the mistress of the women of Paradise and of the women of all the worlds ('Ilal al-Shara'i'; Dala'il al-Imama; Sahih al-Bukhari).
- The Prophet's line continues through her alone, and the Imams are her sons; exegetes (al-Mizan of al-Tabataba'i; Tafsir-i Nimuna; al-Fakhr al-Razi) see this as al-Kawthar, the abundant good God gave His Messenger (108:1-3).
- The angels spoke to her, before her father's passing and after it, consoling her and telling her what would befall her progeny; so she is called al-Muhaddatha. Imam Ali wrote down what the angel told her: the Mushaf of Fatima, passed from Imam to Imam and now with Imam al-Mahdi (al-Kafi 1:240-241; Basa'ir al-Darajat).
- The Prophet taught her the tasbih that bears her name, and she rejoiced in it; when Imam Ali learned it he never left it.
- No one saw her smile in the months after her father's passing (al-Kafi 3:228).
- With Imam Ali she went to the houses of the Emigrants and the Helpers to remind them that the Prophet had named Ali his successor at Ghadir. They answered that had she come before they gave their allegiance to Abu Bakr, they would have stood with Ali (al-Imama wa l-Siyasa of Ibn Qutayba).
- After the passing of the Messenger of God, Abu Bakr took Fadak from her (al-Saqifa wa Fadak of al-Jawhari). She brought proofs and witnesses, and he wrote her the deed; Umar took the deed and tore it. Some sources (al-Ikhtisas of al-Mufid; al-Sira al-Halabiyya) narrate that he struck her.
- In the Prophet's mosque, before the Emigrants and the Helpers, she delivered the Fadakiyya sermon, also called the sermon of al-Lumma, claiming her inheritance from the Book of God and defending the right of Imam Ali (Dala'il al-Imama; al-Ihtijaj) (read it).
- Those who refused the allegiance (Imam Ali, Banu Hashim, al-Abbas, Salman, Abu Dhar, al-Miqdad, Ammar) gathered in her house. They were threatened that the house would be burned (al-Musannaf of Ibn Abi Shayba); Ibn Abd Rabbih (al-'Iqd al-Farid) records that Abu Bakr ordered it attacked. When she warned the attackers she would complain to God, they left (Tarikh al-Ya'qubi).
- They returned for Imam Ali's allegiance and set the door on fire. She stood behind the door; by the fire and the force of Umar and those with him she was crushed against it and lost her unborn son al-Muhsin (Ma'ani al-Akhbar of al-Saduq; Dala'il al-Imama). Kitab Sulaym records that Qunfudh pressed her between the door and the wall and broke her rib. She tried to stop them taking Imam Ali by force, and from then she lay ill.
- When Abu Bakr and Umar came to ask her pardon she turned her face from them and did not return their greeting. She reminded them that the Prophet said her anger is his anger, and told them they had earned her anger. She died angry with those who had wronged her.
- On her deathbed she asked Imam Ali that none who had wronged her should pray over her or attend her burial, and that she be buried at night and her grave hidden (Manaqib Ibn Shahrashub 3:137; 'Ilal al-Shara'i'). Her body was carried in a coffin she had asked to be made.
- She was martyred in Medina on 3 Jumada al-Thani, 11 AH (632), the date the Shia observe, according to a hadith of Imam al-Sadiq (Dala'il al-Imama; Misbah al-Mutahajjid). Another report gives 13 Jumada al-Ula.
- Imam Ali, with Asma bint Umays, washed her body and led her funeral prayer at night. With him were Imam al-Hasan and Imam al-Husayn, and all the reports name Salman, Abu Dhar, al-Miqdad and Ammar among the few who prayed over her (al-Khisal of al-Saduq; Kitab Sulaym; I'lam al-Wara).
- Her grave is hidden to this day. The narrations name three possible places: her own house; between the grave and the pulpit of the Prophet in al-Masjid al-Nabawi (Manaqib Ibn Shahrashub; Dala'il al-Imama); and al-Baqi' (Man La Yahduruhu al-Faqih).
Days
- 8 BH615 CEBorn in Mecca, 20 Jumada al-Thani
- 1 AH622 CEMigrates to Medina with Imam Ali
- 2 AH624 CEMarries Imam Ali
- 11 AH632 CEHer father passes; Fadak taken; her sermon
- 11 AH632 CEHer house attacked; al-Muhsin lost
- 11 AH632 CEMartyred, 3 Jumada al-Thani; buried at night
Family
In the Qur’an
إِنَّمَا يُرِيدُ ٱللَّهُ لِيُذۡهِبَ عَنكُمُ ٱلرِّجۡسَ أَهۡلَ ٱلۡبَيۡتِ وَيُطَهِّرَكُمۡ تَطۡهِيرٗا ٣٣
Indeed Allah desires to repel all impurity from you, O People of the Household, and purify you with a thorough purification.
The verse of purification · Al-Ahzaab 33:33
ذَٰلِكَ ٱلَّذِي يُبَشِّرُ ٱللَّهُ عِبَادَهُ ٱلَّذِينَ ءَامَنُواْ وَعَمِلُواْ ٱلصَّٰلِحَٰتِۗ قُل لَّآ أَسۡـَٔلُكُمۡ عَلَيۡهِ أَجۡرًا إِلَّا ٱلۡمَوَدَّةَ فِي ٱلۡقُرۡبَىٰۗ وَمَن يَقۡتَرِفۡ حَسَنَةٗ نَّزِدۡ لَهُۥ فِيهَا حُسۡنًاۚ إِنَّ ٱللَّهَ غَفُورٞ شَكُورٌ ٢٣
Such is the good news that Allah gives to His servants who have faith and do righteous deeds! Say, ‘I do not ask you any reward for it except the love of [my] relatives.’ Whoever performs a good deed, We shall enhance its goodness for him. Indeed Allah is all-forgiving, all-appreciative.
The verse of affection · Ash-Shura 42:23
فَمَنۡ حَآجَّكَ فِيهِ مِنۢ بَعۡدِ مَا جَآءَكَ مِنَ ٱلۡعِلۡمِ فَقُلۡ تَعَالَوۡاْ نَدۡعُ أَبۡنَآءَنَا وَأَبۡنَآءَكُمۡ وَنِسَآءَنَا وَنِسَآءَكُمۡ وَأَنفُسَنَا وَأَنفُسَكُمۡ ثُمَّ نَبۡتَهِلۡ فَنَجۡعَل لَّعۡنَتَ ٱللَّهِ عَلَى ٱلۡكَٰذِبِينَ ٦١
Should anyone argue with you concerning him, after the knowledge that has come to you, say, ‘Come! Let us call our sons and your sons, our women and your women, our souls and your souls, then let us pray earnestly, and call down Allah’s curse upon the liars.’
The verse of the Mubahala · Aal-i-Imraan 3:61
يُوفُونَ بِٱلنَّذۡرِ وَيَخَافُونَ يَوۡمٗا كَانَ شَرُّهُۥ مُسۡتَطِيرٗا ٧ وَيُطۡعِمُونَ ٱلطَّعَامَ عَلَىٰ حُبِّهِۦ مِسۡكِينٗا وَيَتِيمٗا وَأَسِيرًا ٨ إِنَّمَا نُطۡعِمُكُمۡ لِوَجۡهِ ٱللَّهِ لَا نُرِيدُ مِنكُمۡ جَزَآءٗ وَلَا شُكُورًا ٩ إِنَّا نَخَافُ مِن رَّبِّنَا يَوۡمًا عَبُوسٗا قَمۡطَرِيرٗا ١٠
They fulfill their vows and fear a day whose ill will be widespread. For the love of Him, they feed the needy, the orphan and the prisoner, [saying,] ‘We feed you only for the sake of Allah. We desire no reward from you, nor thanks. Indeed we fear a frowning and fateful day from our Lord.’
Surah al-Insan, revealed about the household’s fast · Al-Insaan 76:7-10
إِنَّآ أَعۡطَيۡنَٰكَ ٱلۡكَوۡثَرَ ١ فَصَلِّ لِرَبِّكَ وَٱنۡحَرۡ ٢ إِنَّ شَانِئَكَ هُوَ ٱلۡأَبۡتَرُ ٣
Indeed We have given you abundance. So pray to your Lord, and sacrifice [the sacrificial camel]. Indeed it is your enemy who is without posterity.
Surah al-Kawthar · Al-Kawthar 108:1-3
Peace be upon you, O daughter of the Messenger of God.
Peace be upon you, O wife of the Commander of the Faithful.
Peace be upon you, O mother of al-Hasan and al-Husayn, the masters of the youth of Paradise.
Peace be upon you, O Fatima al-Zahra, the wronged one, and the mercy of God and His blessings.
Sources
- al-Kafi, al-Kulayni
- Dala'il al-Imama, al-Tabari al-Imami
- Manaqib Al Abi Talib, Ibn Shahrashub
- al-Ihtijaj, al-Tabrisi
- Kashf al-Ghumma, al-Irbili
- Bihar al-Anwar, al-Allama al-Majlisi
- 'Ilal al-Shara'i', al-Shaykh al-Saduq
- Kitab Sulaym ibn Qays al-Hilali
- Lady Fatimah al-Zahra' (a), WikiShia (from al-Kafi, Dala'il al-Imama, Manaqib Ibn Shahrashub, al-Ihtijaj, Kashf al-Ghumma, Bihar al-Anwar and others)