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 (pbuh) 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. 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.
The boycott lasted for three years. When it 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 the noble Khadijah, and later Abu Talib, died is known as the
Year of Sadness.
Fatimah, now a young lady, was greatly distressed by her mothers death. She
wept bitterly and for some time was so grief-striken that her health
deteriorated. It was even feared she might die of grief.
Although her older sister, Umm Kulthum, stayed in the same household, 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 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 prophets
gracious head. As he entered his home, Fatimah wept profusely as she wiped the
dust from her fathers 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: "The best women in all the world are four: the Virgin Mary,
Aasiyaa the wife of Pharoah, Khadijah Mother of the Believers, and Fatimah,
daughter of Muhammad.".
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 "az-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. Instead of spending
her time in the company of women, 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 Allah.
Aishah. the wife of the Prophet, said of her:"I have not seen any one of Gods
creation resemble the Messenger of God more in speech, conversation and manner
of sitting than Fatimah, may God be pleased with her. When the Prophet saw her
approaching, he would welcome her, stand up and kiss her, 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.
Fatimah 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.
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. 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, Sawdah, the Prophets
wife, Zayds wife Barakah and her son Usamah. Travelling with the group also
were Abdullah the son of Abu Bakr who accompanied his mother and his sisters,
Aishah and Asma.
In Madinah, Fatimah lived with her father in the simple dwelling he had built
adjoining the mosque.
In the second year after the Hijrah, she received proposals of marriage through
her father, two of 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 .
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 Prophets 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 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 left the home of her beloved father for the first time to begin life
with her husband. The Prophet was clearly anxious on her account and sent
Barakah with her should she be in need of any help. And no doubt Barakah was a
source of comfort and solace to her.
The Prophet prayed for them: "O Lord, bless them both, bless their house and
bless their offspring."
In Ali humble dwelling, there was only a sheepskin for a bed.
In the morning after the wedding night, the Prophet went to Ali's house and
knocked on the door. Barakah came out and the Prophet said to her: "O Umm
Ayman, call my brother for me."
"Your brother? Is that the one who married your daughter?" asked Barakah
somewhat incredulously as if to say:
Why should the Prophet call Ali his "brother"?
(He referred to Ali as his brother because just as pairs of Muslims were joined
in brotherhood after the Hijrah, so the Prophet and Ali were linked as
"brothers".)
The Prophet repeated what he had said in a louder voice. Ali came and the
Prophet made a duaa, invoking the blessings of God on him. Then he asked for
Fatimah. She came almost cringing with a mixture of awe and shyness and the
Prophet said to her:
"I have married you to the dearest of my family to me."In this way, he sought
to reassure her. She was not starting life with a complete stranger but with
one who had grown up in the same household, who was among the first to become a
Muslim at a tender age, who was known for his courage, bravery and virtue, and
whom the Prophet described as his "brother in this world and the hereafter".
Fatimahs life with Ali was as simple and frugal as it was in her fathers
household. 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. Fatimah was the only one
of her sisters who was not married to a wealthy man.
In fact, it could be said that Fatimahs life with Ali was even more rigorous
than life in her fathers home.
At least before marriage, there were always a number of ready helping hands in
the Prophets household. But now she had to cope virtually on her own.
To relieve extreme poverty, Ali worked as a drawer and carrier of water and she
as a grinder of corn. One day she said to Ali: "I have ground until my hands
are blistered."
"I have drawn water until I have pains in my chest,"said Ali and went on to
suggest to Fatimah: "God has given your father some captives of war, so go and
ask him to give you a servant."
Reluctantly, she went to the Prophet who said: "What has brought you here, my
little daughter?" "I came to give you greetings of peace," she said, for in awe
of him she could not bring herself to ask what she had intended.
"What did you do?"asked Ali when she returned alone.
"I was ashamed to ask him," she said.
So the two of them went together but the Prophet felt they were less in need
than others. "I will not give to you," he said, "and let the Ahl as-Suffah
(poor Muslims who stayed in the mosque) be tormented with hunger. I have not
enough for their keep..."
Ali and Fatimah returned home feeling somewhat dejected but that night, after
they had gone to bed, they heard the voice of the Prophet asking permission to
enter.
Welcoming him, they both rose to their feet, but he told them:
"Stay where you are,"and sat down beside them.
"Shall I not tell you of something better than that which you asked of me?"he
asked and when they said yes he said:
"Words which Jibril taught me, that you should say
"Subhaan Allah- Glory be to God" ten times after every Prayer, and ten times
"AI hamdu lillah - Praise be to God," and ten times "Allahu Akbar - God is
Great."
And that when you go to bed you should say them thirty-three times each."
Ali used to say in later years: "I have never once failed to say them since the
Messenger of God taught them to us."
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 one after another of his wives apartments but there was no food.
He then went to Fatimahs house and she had no food either. When he eventually
got some food, he sent 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 for three days."
Through these acts of kindness she showed how much she loved her father; and he
loved her, really loved her in return.
Permission is granted to circulate among private individuals and groups, to
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http://groups.yahoo.com/group/LoveIslam_LiveIslam/
In the name of Allah, the Most-Merciful, the All-Compassionate
"May the Peace and Blessings of Allah be Upon You"
Praise be to Allaah, we seek His help and His forgiveness. We seek refuge with
Allaah from the evil of our own souls and from our bad deeds. Whomsoever Allaah
guides will never be led astray, and whomsoever Allaah leaves astray, no one
can guide. I bear witness that there is no god but Allaah, and I bear witness
that Muhammad is His slave and Messenger.
Bismillah Walhamdulillah Was Salaatu Was Salaam 'ala Rasulillah
As-Salaam Alaikum Wa-Rahmatullahi Wa-Barakatuhu
Fatimah Bint Muhammad
(2 of 3)
by Abdul Wahid Hamid
[Non-text portions of this message have been removed]
