Fatima bint Muhammad
by Omar Suleiman at QuranWeekly
One day in the early days of Islam, the Prophet (SAWS) was praying in front of the Ka’aba and Abu Jahal, ‘Ukbah bin Abi Mu’eet and Shayba, the enemies of the Prophet (SAWS) they were sitting around and they said to each other, Abu Jahal made the suggestion and he said, “Who would take the guts of a camel and all of the filth and dump it on his back while he is praying to humiliate him?” And Abu Jahal is someone who stepped on the neck of the Prophet (SAWS) while he was praying, he’s someone who used to throw dirt at the Prophet (SAWS) while he was praying but he wanted to degrade him even further. And ‘Ukban volunteered himself and he went and grabbed all of the filth of a camel, all of its guts and all of its najaasa (excretions) and he went and he dumped it on the back of the Prophet (SAWS) while he was in sujood/prostration. That weight down the back of the Prophet (SAWS) heavily.
Imagine this young girl, not even a teenager yet, Fatimah radiyaAllahu ta’ala ‘anha, the daughter of the Prophet (SAWS) seeing her father in this state, seeing the people laugh at him and mock him and curse him. And she comes and she starts to scrape all of that filth off of the back of her father. Imagine the humiliation and the hurt and the pain and she sees that and she starts to cry and the Prophet (SAWS) says “لا تبكي إن الله ناصرٌ أباك” [laa tabki inn Allah naasirun ‘abaaki]- Do not cry oh my daughter, Allah (SWT) will help and give victory to your father. And it is at that time that the Prophet (SAWS) raised his hands to the skies and made du’aa saying, “اللهم عليك بأبي جهل، اللهم عليك بعقبة، اللهم عليك بشيبة”. And those 3 men that the Prophet (SAWS) made du’aa against were the first 3 people to go down in Badr.
Now the moral of this story more than anything else is the young girl. Don’t you think that would traumatize her and make her an individual that would not have the same love for her father’s cause but would rahter blame it? Absolutely not! And we look at this young girl Fatima radiyaAllahu ta’ala ‘anha, she’s the 5th child of the Prophet (SAWS). The Prophet (SAWS) had other daughters and you might wonder, why Fatima? Why is she the one that perfected her faith? What about her older sisters? And there are a couple of reasons that the scholars mention. One of them is that she spent the most time with her mother Khadija radiyaAllahu ta’ala ‘anha, another woman who had perfected her faith. And so she adopted her morals and her characters more than anything else. Another reason is that she was with the Prophet (SAWS) at times when no one else was with him. In fact, when Khadija radiyaAllahu ta’ala ‘anha passed away, it was only the Prophet (SAWS) and Fatima radiyaAllahu ta’ala ‘anha alone in that household. SubhanAllah you can imagine what role she had to play.
She was only 5 years old when rasoolAllah received revelation. She was born and grew up in Islam unlike any of the other children. She actually grew up in Islam. But subhanAllah she actually was with the Prophet (SAWS) when no one else was with him. And you can imagine those moments.
Imagine the times the Prophet (SAWS) would come home when he was feeling devastated after losing Khadija and AbuTalib and having no one else and she was the one that would cook for him, she was the one that would come to his aid, she was the one that started to comfort him and took her mother’s place. And in fact, they used to call Fatima radiyaAllahu ta’ala ‘anha ‘أم أبيها’ [umm abeeha]- the mother of her father. SubhanAllah. She cared for the Prophet (SAWS) that much.
She also adopted so much from the Prophet (SAWS) in terms of her character. In fact, one of her nicknames being ‘الزهراء’ [al-Zahraa’] – the splendid one was because of her radiant face, she had that beautiful radiant face and she is the daughter of the Prophet (SAWS) whose face was as bright as the full moon. And we find that ‘Aisha radiyaAllahu ta’ala ‘anha says something very special about her. ‘Aisha says, “I have never seen anyone who resembled the Prophet (SAWS) from Allah’s creation more in speech and in character and conversation than Fatima radiyaAllahu ta’ala ‘anha.” And listen to what ‘Aisha says, she says that any time Fatima entered upon a room where the Prophet (SAWS) was she said the Prophet (SAWS) would get up. He would greet her, he would kiss her, he would hold her hand and then he would take Fatima and sit her down in the same place that he was sitting.
Honoring her and holding her in that high esteem. And you might think to yourself, subhanAllah this woman is that daughter of Khadija radiyaAllahu‘anha but the Prophet (SAWS) said that Fatima is ‘سيدة نساء الجنة’ [sayyidat nisaa’ al-jannah]- she is the queen, the leader of the women of Paradise. Not only has she perfected her faith but she is the leader of the women of Paradise. And the Prophet (SAWS) treated her like royalty. But royalty in a different sense.
You know we think of royalty nowadays that he got her married to a really rich man and probably gave her a palace and spoiled her rotten and gave her gifts all the time. In fact, the Prophet (SAWS) rejected many proposals from great sahaba who had wealth and were very well off in dunya and in aakhirah but the Prophet (SAWS) chose ‘Ali radiyaAllahu ta’ala ‘anhu, the one who the Prophet (SAWS) called his brother after Hijra. And rasoolAllah (SAWS) used to always call ‘Ali his brother after hijra to the point that Umm Ayman radiyaAllahu ta’ala ‘anha she said, “How come you call him your brother? Who is your brother?” He said, “this is the one who I made my brother. We were paired after hijra.”
The Prophet (SAWS) chose ‘Ali for Fatima. And the Prophet (SAWS) whenever ‘Ali radiyaAllahu ‘anhu came to propose to Fatima, the Prophet (SAWS) sat infront of ‘Ali radiyaAllahu ta’ala ‘anhu and ‘Ali was nervous. So the Prophet (SAWS) offered it to ‘Ali radiyaAllahu ta’ala ‘anhu and said, “maybe you came so that you could get engaged to Fatima?” ‘Ali radiyaAllahu ta’ala ‘anhu said “Yes”. So the Prophet (SAWS) said, “well what do you have as a dowry? What do you have as a mahr?” He had nothing. All he had was a shield and that’s the only thing he owned. And the Prophet (SAWS) said, “well why don’t you sell that shield and use that as mahr?” And that is the only thing she had as her dowry. ‘Ali radiyaAllahu ta’ala ‘anhu sold his shield to ‘Uthman radiyaAllahu ta’ala ‘anhu and that was the only thing that would be used for dowry.
SubhanAllah think about how much the Prophet (SAWS) loved her but even with that, the Prophet (SAWS) was so involved with the life of Fatima and ‘Ali that sometimes Fatima radiyaAllahu ta’ala ‘anha thought that maybe the Prophet (SAWS) loved ‘Ali more than her because the Prophet (SAWS) was always caring for that household. He would come and wake them up for qiyam-ul-layl. SubhanAllah he was always involved with that household, always taking care of them and checking up on them. So Fatima radiyaAllahu ta’ala ‘anha wondered one time that maybe the Prophet (SAWS) loves my husband more than me. And the Prophet (SAWS) who has ‘خلقٍ عظيم’ [khuluqin ‘atheem]- the most perfected exalted character says to ‘Ali and Fatima when they’re together, he points to ‘Ali and says, ‘فاطمة أحب إلي منك’ [Fatima ‘ahabbu illayya mink]- Fatima is more beloved to me. And then he looks to Fatima and says, ‘وعلي أعز إلي منك’ [‘Ali a’azzu illayya minki]- and ‘Ali radiyaAllahu ta’ala ‘anhu has more honor with me than you. SubhanAllah satisfying and pleasing both parties.
The Prophet (SAWS) while he was checking up on them, for example, one time he saw Fatima radiyaAllahu ta’ala ‘anha and think about this: the only thing that they owned in their household was a sheepskin to sleep on. That was all they had in their possession and the Prophet (SAWS) he sees this situation and he comes home one day and Fatima says to the Prophet (SAWS) that ‘Ali is upset, that they had some kind of difference like any other married couple and ‘Ali radiyaAllahu ta’ala ‘anhu went to sleep in the masjid. The Prophet (SAWS) goes to the masjid and he sees ‘Ali radiyaAllahu ta’ala ‘anhu laying down and he wakes ‘Ali up and he starts to dust off ‘Ali radiyaAllahu ta’ala ‘anhu and says, ‘قم يا أبا تراب’ [qum ya abaa turaab] -stand up oh father of dust. And ‘Ali said that was the most beloved nickname to me after that. RasoolAllah (SAWS) was diffusing the situation. He always wanted them to be happy and together and was checking up on his daughter.
Again, this is the Queen of the women of jannah, right? So what would her status be like in dunya? ‘Ali radiyaAllahu ta’ala ‘anhu sees Fatima radiyaAllah ‘anha one day and her hands are covered in blisters because of how much she has to work because of all the hardship that she goes through in this life. This is the Queen of the women of jannah. And he says to Fatima radiyaAllahu ‘anha, and this was after a Battle, he says, “why don’t you go to the Prophet (SAWS) and ask him for a servant?” Ask the Prophet (SAWS) for a servant. And the Prophet (SAWS) did not want that for her. The Prophet (SAWS) comes to their home and sits ‘Ali and Fatima on the bed and rasoolAllah (SAWS) sits between them and he says, “Shall I give you something even better than that?” He says, “say SubhanAllah 33 times, Aalhamdulellah 33 times and Allahu Akbar 34 times before you sleep.” This is the Prophet (SAWS) caring for his daughter. This is what he considered providing for his daughter.
Now the Prophet (SAWS) of course took care of them but you have to understand that this did not make Fatima radiyaAllahu ‘anha a bitter woman. She didn’t think to herself “I’m entitled I should be living a really good life”, because she saw the way that her father was suffering and she suffered with him and she was like him (SAWS). And subhanAllah we find that when the Prophet (SAWS) was dying, Fatima radiyaAllahu ta’ala ‘anha, she sees the Prophet (SAWS) in his battered state and his clothes and his illness and she starts to cry. And rasoolAllah (SAWS) calls her over compassionately, and the Prophet (SAWS) says come let me tell you something. And rasoolAllah (SAWS) whispers something to her and she starts to cry further. And then rasoolAllah (SAWS) says come back down let me tell you something else. And he whispers to her again and she starts to laugh and the people were amazed. ‘Aishah radiyaAllahu ta’ala ‘anha demanded she said, “tell me what it was that the Prophet (SAWS) told you!” And at first she refused, but eventually she gave in and told ‘Aisha radiyaAllah ‘anha. She said that, “my father told me the first time (SAWS) that he would not survive this illness. And then he called me back and told me you will be the first one to join me.” She laughed at death. The Prophet (SAWS) was telling her you’re going to be the first one to die from my companions and subhanAllah 4-6 months afterwards Fatima radiyaAllahu ta’ala ‘anha becomes ill and actually she was ill from the time of the death of the Prophet (SAWS) out of her pain from her father dying. And this is a mother of young children. This is a mother who is married to a wonderful husband but subhanAllah she just wants to be with her father (SAWS) in jannat-ul-firdaous.
She goes one day and she lies down and she smiles looking to the heavens and she calls for Asmaa bint Abi ‘Umays, the wife of Abu Bakr Al-Siddeeq may Allah (SWT) be pleased with them both. And Asmaa was going to be the one that was going to wash the body of Fatima. And look at how this royal woman speaks, she says to Asmaa “whenever you do my ghusl (wash my body after I pass) and whenever you do my janaazah (funeral) do it at night so that the people will not see my figure.” SubhanAllah! This was a woman who was full of modesty and was known for her modesty. She is the daughter of the most modest and most bashful (SAWS). She said, “Whenever you bury me, bury me in the evening so that no one would see my figure.” SubhanAllah! And that is how she was buried at night. But Allah (SWT) joined her with her father (SAWS) and she took her rightful position as the Queen, the leader, of the women of Paradise.
Now I just want you to think about this for a moment. Who was a greater woman than Fatima radiyaAllahu ta’ala ‘anha? Who is more deserving of a lavish wedding and of a high mahr and of living a life of joy and luxury than Fatima radiyaAllahu ta’ala ‘anha? But that is not what true royalty is. Because a kingdom that will be taken away at any moment, is not a real kingdom at all. But rather that which is eternal and everlasting ‘والآخرة خيرٌ وأبقى’ [wal aakhiratu khayrun wa abqa]- that which is everlasting is what truly matters. And she is a Queen in that regard and she is Royal in Jannah.
And we ask Allah (SWT) to grant us that high and royal company in the highest of levels jannat-ul-firdaous. Allahumma ameen.