Fatima bint Muhammad (Arabic:فَاطِمَة بِنْت مُحَمَّد,romanized: Fāṭima bint Muḥammad; 605/15–632 CE), commonly known asFatima al-Zahra' (Arabic:فَاطِمَة ٱلزَّهْرَاء,romanized: Fāṭima al-Zahrāʾ), was the daughter of theIslamic prophetMuhammad and his wifeKhadija.[1] Fatima's husband wasAli, the fourth of theRashidun caliphs and the firstShia imam. Fatima's sons wereHasan andHusayn, the second and third Shia imams, respectively.[2][3] Fatima has been compared toMary, mother ofJesus, especially in Shia Islam.[4][5] Muhammad is said to have regarded her as the best of women[6][7] and the dearest person to him.[8][6] She is often viewed as an ultimate archetype forMuslim women and an example of compassion, generosity, and enduring suffering.[4] It is through Fatima that Muhammad's family line has survived to this date.[9][7] Her name and her epithets remain popular choices for Muslim girls.[10][11]
When Muhammad died in 632, Fatima and her husband Ali refused to acknowledge the authority of the firstcaliph,Abu Bakr. The couple and their supporters held that Ali was the rightful successor of Muhammad,[4] possibly referring to his announcement at theGhadir Khumm.[12] Controversy surrounds Fatima's death within six months of Muhammad's.[13]Sunni Islam holds that Fatima died from grief.[3] InShia Islam, however, Fatima's (miscarriage and) death are said to have been the direct result of her injuries during a raid on her house to subdue Ali, ordered by Abu Bakr.[14] It is believed that Fatima's dying wish was that the caliph should not attend her funeral.[15][16] She was buried secretly at night and her exact burial place remains uncertain.[17][18]
Fatima was born inMecca toKhadija, the first ofMuhammad's wives.[1] The mainstreamSunni view is that Khadija gave birth to Fatima in 605 CE, at age fifty, five years before the firstQuranic revelations.[2] This implies that Fatima was over eighteen at the time of her marriage, which would have been unusual inArabia.[2][3]Twelver sources, however, report that Fatima was born in about 612 or 615 CE,[2][33][34] when Khadija would have been slightly older.[35] The report of the SunniIbn Sa'd in hisKitab al-Tabaqat al-Kubra suggests that Fatima was born when Muhammad was about thirty-five years old.[35]
The Sunni view is that Fatima had three sisters, namedZaynab,Umm Kulthum, andRuqayyah, who did not survive Muhammad.[33] Alternatively, a number of Twelver Shia sources state thatZainab,Ruqayyah, andUmm Kulthum were adopted by Muhammad after the death of their mother, Hala, a sister of Khadija.[33][4] According toAbbas, most Shia Muslims hold that Fatima was Muhammad's only biological daughter,[33] whereas Fedele limits this belief to the Twelver Shia.[4] Hyder reports that this belief is prevalent among the Shia inSouth Asia.[36] Fatima also had three brothers, all of whom died in childhood.[37][38][39]
Fatima grew up in Mecca while Muhammad and his few followers suffered the ill-treatment of disbelievers.[40][3] On one occasion, she rushed to help Muhammad when filth was thrown over him at the instigation ofAbu Jahl, Muhammad's enemy and apolytheist.[40][6] Fatima lost her mother, Khadija, in childhood.[41][6] When Khadija died, it is said thatGabriel descended upon Muhammad with a message to console Fatima.[3][6][42]
Fatima married Muhammad's cousin,Ali, inMedina around 1 or 2AH (623–5 CE),[42][14] possibly after theBattle of Badr.[43] There is Sunni and Shia evidence that some of thecompanions, includingAbu Bakr andUmar, had earlier asked for Fatima's hand in marriage but were turned down by Muhammad,[44][14][45] who said he was waiting for the moment fixed by destiny.[3] It is also said that Ali was reticent to ask Muhammad to marry Fatima on account of his poverty.[14][31] When Muhammad put forward Ali's proposal to Fatima, she remained silent, which was understood as a tacit agreement.[14][46] On the basis of this report, woman's consent in marriage has always been necessary in Islamic law.[47] Muhammad also suggested that Ali sell his shield to pay the bridal gift (mahr).[48][14]
Muhammad performed the wedding ceremony,[3] and they prepared an austere wedding feast with gifts from other Muslims.[3][49][50] Shia sources have recorded that Fatima donated her wedding gown on her wedding night.[51][52] Later, the couple moved into a house next to Muhammad's quarters in Medina.[3][6] Their marriage lasted about ten years until Fatima's death.[53] Fatima's age at the time of her marriage is uncertain, reported between nine and twenty-one.[43][54][3][55] Ali is said to have been about twenty two.[55][56]
The marriage of Ali and Fatima. Artwork created inIran,c. 1850
Following theBattle of Uhud, Fatima tended to the wounds of her father[62] and regularly visited the graves to pray for those killed in the battle.[3] Later, Fatima rejectedAbu Sufyan's pleas to mediate between him and Muhammad.[62][3] Fatima also accompanied Muhammad in theConquest of Mecca.[3]
Significance
Among others, the Sunnial-Suyuti (d. 1505) ascribes to Muhammad that, "God ordered me to marry Fatima to Ali."[14][51][56] According toVeccia Vaglieri and Klemm, Muhammad also told Fatima that he had married her to the best member of his family.[3][63] There is another version of this hadith in the canonical Sunni collectionMusnad Ahmad Ibn Hanbal, in which Muhammad lauds Ali as the first in Islam, the most knowledgeable, and the most patient of the Muslim community.[64]Nasr writes that the union of Fatima and Ali holds a special spiritual significance for Muslims, as it is seen as the marriage between the "greatest saintly figures" surrounding Muhammad.[56]
Ali did not marry again while Fatima was alive.[65][45] However,al-Miswar ibn Makhrama, a companion who was nine when Muhammad died, appears to be the sole narrator of an alleged marriage proposal of Ali toAbu Jahl's daughter in Sunni sources. Whilepolygyny is permitted in Islam, Muhammad reportedly banned this marriage from the pulpit, saying that there can be no joining of the daughter of the prophet and the daughter of the enemy of God (Abu Jahl). He is also said to have praised his other son-in-law, possiblyUthman orAbu al-As. Soufi notes that the reference to the third caliph Uthman might reflect the Sunni orthodoxy, in which Uthman is considered superior to his successor Ali.[66]
Buehler suggests that such Sunni traditions that place Ali in a negative light should be treated with caution as they mirror the political agenda of the time.[14] In Shia sources, by contrast, Fatima is reported to have had a happy marital life, which continued until her death in 11AH.[51] In particular, Ali is reported to have said, "Whenever I looked at her [Fatima], all my worries and sadness disappeared".[51]
Soufi details that Fatima's manners closely resembled Muhammad's.[8] Her gait was also similar to the prophet's, according to Veccia Vaglieri, who also argues that Fatima must have enjoyed good health on the account of bearing multiple children, her arduous house chores, and her journeys to Mecca.[3] Her sources are silent about the appearance of Fatima, which leads her to the conclusion, "Fatima was certainly not a beautiful woman".[3] In contrast, the Sunni al-Khwarazmi relates from the prophet that, "If beauty (husn) were a person, it would be Fatima; indeed she is greater," while some Shia authors have likened her to a humanhouri.[70][10]
Fatima was severely bereaved after Muhammad's death inA.H.11/632C.E.[14][71] Several elegies to Muhammad, attributed to Fatima, have survived and are collected in adiwan of poetry.[7] At the same time, Fatima also actively contested the succession of Abu Bakr and maintained thatAli was the rightful successor to Muhammad.[72][73][4] Fatima died within six months of her father and her death at a young age is subject of intense controversy with allegations against Abu Bakr and his allyUmar,[14][4] as detailed below.
Following Muhammad's death in 632 and early in hiscaliphate, Abu Bakr is said to have seized Fadak from Fatima[74][78] by evicting her agents, possibly as a show of authority to Muhammad's clan (Banu Hashim) who had not yet pledged allegiance to Abu Bakr.[74] This is the Shia view. Among Sunnis, the charge of usurpation appears, for instance, in the works ofIbn Hajar al-Haythami (d. 1566) andIbn Sa'd (d. 845).[74][78]
Among others, the Sunnial-Baladhuri (d. 892) reports that Fatima objected to Abu Bakr, saying that Fadak was a gift from her father. Her husband Ali and a maid at Muhammad's house, namedUmm Aiman, are reported to have offered their testimonies in support of Fatima.[74] By some accounts, Fatima also brought her two sons as witnesses.[79] Abu Bakr, however, did not find their testimonies sufficient to establish the ownership of Fatima,[74] requiring two men or one man and two women as witnesses per Islamic law.[80] Khetia adds that Fatima might have expected her closeness with Muhammad to strengthen her case.[80] In the same vein, Shias argue the truthful Fatima would have not claimed something which was not hers.[81] In another account, Abu Bakr agreed to return Fadak to Fatima but was dissuaded by his allyUmar,[74] who tore up the deed written by Abu Bakr.[82]
Probably after Abu Bakr rejected Fatima's claim, she demanded her inheritance from the estate of her father.[74] Abu Bakr rejected this too, claiming that Muhammad had disinherited his family.[77] More specifically, he maintained that Muhammad had personally told him that prophets do not leave inheritance, and what they leave behind is public property that should be administered by the caliph.[14] Abu Bakr was initially the sole witness to this statement, referred to as thehadith of Muhammad's inheritance.[77][83]
On the other hand, Soufi holds that Abu Bakr is generally regarded as the only credible narrator of this hadith in Sunni sources, adding that similar reports attributed to other companions have been rejected by Sunnis.[86] Along these lines, Sajjadi writes that all (credible) versions of this hadith are narrated from Abu Bakr, his ally Umar, his daughterAisha, andMalik ibn Aus Al-Hadathan,[74] though some primary sources have disputed whether the last one was a companion of Muhammad.[87] Nevertheless, Soufi notes that Abu Bakr's testimony is strong enough for Sunnis to make an exception to the Quranic rules of inheritance.[88] Twelvers, however, reject the authenticity of the hadith of inheritance based on their own traditions, pointing also to the contradictions of this hadith with the Quran.[74]
Sermon of Fadak
In protest, Fatima is said to have delivered a speech at theProphet's Mosque, known as theSermon of Fadak,[89][7][74] Among other sources, this sermon appears inBalaghat al-nisa', a collection of eloquent speeches by Muslim women,[7][90] though the attribution of this speech to Fatima is rejected by Sunnis.[91] Fatima is said to have upheld Ali in her speech as the rightful successor to Muhammad.[92] She is also reported to have chastised Abu Bakr for denying her inheritance[93][74] and accused him of (hadith) fabrication,[74][73] saying that Muhammad could have not contradicted the Quran.[93] To support her claim, she is believed to have quoted verse 27:16 of the Quran in whichSolomon inherits from his fatherDavid[75][94] and verse 19:6 in whichZechariah prays for a son who would inherit from him and from the House ofJacob.[75][94] As reported inBalaghat, Fatima also quoted verses 8:75 and 33:6 about the rights of every Muslim to inheritance.[95][96]
Views
Abu Bakr terminated the status of purity of Muhammad's kin by forcing them to rely on general alms which the prophet had forbidden for them in his lifetime.[77] At the same time, Abu Bakr allowed the prophet's widows to inherit his quarters in Medina. In particular, he granted his daughterAisha some properties in the Aliya part of Medina and in Bahrain.[97][83] By maintaining their status, Abu Bakr might have signaled to the Muslim community that his daughter Aisha and the rest of Muhammad's widows were the true heirs of Muhammad, according toAslan.[98]Madelung holds a similar view.[99]
Madelung suggests that the caliphate of Abu Bakr was inherently inconsistent with maintaining the privileged status of Muhammad's kin and applying the Quranic rules of inheritance to them.[77] As phrased by Mavani, if theBanu Hashim had inherited Muhammad's material property, then they might have also been expected to inherit the spiritual authority of Muhammad.[73] Similar views are voiced byJafri,Margoliouth,Ayoub, and Lalani,[100][101][102][103] while El-Hibri does not view the saga of Fadak as a mere financial dispute.[104] According to Aslan, Abu Bakr's actions are often regarded as a political move to weaken Muhammad's clan and strip his kin from their privileged status.[98] Aslan also argues that Abu Bakr's efforts were intended to undermine Ali's claim to the caliphate. These efforts, writes Aslan, are partly explained by Abu Bakr's conviction that the caliphate must reside outside of Muhammad's clan and partly by the personal enmity between Abu Bakr and Ali.[98] Madelung,Abbas, and Anthony have noted the poor relations between the two men.[105][106][107]
In the immediate aftermath of Muhammad's death in 11/632, theAnsar (natives ofMedina) gathered in theSaqifa (lit.'courtyard') of theSa'ida clan.[108] Theconventional wisdom is that they met to decide on a new leader for theMuslim community among themselves. ForMadelung, however, the absence of theMuhajirun (migrants fromMecca) from this meeting suggests that the Ansar gathered to re-establish the control of the Ansar over their city Medina, under the belief that the Muhajirun would mostly return to Mecca after Muhammad's death.[109][110]
Abu Bakr andUmar, both companions of Muhammad, hastened to the gathering upon learning about it.[110] After a heated session, in which a chief of the Ansar was likely beaten into submission by Umar, those gathered at Saqifa agreed on Abu Bakr as the new head of the community.[111] The Saqifa event is said to have excluded Muhammad's family, who were preparing to bury him, and most of the Muhajirun.[112][113][114] To protest the appointment of Abu Bakr,al-Baladhuri (d. 892) reports that theBanu Hashim (Muhammad's clan) and some of his companions gathered at Fatima's house.[115][112] Among them were Muhammad's uncleAbbas and his companionZubayr, according to Madelung.[112] The protesters, including Fatima, held that her husbandAli was the rightful successor to Muhammad,[14][116] possibly referring to Muhammad's announcement atGhadir Khumm.[12] Ali is believed to have explained this position to Abu Bakr.[73][117]
After the Saqifa affair, Abu Bakr reportedly tasked his ally Umar with securing Ali's pledge of allegiance.[118][117] As noted by al-Tabari (d. 923),[119] the latter led an armed mob to Ali's residence and threatened to set the house on fire if Ali and his supporters would not pledge their allegiance to Abu Bakr.[117][14][7][120] The scene soon grew violent, andZubayr was disarmed and carried away.[119][121] The mob, however, retreated without Ali's pledge after Fatima pleaded with them,[117] as reported inal-Imama wa al-siyasa.[122] Alternatively, al-Baladhuri states that Ali capitulated and pledged allegiance to Abu Bakr immediately after Umar's threat.[123] In contrast, the canonicalSahih al-Bukhari andSahih Muslim relate that Ali pledged to Abu Bakr after Fatima died.[124] Soufi comments that all but one of the traditions cited by al-Tabari and al-Baladhuri do not have chains of transmission that reach back to the time of the conflict.[125]
Madelung believes that Abu Bakr later placed a boycott on Ali and, more broadly, on the Banu Hashim to abandon their support for Ali.[126] As a result, prominent men ceased to speak to Ali, according to a Sunni hadith attributed toAisha.[126]Hazleton similarly writes that Ali prayed alone even in the mosque.[127]Jafri adds that those who initially supported Ali gradually turned and pledged their allegiance to Abu Bakr.[128] It appears that only his wife Fatima and their four small children remained on his side, writes Hazleton,[129] in line with a statement to this effect attributed to Ali inNahj al-balagha.[130]
Use of violence
Umar has been noted for his severity and misogyny,[131][132][118] especially in Shia sources.[133] "Umar's toughness" (shidda) is cited in a Sunni tradition by Aisha as the reason Umar was excluded from a supposed attempt at reconciliation between Ali and Abu Bakr.[134] Kelen describes an incident of Umar's violence against his sister when she professed Islam (before Umar).[135] It is uncertain what followed the above altercation at Fatima's house.[119][128][118][14] Shia sources allege that Fatima suffered injuries and miscarriage during a raid on her house led by Umar.[136] In particular, Shia alleges that Fatima miscarried her sonMuhsin,[136][14][116] whose name had been chosen by Muhammad before his death, according toAbbas.[137] These claims are categorically rejected by Sunnis,[137] who maintain that Muhsin died in infancy of natural causes.[138][32][14]
The allegations of violence and miscarriage appear in some Shia works,[136] including the canonicalKitab al-Kafi,[139]Kamil al-ziyarat,[140]Kitab al-Irshad,[141]Tarikh al-Ya'qubi,[142] andDala'il al-imama.[143] Of these,Tarikh al-Ya'qubi does not mention miscarriage,[142] whileKitab al-irshad byal-Mufid (d. 1022) is quiet about any violence.[141] For the latter, considering that al-Mufid writes about violence against Fatima elsewhere, Khetia suspects that he refrained from controversial topics in hisKitab al-Irshad to render it accessible to most Twelvers without provoking the anger of Sunnis.[141] In hisal-Saqifa wa Fadak, al-Jawhari (d. 935[144]) includes a tradition to the effect that Umar and his men first threatened to set Fatima's house on fire. Then they entered the house, despite her pleas, and forced Ali and his supporters out of the house.[145] The remainder of the account inal-Imama wa al-siyasa describes that Ali was pulled out of his house by force and threatened with death, according to Khetia.[146]Mu'awiya (r. 661–680) is known to have alluded to the violent arrest of Ali in a letter to him before theBattle of Siffin.[147]
Madelung is uncertain about the use of force. Still, he notes that there is evidence (in Sunni sources) that Fatima's house was searched. According to Madelung, Ali later repeatedly said that he would have resisted (Abu Bakr) had there been forty men with him.[119][148] Alternatively, Buehler suggests that the allegations of violence should be treated with caution as they reflect the political agendas of the time.[14] In contrast,Veccia Vaglieri is of the view that the Shia allegations are based on facts, even if they have been exaggerated.[3] Abbas writes that some well-regarded Sunni sources mention Umar's raid and Fatima's injuries.[137] Khetia believes that there are known instances where sensitive information has been censored by Sunni authors, such as the prominent juristAbu Ubayd al-Salam (d. 837), who was possibly concerned with the righteous representation of Muhammad's companions.[149] Similar allegations have emerged against al-Tabari andal-Mas'udi (d. 956).[150] Along these lines, Lucas and Soufi both note the Sunni tendency to minimize and neutralize the conflicts among companions after Muhammad,[151][152] particularly about the Saqifa affair,[149][153][154] while these conflicts might have been amplified in Shia records.[153]
Both al-Tabari and al-Mas'udi note that Abu Bakr regretted the events after Saqifa on his deathbed.[150] In particular, al-Tabari states that Abu Bakr wished he had "never opened Fatima's house to anything, even though they had locked it as a gesture of defiance."[123] This appears to have been a sensitive admission that has been censored by the Sunni author Abu Ubayd al-Salam in hisKitab al-amwal.[149] Abu Bakr's regret is also cited by the Shiaal-Ya'qubi (d. 897-8).[142] Sunni sources are nearly unanimous[155][15] that Ali pledged his allegiance to Abu Bakr after Fatima's death.[113][107] When it became clear that Muslims did not broadly support his cause, Ali is said to have relinquished his claims to the caliphate for the sake of the unity of a nascent Islam,[156][157][158] which faced internal and external threats, according to Mavani.[15] In particular, Jafri notes that Ali turned down proposals to forcefully pursue the caliphate,[157] including an offer fromAbu Sufyan.[159] In reference to Abu Bakr's caliphate, Madelung writes that a poem later began to circulate among the Banu Hashim ending with, "Surely, we have been cheated in the most monstrous way."[160] Ali forbade the poet to recite it, adding that the welfare of Islam was dearer to him than anything else.[160]
In sharp contrast with Muhammad's lifetime,[107][15] Ali is believed to have retired from public life during the caliphates of Abu Bakr, Umar, and Uthman.[56] Anthony describes this change in Ali's attitude as a silent censure of the first three caliphs.[107] While he reportedly advised Abu Bakr and Umar on government and religious matters,[56][161] the mutual distrust and hostility of Ali with Abu Bakr and Umar is well-documented,[98][162][106] though largely downplayed or ignored in Sunni sources.[163] Their differences were epitomized during the proceedings of the electoral council in 644 when Ali refused to be bound by the precedence of the first two caliphs.[15][107] A common Sunni argument is that Ali would have never continued his relations with Umar had the latter organized a raid on Ali's home.[164] A typical Shia response is that Ali gave up his rights and exercised restraint for the sake of a nascent Islam, according to Abbas.[165]
Death
Fatima died in 11/632, within six months of Muhammad's death.[14][166] She was 18 or 27 years old at that time according to Shia and Sunni sources, respectively.[33] The exact date of her death is uncertain but the Shia commonly commemorates her death on 13Jumada II.[167] The Sunni belief is that Fatima died from grief after Muhammad's death.[3][4] Shia Islam, however, holds that Fatima's injuries during a raid by Umar directly caused her miscarriage and death shortly after.[14][4][137]
Al-Tabari mentions the suffering of Fatima in her final days.[13] Shia traditions similarly describe Fatima's agony in her final days.[168] In particular, theIsma'ili juristal-Nu'man similarly reports a hadith from thefifth Imam to the effect that "whatever had been done to her by the people" caused Fatima to become bedridden, while her body wasted until it became like a specter.[169] This hadith seems to contain a reference to Fatima's injuries during the raid.[169]Ayoub describes Fatima a symbol of quiet suffering in Islamic piety.[170] In particular, the Twelver Shia believe in the redemptive power of the pain and martyrdom endured by theAhl al-Bayt, including Fatima, for those who empathize with their divine cause and suffering.[21][171][172]
Multiple sources report that Fatima never reconciled with Abu Bakr and Umar,[134][173][107][15] partly based on a tradition to this effect in the canonical Sunni collectionSahih al-Bukhari.[174][175] There are some accounts that Abu Bakr and Umar visited Fatima on her deathbed to apologize, which Madelung considers self-incriminatory.[134] As reported inal-Imama wa al-siyasa,[176] Fatima reminded the two visitors of Muhammad's words, "Fatima is part of me, and whoever angers her has angered me."[13][176] The dying Fatima then told the two that they had indeed angered her, and that she would soon take her complaint to God and His prophet, Muhammad.[75][177] There are also Sunni reports that Fatima reconciled with Abu Bakr and Umar, though Madelung suggests that they were invented to address the negative implications of Fatima's anger.[134]
Al-Baqi' cemetery is a probable site for Fatima's grave, depicted here before the demolition of its mausoleums by theWahhabis in 1927.
Following her will, Ali buried Fatima secretly at night[17][116] and hid her burial plot.[17] According to the Sunni al-Tabari, her dying wish was that Abu Bakr should not attend the funeral,[16][13][15] and this request was fulfilled by Ali.[98] Fatima's wish is believed to be at odds with the common practice of Muslims, who are encouraged to join funerals.[178] In Shia sources, her wish for a secret burial is viewed as a sign of the disassociation of Muhammad's daughter with the Muslim community who largely failed to support her against Abu Bakr.[179]
While Fatima is not mentioned in the Quran by name, some verses are associated with her in classical exegeses.[189]
Verse of mubahala
An example is verse 3:61 of the Quran. After an inconclusive debate aboutJesus with aChristian delegation fromNajran in 10/631–2, it was decided to engage inmubuhala, where both parties would pray to invoke God's curse upon whoever was the liar. This is when Muhammad is reported to have received verse 3:61 of the Quran, also known as the verse ofmubahala,[190][191][192] which reads
And to whomsoever disputes with thee over it, after the knowledge that has come unto thee [about Jesus], say, "Come! Let us call upon our sons and your sons, our women and your women, ourselves and yourselves. Then let us pray earnestly, so as to place the curse of God upon those who lie."[193]
Madelung argues that 'our sons' in the verse of mubahala must refer to Muhammad's grandchildren,Hasan andHusayn. In that case, he continues, it would be reasonable to also include in the event their parents, Ali and Fatima.[194] Madelung writes that their inclusion by Muhammad in this significant ritual must have raised the religious rank of his family.[194] A similar view is voiced by Lalani.[195]
Of those present on Muhammad's side, Shia traditions are unanimous that 'our women' refers to Fatima and 'ourselves' refers to Ali.[196] In particular, since the verse refers to Ali as the self of Muhammad, Shia holds that the former enjoys the same authority as the latter.[197] In contrast, most Sunni accounts by al-Tabari do not name the participants of the event, while some other Sunni historians agree with the Shia view.[194][198][192] Some accounts about mubahala add that Muhammad, Ali, Fatima, Hasan, and Husayn stood under Muhammad's cloak, and this five are thus known as the Ahl al-Kisa (lit.'people of the cloak').[199][200] On the same occasion, Muhammad is also believed to have referred to them as the Ahl al-Bayt, according to Shia and some Sunni sources,[201][200] including the canonicalSahih Muslim andSunan al-Tirmidhi.[202]
Possibly because the earlier injunctions in the verse of purification are addressed at Muhammad's wives,[205] some Sunni authors likeIbn Kathir include Muhammad's wives in the Ahl al-Bayt.[209] A number of Sunni hadiths, including some narrated byIbn Abbas andIkrima, also support the inclusion of Muhammad's wives in the Ahl al-Bayt.[215] This view is shared byGoldziher and his coauthors.[209] Alternatively,Leaman argues that only those wives of prophets who mother their successors are counted by the Quran in theirahl al-bayt.[207]
Verse of mawadda
Verse 42:23 of the Quran, also known as theverse of mawadda, includes the passage
[O Mohammad!] Say, "I ask not of you any reward for it, save affection among kinsfolk."[216]
The verse of mawadda is often cited by the Shia about the elevated status of the Ahl al-Bayt.[220] InTwelver Shia, the affection in this verse also entails obedience to the Ahl al-Bayt as the source of exoteric and esoteric guidance.[221][217] This obedience is believed to benefit the faithful first and foremost, citing the following passage of verse 34:47,[218] which contains the passage, "Say, 'I ask not of you any reward; that shall be yours (fa-huwa la-kum).'"[222] Some Sunni commentators agree with the Shia view, includingBaydawi, al-Razi,[223] and Ibn Maghazili.[218] Most Sunni authors, however, reject the Shia view and offer various alternatives.[216] The view preferred by al-Tabari is that the verse of mawadda instructs Muslims to love the prophet because of their blood relations to him.[220][224] Alternatively, Madelung suggests that the verse of mawadda demands love towards relatives in general.[220]
Verses 76:5–22
Verses 76:5–22 are connected to Fatima in most Shia and some Sunni sources, including the works of the Shiaal-Tabarsi (d. 1153), and the Sunnial-Qurtubi (d. 1273) andal-Alusi (d. 1854).[225] According to these exegetes, verses 76:5–22 were revealed to Muhammad after Fatima, Ali, Hasan, Husayn, and their maidservant Fidda gave away their only meal of the day to beggars who visited their home, for three consecutive days.[226][197] In particular, verses 76:7–12 read:
They fulfill their vows and fear a day whose evil is widespread, and give food, despite loving it, to the indigent, the orphan, and the captive. "We feed you only for the Face of God. We do not desire any recompense or thanks from you. Truly we fear from our Lord a grim, calamitous day." So God has shielded them from the evil of that Day, bestowed upon them radiance and joy, and rewarded them for having been patient with a Garden and with silk.[227]
Connection with Mary
A Persian miniature of Jesus and Mary, with whom Fatima is often compared, especially in Shia Islam
The Quranic praise forMary in verse 3:42 has been echoed for Fatima based on a prophetic hadith that lists Fatima,Khadija, Mary, andAsiya as the outstanding women of all time.[228][229][4]
Then the angels said, "O Mary, truly God has chosen you and purified you and chosen you over the women of the world."[229]
Especially in the Shia literature, there is a strong parallel between Fatima and Mary,[229][137] to the extent that one of the Shia epithets for Fatima is Maryam al-Kubra (lit.'Mary, the greater').[229][230][10] Similar to Mary, some early sources report that angels spoke to Fatima on multiple occasions.[22][23] Both are viewed as mothers of exalted progenies: Mary gave birth to Jesus, and Fatima is the mother of the Imams.[228] Fatima surpasses Mary in purity and divine favor in Shia writings[228][10] and in some Sunni sources.[231] For instance, citing the statement "Women's honor is through their fathers," the ShiaIbn Shahr Ashub (d. 1192) argues about the superiority of Fatima, daughter of Muhammad, over Mary, daughter ofImran.[232] To reconcile the superiority of Fatima with verse 3:42 above, "the women of the world" in this verse is interpreted as the women of Mary's time by most Shia and some Sunni exegetes.[233]
Verse of Light
Verse 24:35 of the Quran, also known as the verse of Light, is often associated with Fatima in Shia exegeses.[234][10] The verse of Light begins as
God is the Light of the heavens and the earth, the parable of His Light is as if there were a Niche and within it a Lamp, the Lamp enclosed in Glass, the Glass as it were a brilliant star.[234]
The canonical Sunni collectionSahih al-Bukhari attributes to Muhammad, "Fatima is a part of me, and whoever makes her angry, makes me angry."[13] Similar versions of this hadith appear in other Shia and Sunni sources.[3][236] The Sunni al-Suyuti relates from Muhammad that "Whoever loves (my) offspring, God loves; whoever gets angry [at them], God gets angry at them."[6] The ShiaIbn Babawahy similarly narrates from Muhammad that, "Verily God becomes angry when Fatima is angry and is pleased when she is pleased."[237][13]
Another prophetic hadith inSahih al-Bukhari elevates Fatima to the mistress of all the women on earth and in paradise.[16] Muhammad is also famously said to have listed Fatima, Khadija, Mary, and Asiya as the four outstanding women of all time.[228] Whenever Fatima arrived, Muhammad used to stand up, greet her and ask her to sit next to him.[6][137] When leavingMedina, Fatima was the last person that Muhammad bid farewell to, and she was the first he visited upon his return.[6] Her manners were described to be similar to Muhammad's.[238] The prophet held that Fatima will be the first person to enter the paradise and, as with Mary, she will intercede for those who honor her and her descendants.[1][7]
It is attributed to Abu Bakr's daughter Aisha that Fatima was the most beloved of women to the prophet, and Ali was the most beloved of men to him, according to the Sunni al-Hakim al-Nishapuri andal-Tirmidhi (d. 892) and the Shia al-Qadi al-Nu'man, among others.[8] A similar tradition is cited by the Sunni al-Suyuti.[6] There are also competing traditions about Abu Bakr-Aisha instead of Ali-Fatima, thoughSpellberg believes they were circulated later for political reasons.[239]
While Fatima has been revered as an ultimate archetype forMuslim women,[4] she has also gained a modern importance as a symbol for the female freedom fighter and the defender of the oppressed.[243] InFateme Is Fateme, the Iranian philosopherShariati portrays Fatima as "the symbol of a responsible, fighting woman when facing her time and the fate of her society."[244] Fatima is also venerated for her compassion, generosity, and enduring suffering by all Muslims, especially by theShia.[4][245][246] The first feature-length movie about Fatima set during the lifetime and after the death of Muhammad is titledThe Lady of Heaven, produced in 2020 by the Enlightened Kingdom.[247] The movie premiered in the United States on 10 December 2021.[248]
Mother's Day in Iran
Iranians celebrate Fatima's birth anniversary on 20Jumada al-Thani as theMother's Day.[6][249] On this day, banners readingYa Fatima (O! Fatima) are displayed on government buildings, private buildings, public streets and car windows.[250] TheGregorian date for this changes every year.
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