BISMILLAH IR RAHMAN IR RAHIM
LADY FATIMA
"The Radiant Blossom"
may Allah be pleased with her
by
Khadeijah Stephens
Lady Fatima was born in Mecca and was the youngest daughter of Prophet Muhammad and Lady Khadijah, may Allah bless and give peace to the Holy Family.
As she was growing up Mecca was stricken by a severe drought and many families, especially the poor, went hungry. Abu Talib, the Prophet’s uncle and guardian, had always been poor and had a large family to look after, so the Prophet, praise and peace be upon him, asked if he would permit Ali to come and live with him and his family.
Abu Talib agreed and so Ali, who was almost the same age as Lady Fatima, went to live in the Prophet’s household and grew up with her.
Lady Fatima was kind and sweet like her mother, and loved her parents very much. When her mother, Lady Khadijah passed away she was still very young and like her sisters she was very sad. Our beloved Prophet, praise and peace be upon him, did his best to comfort his daughters and told them something that chased away their sadness.
Some time before Gabriel visited him with a very special message for Lady Khadijah. First, he conveyed the greetings of Allah to her then he asked the Prophet to tell her that a palace of gold awaited her in Paradise where she would no longer suffer from noise or tiredness again. When the sisters heard this wonderful news they felt happy for their mother although of course they missed her.
Little Lady Fatima tries to protect her father:
The Prophet, praise and peace be upon him, had been badly treated by the idol worshiping Koraysh right from the time he started preaching. There had been many attempts to stop him from preaching Islam, sometimes they tried bribery but when that failed they made life very difficult for him and his followers.
One day, as the Prophet, praise and peace be upon him, was offering his prayer at Ka’ba, Abu Jahl said to his companions: "I wish someone would bring the bowels of a camel with all its dirt and throw it over Muhammad!" Without hesitation, Ukba, Muai’ts son fetched some filth and emptied it over the Prophet’s neck while the Koraysh looked on, making fun of him, delighting in their attempt to degrade the Prophet, praise and peace be upon him.
Meanwhile, someone told Lady Fatima, who was either five or six years old, of this disgusting act, and so she ran as quickly as her little legs would carry her to him and removed the filth from her beloved father.
Marriage Proposals:
Lady Fatima grew up to be a lovely, very pious young lady, and many, including Abu Bakr and Omar, asked if they might marry her, but the Prophet, praise and peace be upon him, deferred them saying he would wait until Allah made the matter clear to him.
Two years had passed since the migration to Medina and Lady Fatima was now eighteen years of age. The Battle of Badr had been fought a few weeks before and it was then that the Prophet asked Ali if he would like to marry Lady Fatima. Ali had been too shy to come forward before now as he was very poor and did not consider himself to be in a position to offer Lady Fatima a worthy dowry and drew the Prophet’s attention to it. Then the Prophet, praise and peace be upon him, asked, referring to a piece of armor Ali had won during the battle: "What have you done with ‘Huttiyah’?" Ali replied that he still owned it, whereupon the Prophet said it was sufficient for his daughter’s dowry.
Ali’s worldly possessions were indeed meager, all he owned was that piece of armor, a sheep skin and an old piece of Yemeni cloth which he used as a sheet. However, now that he had received approval from the Prophet, praise and peace be upon him, he asked Lady Fatima for her hand in marriage in the presence of her father. It was customary in those days for brides-to-be not to answer the suitor if she was agreeable to the proposal, so Lady Fatima remained silent and Ali knew his proposal had been accepted.
The Marriage of Lady Fatima:
One of the Ansars, Haritha, Numan’s son, owned many houses and had already given several of them to the Prophet, praise and peace be upon him, who accepted them graciously and then given them to those in need. Lady Fatima knew of Haritha’s generosity and requested her father to ask him for one. However, it was not the custom of the Prophet, praise and peace be upon him, to ask for anything for either himself or his family and so he did not ask. The news of Lady Fatima’s forthcoming marriage spread rapidly throughout Medina and when Haritha learned of Lady Fatima’s forthcoming marriage he went immediately to the Prophet saying: "Whatever I have is yours, by Allah. Whenever you accept any of my houses, it gives me greater pleasure than if I still owned them." Haritha’s generous offer was accepted and Ali with his bride-to-be had a home awaiting them.
As a wedding gift, the Prophet gave them a bed woven from Arkanda fiber. A leather mattress stuffed with palm leaves, a water-skin, two sets of mill-stones to grind grain, and two earthenware pitchers.
When the day of their marriage arrived, Lady Ayesha and Lady Umm Salama went together to prepare the house for the young couple, and soft sand was brought then strewn over the floor. In celebration of the occasion, the Prophet instructed that a ram be sacrificed and prepared in readiness for their guests. It was a very happy occasion and one that was well remembered for a long time.
Lady Fatima at Uhud:
Koraysh had launched yet another attack against the Muslims. This time the battle had taken place at Uhud. On account of the disobedience of several archers who deserted their posts on the mountain, the Muslims suffered a heavy loss of life and the Prophet, praise and peace be upon him, was injured.
The Koraysh thought that the Prophet, praise and peace be upon him, had been killed however, Abu Sufyan, their leader would not believe it until he saw his body, and so they searched for him but to no avail. The Koraysh weren’t the only ones to think he was dead, Muslims heard the rumors and did not know what to think, a
المزيد
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