Fatima

Fatima bint Muhammad (Template:Langx; 605/15–632 CE), commonly known as Fatima al-Zahra' (Template:Langx), was the daughter of the Islamic prophet Muhammad and his wife Khadija.Template:Sfn Fatima's husband was Ali, the fourth of the Rashidun caliphs and the first Shia imam. Fatima's sons were Hasan and Husayn, the second and third Shia imams, respectively.Template:SfnTemplate:Sfn Fatima has been compared to Mary, mother of Jesus, especially in Shia Islam.Template:SfnTemplate:Sfn Muhammad is said to have regarded her as the best of womenTemplate:SfnTemplate:Sfn and the dearest person to him.Template:SfnTemplate:Sfn She is often viewed as an ultimate archetype for Muslim women and an example of compassion, generosity, and enduring suffering.Template:Sfn It is through Fatima that Muhammad's family line has survived to this date.Template:SfnTemplate:Sfn Her name and her epithets remain popular choices for Muslim girls.Template:SfnTemplate:Sfn

When Muhammad died in 632, Fatima and her husband Ali refused to acknowledge the authority of the first caliph, Abu Bakr. The couple and their supporters held that Ali was the rightful successor of Muhammad,Template:Sfn possibly referring to his announcement at the Ghadir Khumm.Template:Sfn Controversy surrounds Fatima's death within six months of Muhammad's.Template:Sfn Sunni Islam holds that Fatima died from grief.Template:Sfn In Shia 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.Template:Sfn It is believed that Fatima's dying wish was that the caliph should not attend her funeral.Template:SfnTemplate:Sfn She was buried secretly at night and her exact burial place remains uncertain.Template:SfnTemplate:Sfn

Name and titles

Her most common epithet is al-Zahra (Template:Lit),Template:Sfn which encodes her piety and regularity in prayer.Template:Sfn This epithet is believed by the Shia to be a reference to her primordial creation from light that continues to radiate throughout the creation.Template:Sfn The Shia Ibn Babawayh (Template:Died in) writes that, whenever Fatima prayed, her light shone for the inhabitants of the heavens as starlight shines for the inhabitants of the earth.Template:Sfn Other titles of her in Shia are al-Ṣiddiqa (Template:Lit),Template:Sfn al-Tahira (Template:Lit),Template:Sfn al-Mubaraka (Template:Lit),Template:Sfn and al-Mansura (Template:Lit).Template:Sfn Another Shia title is al-Muḥadditha, in view of the reports that angels spoke to Fatima on multiple occasions,Template:SfnTemplate:SfnTemplate:Sfn similar to Mary, mother of Jesus.Template:Sfn

Fatima is also recognized as Sayyidat Nisa' al-Janna (Template:Lit) and Sayyidat Nisa' al-Alamin (Template:Lit) in Shia and Sunni collections of hadith, including the canonical Sunni Sahih al-Bukhari and Sahih Muslim.Template:Sfn

Fatima

The name Fatima is from the Arabic root f-t-m (Template:Lit) and signifies the Shia belief that she, her progeny, and her adherents () have been spared from hellfire.Template:SfnTemplate:SfnTemplate:Sfn Alternatively, the word Fatima is associated in Shia sources with Fatir (Template:Lit, a name of God) as the earthly symbol of the divine creative power.Template:Sfn

s

A or honorific title of Fatima in Islam is Umm Abiha (Template:Lit), suggesting that Fatima was exceptionally nurturing towards her father.Template:SfnTemplate:SfnTemplate:Sfn Umm al-Aima (Template:Lit) is a of Fatima in Twelver sources,Template:Sfn as eleven of the Twelve Imams descended from her.Template:Sfn

Early life

Fatima was born in Mecca to Khadija, the first of Muhammad's wives.Template:Sfn The mainstream Sunni view is that Khadija gave birth to Fatima in 605 CE, at age fifty, five years before the first Quranic revelations.Template:Sfn This implies that Fatima was over eighteen at the time of her marriage, which would have been unusual in Arabia.Template:SfnTemplate:Sfn Twelver sources, however, report that Fatima was born in about 612 or 615 CE,Template:SfnTemplate:SfnTemplate:Sfn when Khadija would have been slightly older.Template:Sfn The report of the Sunni Ibn Sa'd in his Kitab al-Tabaqat al-Kubra suggests that Fatima was born when Muhammad was about thirty-five years old.Template:Sfn

The Sunni view is that Fatima had three sisters, named Zaynab, Umm Kulthum, and Ruqayyah, who did not survive Muhammad.Template:Sfn Alternatively, a number of Twelver Shia sources state that Zainab, Ruqayyah, and Umm Kulthum were adopted by Muhammad after the death of their mother, Hala, a sister of Khadija.Template:SfnTemplate:Sfn According to Abbas, most Shia Muslims hold that Fatima was Muhammad's only biological daughter,Template:Sfn whereas Fedele limits this belief to the Twelver Shia.Template:Sfn Hyder reports that this belief is prevalent among the Shia in South Asia.Template:Sfn Fatima also had three brothers, all of whom died in childhood.Template:SfnTemplate:SfnTemplate:Sfn

Fatima grew up in Mecca while Muhammad and his few followers suffered the ill-treatment of disbelievers.Template:SfnTemplate:Sfn On one occasion, she rushed to help Muhammad when filth was thrown over him at the instigation of Abu Jahl, Muhammad's enemy and a polytheist.Template:SfnTemplate:Sfn Fatima lost her mother, Khadija, in childhood.Template:SfnTemplate:Sfn When Khadija died, it is said that Gabriel descended upon Muhammad with a message to console Fatima.Template:SfnTemplate:SfnTemplate:Sfn

Marriage

Fatima married Muhammad's cousin, Ali, in Medina around 1 or 2 AH (623–5 CE),Template:SfnTemplate:Sfn possibly after the Battle of Badr.Template:Sfn There is Sunni and Shia evidence that some of the companions, including Abu Bakr and Umar, had earlier asked for Fatima's hand in marriage but were turned down by Muhammad,Template:SfnTemplate:SfnTemplate:Sfn who said he was waiting for the moment fixed by destiny.Template:Sfn It is also said that Ali was reticent to ask Muhammad to marry Fatima on account of his poverty.Template:SfnTemplate:Sfn When Muhammad put forward Ali's proposal to Fatima, she remained silent, which was understood as a tacit agreement.Template:SfnTemplate:Sfn On the basis of this report, woman's consent in marriage has always been necessary in Islamic law.Template:Sfn Muhammad also suggested that Ali sell his shield to pay the bridal gift ().Template:SfnTemplate:Sfn

Muhammad performed the wedding ceremony,Template:Sfn and they prepared an austere wedding feast with gifts from other Muslims.Template:SfnTemplate:SfnTemplate:Sfn Shia sources have recorded that Fatima donated her wedding gown on her wedding night.Template:SfnTemplate:Sfn Later, the couple moved into a house next to Muhammad's quarters in Medina.Template:SfnTemplate:Sfn Their marriage lasted about ten years until Fatima's death.Template:Sfn Fatima's age at the time of her marriage is uncertain, reported between nine and twenty-one.Template:SfnTemplate:SfnTemplate:SfnTemplate:Sfn Ali is said to have been about twenty two.Template:SfnTemplate:Sfn

File:The Marriage of 'Ali and Fatima, Iran, ca. 1850.jpg

The marriage of Ali and Fatima. Artwork created in Iran, c. Template:Trim

As with the majority of Muslims, the couple lived in severe poverty in the early years of Islam.Template:SfnTemplate:Sfn In particular, both had to do hard physical work to get by.Template:SfnTemplate:Sfn Shia sources elaborate that Ali worked at various jobs while Fatima was responsible for domestic chores.Template:Sfn It has also been related that Muhammad taught the couple a to help ease the burden of their poverty:Template:Sfn The Tasbih of Fatima consists of the phrases (Template:Lit), (Template:Lit), and (Template:Lit).Template:Sfn Their financial circumstances later improved after more lands fell to Muslims in the Battle of Khaybar.Template:SfnTemplate:Sfn Fatima was at some point given a maidservant, named Fidda.Template:Sfn

Following the Battle of Uhud, Fatima tended to the wounds of her fatherTemplate:Sfn and regularly visited the graves to pray for those killed in the battle.Template:Sfn Later, Fatima rejected Abu Sufyan's pleas to mediate between him and Muhammad.Template:SfnTemplate:Sfn Fatima also accompanied Muhammad in the Conquest of Mecca.Template:Sfn

Significance

Among others, the Sunni al-Suyuti (Template:Died in) ascribes to Muhammad that, "God ordered me to marry Fatima to Ali."Template:SfnTemplate:SfnTemplate:Sfn According to Veccia Vaglieri and Klemm, Muhammad also told Fatima that he had married her to the best member of his family.Template:SfnTemplate:Sfn There is another version of this hadith in the canonical Sunni collection Musnad Ahmad Ibn Hanbal, in which Muhammad lauds Ali as the first in Islam, the most knowledgeable, and the most patient of the Muslim community.Template:Sfn 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.Template:Sfn

Ali did not marry again while Fatima was alive.Template:SfnTemplate:Sfn 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 to Abu Jahl's daughter in Sunni sources. While polygyny 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, possibly Uthman or Abu 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.Template:Sfn

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.Template:Sfn In Shia sources, by contrast, Fatima is reported to have had a happy marital life, which continued until her death in 11 AH.Template:Sfn In particular, Ali is reported to have said, "Whenever I looked at her [Fatima], all my worries and sadness disappeared".Template:Sfn

Appearance

The Sunni al-Hakim al-Nishapuri (Template:Died in) and al-Khwarazmi (Template:Died inTemplate:Sfn), and the Shia al-Qadi al-Nu'man (Template:Died in) and al-Tabari al-Shia (eleventh centuryTemplate:Sfn), have likened Fatima to the full moon, the sun hidden by clouds, or the sun that has come out of the clouds. The first expression is a common metaphor for beauty in Arabic and Persian. The Shia al-Majlesi (Template:Died in) explains that the second expression is a reference to Fatima's chastity, while the third expression refers to her primordial light.Template:Sfn

Soufi details that Fatima's manners closely resembled Muhammad's.Template:Sfn 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.Template:Sfn Her sources are silent about the appearance of Fatima, which leads her to the conclusion, "Fatima was certainly not a beautiful woman".Template:Sfn In contrast, the Sunni al-Khwarazmi relates from the prophet that, "If beauty () were a person, it would be Fatima; indeed she is greater," while some Shia authors have likened her to a human .Template:SfnTemplate:Sfn

Events after Muhammad's death

Fatima was severely bereaved after Muhammad's death in A.H.11/632 C.E.Template:SfnTemplate:Sfn Several elegies to Muhammad, attributed to Fatima, have survived and are collected in a of poetry.Template:Sfn At the same time, Fatima also actively contested the succession of Abu Bakr and maintained that Ali was the rightful successor to Muhammad.Template:SfnTemplate:SfnTemplate:Sfn 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 ally Umar,Template:SfnTemplate:Sfn as detailed below.

Inheritance

Fadak was a village located to the north of Medina, at a distance of two days travel.Template:Sfn As part of a peace treaty with a Jewish tribe, half of the agricultural land of Fadak was considered and belonged to the prophet, in line with verse 59:6 of the Quran.Template:Sfn There is some evidence that Muhammad gifted his share of Fadak to Fatima when verse 17:26 was revealed,Template:SfnTemplate:SfnTemplate:Sfn and her agents managed the property when Muhammad was alive.Template:Sfn This is the Shia view. Among Sunnis, al-Suyuti (Template:Died in) and al-Dhahabi (Template:Died in) are of this view, while al-Jurjani (Template:Died in) and Ibn Kathir (Template:Died in) are uncertain if the verse was revealed to Muhammad in Medina.Template:Sfn The revenue of Fadak largely supported needy travelers, the poor, military expeditions, and Muhammad's family,Template:Sfn who were forbidden from receiving general alms.Template:Sfn

Following Muhammad's death in 632 and early in his caliphate, Abu Bakr is said to have seized Fadak from FatimaTemplate:SfnTemplate:Sfn 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.Template:Sfn This is the Shia view. Among Sunnis, the charge of usurpation appears, for instance, in the works of Ibn Hajar al-Haythami (Template:Died in) and Ibn Sa'd (Template:Died in).Template:SfnTemplate:Sfn

Among others, the Sunni al-Baladhuri (Template:Died in) 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, named Umm Aiman, are reported to have offered their testimonies in support of Fatima.Template:Sfn By some accounts, Fatima also brought her two sons as witnesses.Template:Sfn Abu Bakr, however, did not find their testimonies sufficient to establish the ownership of Fatima,Template:Sfn requiring two men or one man and two women as witnesses per Islamic law.Template:Sfn Khetia adds that Fatima might have expected her closeness with Muhammad to strengthen her case.Template:Sfn In the same vein, Shias argue the truthful Fatima would have not claimed something which was not hers.Template:Sfn In another account, Abu Bakr agreed to return Fadak to Fatima but was dissuaded by his ally Umar,Template:Sfn who tore up the deed written by Abu Bakr.Template:Sfn

Probably after Abu Bakr rejected Fatima's claim, she demanded her inheritance from the estate of her father.Template:Sfn Abu Bakr rejected this too, claiming that Muhammad had disinherited his family.Template:Sfn 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.Template:Sfn Abu Bakr was initially the sole witness to this statement, referred to as the hadith of Muhammad's inheritance.Template:SfnTemplate:Sfn

In his al-Tabaqat al-kubra, the Sunni traditionist Ibn Sa'd (Template:Died in) furnishes the hadith of inheritance with two chains of transmission which include numerous prominent companions of Muhammad, such as Umar, Uthman, and Zubayr.Template:Sfn In particular, he includes in these chains some notable Hashimites, such as Ali and Ibn Abbas, who are both known to have vehemently disputed this claim of Abu Bakr in other sources.Template:Sfn

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.Template:Sfn Along these lines, Sajjadi writes that all (credible) versions of this hadith are narrated from Abu Bakr, his ally Umar, his daughter Aisha, and Malik ibn Aus Al-Hadathan,Template:Sfn though some primary sources have disputed whether the last one was a companion of Muhammad.Template:Sfn Nevertheless, Soufi notes that Abu Bakr's testimony is strong enough for Sunnis to make an exception to the Quranic rules of inheritance.Template:Sfn 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.Template:Sfn

Sermon of Fadak

In protest, Fatima is said to have delivered a speech at the Prophet's Mosque, known as the Sermon of Fadak,Template:SfnTemplate:SfnTemplate:Sfn Among other sources, this sermon appears in Balaghat al-nisa', a collection of eloquent speeches by Muslim women,Template:SfnTemplate:Sfn though the attribution of this speech to Fatima is rejected by Sunnis.Template:Sfn Fatima is said to have upheld Ali in her speech as the rightful successor to Muhammad.Template:Sfn She is also reported to have chastised Abu Bakr for denying her inheritanceTemplate:SfnTemplate:Sfn and accused him of (hadith) fabrication,Template:SfnTemplate:Sfn saying that Muhammad could have not contradicted the Quran.Template:Sfn To support her claim, she is believed to have quoted verse 27:16 of the Quran in which Solomon inherits from his father DavidTemplate:SfnTemplate:Sfn and verse 19:6 in which Zechariah prays for a son who would inherit from him and from the House of Jacob.Template:SfnTemplate:Sfn As reported in Balaghat, Fatima also quoted verses 8:75 and 33:6 about the rights of every Muslim to inheritance.Template:SfnTemplate:Sfn

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.Template:Sfn At the same time, Abu Bakr allowed the prophet's widows to inherit his quarters in Medina. In particular, he granted his daughter Aisha some properties in the Aliya part of Medina and in Bahrain.Template:SfnTemplate:Sfn 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 to Aslan.Template:Sfn Madelung holds a similar view.Template:Sfn

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.Template:Sfn As phrased by Mavani, if the Banu Hashim had inherited Muhammad's material property, then they might have also been expected to inherit the spiritual authority of Muhammad.Template:Sfn Similar views are voiced by Jafri, Margoliouth, Ayoub, and Lalani,Template:SfnTemplate:SfnTemplate:SfnTemplate:Sfn while El-Hibri does not view the saga of Fadak as a mere financial dispute.Template:Sfn 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.Template:Sfn 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.Template:Sfn Madelung, Abbas, and Anthony have noted the poor relations between the two men.Template:SfnTemplate:SfnTemplate:Sfn

Alleged attack on her house

File:Residence of Fatimah.JPG

The location of Fatima's house in the Prophet's Mosque in Medina, present-day Saudi Arabia

In the immediate aftermath of Muhammad's death in 11/632, the Ansar (natives of Medina) gathered in the Saqifa (Template:Lit) of the Sa'ida clan.Template:Sfn The conventional wisdom is that they met to decide on a new leader for the Muslim community among themselves. For Madelung, however, the absence of the Muhajirun (migrants from Mecca) 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.Template:SfnTemplate:Sfn

Abu Bakr and Umar, both companions of Muhammad, hastened to the gathering upon learning about it.Template:Sfn 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.Template:Sfn The Saqifa event is said to have excluded Muhammad's family, who were preparing to bury him, and most of the Muhajirun.Template:SfnTemplate:SfnTemplate:Sfn To protest the appointment of Abu Bakr, al-Baladhuri (Template:Died in) reports that the Banu Hashim (Muhammad's clan) and some of his companions gathered at Fatima's house.Template:SfnTemplate:Sfn Among them were Muhammad's uncle Abbas and his companion Zubayr, according to Madelung.Template:Sfn The protesters, including Fatima, held that her husband Ali was the rightful successor to Muhammad,Template:SfnTemplate:Sfn possibly referring to Muhammad's announcement at Ghadir Khumm.Template:Sfn Ali is believed to have explained this position to Abu Bakr.Template:SfnTemplate:Sfn

After the Saqifa affair, Abu Bakr reportedly tasked his ally Umar with securing Ali's pledge of allegiance.Template:SfnTemplate:Sfn As noted by al-Tabari (Template:Died in),Template:Sfn 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.Template:SfnTemplate:SfnTemplate:SfnTemplate:Sfn The scene soon grew violent, and Zubayr was disarmed and carried away.Template:SfnTemplate:Sfn The mob, however, retreated without Ali's pledge after Fatima pleaded with them,Template:Sfn as reported in al-Imama wa al-siyasa.Template:Sfn Alternatively, al-Baladhuri states that Ali capitulated and pledged allegiance to Abu Bakr immediately after Umar's threat.Template:Sfn In contrast, the canonical Sahih al-Bukhari and Sahih Muslim relate that Ali pledged to Abu Bakr after Fatima died.Template:Sfn 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.Template:Sfn

Madelung believes that Abu Bakr later placed a boycott on Ali and, more broadly, on the Banu Hashim to abandon their support for Ali.Template:Sfn As a result, prominent men ceased to speak to Ali, according to a Sunni hadith attributed to Aisha.Template:Sfn Hazleton similarly writes that Ali prayed alone even in the mosque.Template:Sfn Jafri adds that those who initially supported Ali gradually turned and pledged their allegiance to Abu Bakr.Template:Sfn It appears that only his wife Fatima and their four small children remained on his side, writes Hazleton,Template:Sfn in line with a statement to this effect attributed to Ali in Nahj al-balagha.Template:Sfn

Use of violence

Umar has been noted for his severity and misogyny,Template:SfnTemplate:SfnTemplate:Sfn especially in Shia sources.Template:Sfn "Umar's toughness" () 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.Template:Sfn Kelen describes an incident of Umar's violence against his sister when she professed Islam (before Umar).Template:Sfn It is uncertain what followed the above altercation at Fatima's house.Template:SfnTemplate:SfnTemplate:SfnTemplate:Sfn Shia sources allege that Fatima suffered injuries and miscarriage during a raid on her house led by Umar.Template:Sfn In particular, Shia alleges that Fatima miscarried her son Muhsin,Template:SfnTemplate:SfnTemplate:Sfn whose name had been chosen by Muhammad before his death, according to Abbas.Template:Sfn These claims are categorically rejected by Sunnis,Template:Sfn who maintain that Muhsin died in infancy of natural causes.Template:SfnTemplate:SfnTemplate:Sfn

The allegations of violence and miscarriage appear in some Shia works,Template:Sfn including the canonical Kitab al-Kafi,Template:Sfn Kamil al-ziyarat,Template:Sfn Kitab al-Irshad,Template:Sfn Tarikh al-Ya'qubi,Template:Sfn and Dala'il al-imama.Template:Sfn Of these, Tarikh al-Ya'qubi does not mention miscarriage,Template:Sfn while Kitab al-irshad by al-Mufid (Template:Died in) is quiet about any violence.Template:Sfn For the latter, considering that al-Mufid writes about violence against Fatima elsewhere, Khetia suspects that he refrained from controversial topics in his Kitab al-Irshad to render it accessible to most Twelvers without provoking the anger of Sunnis.Template:Sfn In his al-Saqifa wa Fadak, al-Jawhari (Template:Died inTemplate:Sfn) 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.Template:Sfn The remainder of the account in al-Imama wa al-siyasa describes that Ali was pulled out of his house by force and threatened with death, according to Khetia.Template:Sfn Mu'awiya (Template:Reign) is known to have alluded to the violent arrest of Ali in a letter to him before the Battle of Siffin.Template:Sfn

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.Template:SfnTemplate:Sfn Alternatively, Buehler suggests that the allegations of violence should be treated with caution as they reflect the political agendas of the time.Template:Sfn In contrast, Veccia Vaglieri is of the view that the Shia allegations are based on facts, even if they have been exaggerated.Template:Sfn Abbas writes that some well-regarded Sunni sources mention Umar's raid and Fatima's injuries.Template:Sfn Khetia believes that there are known instances where sensitive information has been censored by Sunni authors, such as the prominent jurist Abu Ubayd al-Salam (Template:Died in), who was possibly concerned with the righteous representation of Muhammad's companions.Template:Sfn Similar allegations have emerged against al-Tabari and al-Mas'udi (Template:Died in).Template:Sfn Along these lines, Lucas and Soufi both note the Sunni tendency to minimize and neutralize the conflicts among companions after Muhammad,Template:SfnTemplate:Sfn particularly about the Saqifa affair,Template:SfnTemplate:SfnTemplate:Sfn while these conflicts might have been amplified in Shia records.Template:Sfn

Both al-Tabari and al-Mas'udi note that Abu Bakr regretted the events after Saqifa on his deathbed.Template:Sfn 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."Template:Sfn This appears to have been a sensitive admission that has been censored by the Sunni author Abu Ubayd al-Salam in his Kitab al-amwal.Template:Sfn Abu Bakr's regret is also cited by the Shia al-Ya'qubi (Template:Died in).Template:Sfn Sunni sources are nearly unanimousTemplate:SfnTemplate:Sfn that Ali pledged his allegiance to Abu Bakr after Fatima's death.Template:SfnTemplate:Sfn 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,Template:SfnTemplate:SfnTemplate:Sfn which faced internal and external threats, according to Mavani.Template:Sfn In particular, Jafri notes that Ali turned down proposals to forcefully pursue the caliphate,Template:Sfn including an offer from Abu Sufyan.Template:Sfn 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."Template:Sfn Ali forbade the poet to recite it, adding that the welfare of Islam was dearer to him than anything else.Template:Sfn

In sharp contrast with Muhammad's lifetime,Template:SfnTemplate:Sfn Ali is believed to have retired from public life during the caliphates of Abu Bakr, Umar, and Uthman.Template:Sfn Anthony describes this change in Ali's attitude as a silent censure of the first three caliphs.Template:Sfn While he reportedly advised Abu Bakr and Umar on government and religious matters,Template:SfnTemplate:Sfn the mutual distrust and hostility of Ali with Abu Bakr and Umar is well-documented,Template:SfnTemplate:SfnTemplate:Sfn though largely downplayed or ignored in Sunni sources.Template:Sfn 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.Template:SfnTemplate:Sfn 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.Template:Sfn A typical Shia response is that Ali gave up his rights and exercised restraint for the sake of a nascent Islam, according to Abbas.Template:Sfn

Death

Fatima died in 11/632, within six months of Muhammad's death.Template:SfnTemplate:Sfn She was 18 or 27 years old at that time according to Shia and Sunni sources, respectively.Template:Sfn The exact date of her death is uncertain but the Shia commonly commemorates her death on 13 Jumada II.Template:Sfn The Sunni belief is that Fatima died from grief after Muhammad's death.Template:SfnTemplate:Sfn Shia Islam, however, holds that Fatima's injuries during a raid by Umar directly caused her miscarriage and death shortly after.Template:SfnTemplate:SfnTemplate:Sfn

Al-Tabari mentions the suffering of Fatima in her final days.Template:Sfn Shia traditions similarly describe Fatima's agony in her final days.Template:Sfn In particular, the Isma'ili jurist al-Nu'man similarly reports a hadith from the fifth 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.Template:Sfn This hadith seems to contain a reference to Fatima's injuries during the raid.Template:Sfn Ayoub describes Fatima a symbol of quiet suffering in Islamic piety.Template:Sfn In particular, the Twelver Shia believe in the redemptive power of the pain and martyrdom endured by the Ahl al-Bayt, including Fatima, for those who empathize with their divine cause and suffering.Template:SfnTemplate:SfnTemplate:Sfn

Multiple sources report that Fatima never reconciled with Abu Bakr and Umar,Template:SfnTemplate:SfnTemplate:SfnTemplate:Sfn partly based on a tradition to this effect in the canonical Sunni collection Sahih al-Bukhari.Template:SfnTemplate:Sfn There are some accounts that Abu Bakr and Umar visited Fatima on her deathbed to apologize, which Madelung considers self-incriminatory.Template:Sfn As reported in al-Imama wa al-siyasa,Template:Sfn Fatima reminded the two visitors of Muhammad's words, "Fatima is part of me, and whoever angers her has angered me."Template:SfnTemplate:Sfn 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.Template:SfnTemplate:Sfn 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.Template:Sfn

Burial

File:Jannatul-Baqi before Demolition.jpg

Al-Baqi' cemetery is a probable site for Fatima's grave, depicted here before the demolition of its mausoleums by the Wahhabis in 1927.

Following her will, Ali buried Fatima secretly at nightTemplate:SfnTemplate:Sfn and hid her burial plot.Template:Sfn According to the Sunni al-Tabari, her dying wish was that Abu Bakr should not attend the funeral,Template:SfnTemplate:SfnTemplate:Sfn and this request was fulfilled by Ali.Template:Sfn Fatima's wish is believed to be at odds with the common practice of Muslims, who are encouraged to join funerals.Template:Sfn 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.Template:Sfn

The prominent Twelver traditionist al-Tusi (Template:Died in) reports an account of the burial that vividly describes the suffering of Ali after the death of his wife, attributed to their son Husayn.Template:Sfn Al-Mufid (Template:Died in), another notable Twelver scholar, includes in his Ikhtisas a related tradition ascribed to Ja'far al-Sadiq, the sixth Imam. This tradition describes that the next morning Abu Bakr and Umar berated Ali for the secret burial of Fatima. After learning that this was Fatima's wish, the account continues that Umar threatened to locate and exhume Fatima's body and then re-bury her after funeral prayer.Template:Sfn According to this account, what prevented Umar from materializing his threat was Ali's warning, "By God, as long as I'm alive and [my sword] Zulfiqar is in my hands, you will not reach her, and you know best [not to do it]."Template:Sfn For Khetia, the interpretation is that the loss of Fatima was so traumatizing for Ali that he threatened Umar with violence for the first time, despite his previous restraint.Template:Sfn

Fatima's exact burial place in Medina remains uncertain,Template:SfnTemplate:SfnTemplate:SfnTemplate:Sfn with often contradictory reports.Template:Sfn The two most probable locations for her grave are the al-Baqi' cemetery and her home, which was later annexed to the Prophet's Mosque.Template:SfnTemplate:Sfn The former location is reportedly supported by her son Hasan's wish to be buried next to his mother.Template:Sfn On the other hand, the Sunni al-Samhoodi (Template:Died in) concludes that Hasan is buried next to his grandmother Fatimah bint Asad, rather than his mother Fatima. This uncertainty in Shia sources again underscores Fatima's displeasure with the Muslim community.Template:Sfn

Descendants

Fatima was survived by two sons, Hasan and Husayn, and two daughters, Zaynab and Umm Kulthum.Template:SfnTemplate:Sfn Controversy surrounds the fate of her third son Muhsin. Some canonical Shia sources report that Muhsin died in miscarriage, following Umar's raid on Fatima's house.Template:Sfn Alternatively, Sunnis hold that Muhsin died in infancy of natural causes.Template:SfnTemplate:SfnTemplate:Sfn It is through Fatima that Muhammad's progeny has spread throughout the Muslim world.Template:Sfn Fatima's descendants are given the honorific titles of (Template:Lit) or (Template:Lit) and are respected by Muslims.Template:SfnTemplate:SfnTemplate:Sfn The Fatimid dynasty (Template:Reign) in North Africa claimed descent from Fatima via the Isma'ili imam Muhammad ibn Isma'il,Template:Sfn though this claim has been challenged.Template:Sfn

In the Quran and hadith texts

While Fatima is not mentioned in the Quran by name, some verses are associated with her in classical exegeses.Template:Sfn

Verse of mubahala

An example is verse 3:61 of the Quran. After an inconclusive debate about Jesus with a Christian delegation from Najran in 10/631–2, it was decided to engage in , 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 of mubahala,Template:SfnTemplate:SfnTemplate:Sfn 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."Template:Sfn

Madelung argues that 'our sons' in the verse of mubahala must refer to Muhammad's grandchildren, Hasan and Husayn. In that case, he continues, it would be reasonable to also include in the event their parents, Ali and Fatima.Template:Sfn Madelung writes that their inclusion by Muhammad in this significant ritual must have raised the religious rank of his family.Template:Sfn A similar view is voiced by Lalani.Template:Sfn

Of those present on Muhammad's side, Shia traditions are unanimous that 'our women' refers to Fatima and 'ourselves' refers to Ali.Template:Sfn 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.Template:Sfn 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.Template:SfnTemplate:SfnTemplate:Sfn 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 (Template:Lit).Template:SfnTemplate:Sfn 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,Template:SfnTemplate:Sfn including the canonical Sahih Muslim and Sunan al-Tirmidhi.Template:Sfn

Verse of purification

File:آیه تطهیر.jpg

Arabic calligraphy of the verse of purification

The last passage of verse 33:33, also known as the verse of purification,Template:Sfn reads:

God only desires to remove defilement from you, O Ahl al-Bayt, and to purify you completely.Template:Sfn

Muslims disagree as to who belong to the Ahl al-Bayt (Template:Lit) and what political privileges or responsibilities they have.Template:Sfn Shia Islam limits the Ahl al-Bayt to the Ahl al-Kisa, namely, Muhammad, Fatima, Ali, Hasan and Husayn.Template:SfnTemplate:Sfn There are various views in Sunni Islam, though a typical compromise is to include also Muhammad's wives in the Ahl al-Bayt.Template:Sfn The verse of purification is regarded in Shia Islam as evidence of the infallibility of the Ahl al-Bayt.Template:Sfn

The majority of the traditions quoted by al-Tabari (Template:Died in) in his exegesis identify the Ahl al-Bayt in the verse of purification with the Ahl al-Kisa, namely, Muhammad, Ali, Fatima, Hasan, and Husayn.Template:SfnTemplate:SfnTemplate:Sfn These traditions are also cited by some other early Sunni authorities, including Ahmad ibn Hanbal (Template:Died in), al-Suyuti (Template:Died in), al-Hafiz al-Kabir,Template:Sfn and Ibn Kathir (Template:Died in).Template:Sfn The canonical Sunni collection Sunnan al-Tirmidhi reports that Muhammad limited the Ahl al-Bayt to Ali, Fatima, and their two sons when the verse of purification was revealed to him.Template:Sfn In the event of mubahala, Muhammad is believed to have gathered Ali, Fatima, and their sons under his cloak and referred to them as the Ahl al-Bayt, according to Shia and some Sunni sources,Template:SfnTemplate:Sfn including the canonical Sahih Muslim and Sunan al-Tirmidhi.Template:Sfn Veccia Vaglieri writes that Muhammad recited the last passage of the verse of purification every morning when he passed by Fatima's house to remind her household of the prayer.Template:Sfn This makeup of the Ahl al-Bayt is echoed by Veccia Vaglieri and Jafri,Template:SfnTemplate:Sfn and unanimously reported in Shia sources.Template:Sfn

Possibly because the earlier injunctions in the verse of purification are addressed at Muhammad's wives,Template:Sfn some Sunni authors like Ibn Kathir include Muhammad's wives in the Ahl al-Bayt.Template:Sfn A number of Sunni hadiths, including some narrated by Ibn Abbas and Ikrima, also support the inclusion of Muhammad's wives in the Ahl al-Bayt.Template:Sfn This view is shared by Goldziher and his coauthors.Template:Sfn Alternatively, Leaman argues that only those wives of prophets who mother their successors are counted by the Quran in their .Template:Sfn

Verse of mawadda

Verse 42:23 of the Quran, also known as the verse of mawadda, includes the passage

[O Mohammad!] Say, "I ask not of you any reward for it, save affection among kinsfolk."Template:Sfn

The word kinsfolk () in this verse is interpreted by the Shia as the Ahl al-Bayt.Template:Sfn Ibn Ishaq (Template:Died in) narrates that the prophet specified as his daughter Fatima, her husband Ali, and their two sons, Hasan and Husayn.Template:Sfn As quoted by Madelung, Hasan ibn Ali referred to the verse of mawadda in his inaugural speech as the caliph after the assassination of his father in 661, saying that he belonged to the Ahl al-Bayt "whose love He [God] has made obligatory in His Book [Quran]..."Template:Sfn

The verse of mawadda is often cited by the Shia about the elevated status of the Ahl al-Bayt.Template:Sfn In Twelver Shia, the affection in this verse also entails obedience to the Ahl al-Bayt as the source of exoteric and esoteric guidance.Template:SfnTemplate:Sfn This obedience is believed to benefit the faithful first and foremost, citing the following passage of verse 34:47,Template:Sfn which contains the passage, "Say, 'I ask not of you any reward; that shall be yours ().'"Template:Sfn Some Sunni commentators agree with the Shia view, including Baydawi, al-Razi,Template:Sfn and Ibn Maghazili.Template:Sfn Most Sunni authors, however, reject the Shia view and offer various alternatives.Template:Sfn 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.Template:SfnTemplate:Sfn Alternatively, Madelung suggests that the verse of mawadda demands love towards relatives in general.Template:Sfn

Verses 76:5–22

Verses 76:5–22 are connected to Fatima in most Shia and some Sunni sources, including the works of the Shia al-Tabarsi (Template:Died in), and the Sunni al-Qurtubi (Template:Died in) and al-Alusi (Template:Died in).Template:Sfn 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.Template:SfnTemplate:Sfn 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.Template:Sfn

Connection with Mary

File:Persian miniature of Jesus and Mary.jpg

A Persian miniature of Jesus and Mary, with whom Fatima is often compared, especially in Shia Islam

The Quranic praise for Mary in verse 3:42 has been echoed for Fatima based on a prophetic hadith that lists Fatima, Khadija, Mary, and Asiya as the outstanding women of all time.Template:SfnTemplate:SfnTemplate:Sfn

Then the angels said, "O Mary, truly God has chosen you and purified you and chosen you over the women of the world."Template:Sfn

Especially in the Shia literature, there is a strong parallel between Fatima and Mary,Template:SfnTemplate:Sfn to the extent that one of the Shia epithets for Fatima is Maryam al-Kubra (Template:Lit).Template:SfnTemplate:SfnTemplate:Sfn Similar to Mary, some early sources report that angels spoke to Fatima on multiple occasions.Template:SfnTemplate:Sfn Both are viewed as mothers of exalted progenies: Mary gave birth to Jesus, and Fatima is the mother of the Imams.Template:Sfn Fatima surpasses Mary in purity and divine favor in Shia writingsTemplate:SfnTemplate:Sfn and in some Sunni sources.Template:Sfn For instance, citing the statement "Women's honor is through their fathers," the Shia Ibn Shahr Ashub (Template:Died in) argues about the superiority of Fatima, daughter of Muhammad, over Mary, daughter of Imran.Template:Sfn 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.Template:Sfn

Verse of Light

Verse 24:35 of the Quran, also known as the verse of Light, is often associated with Fatima in Shia exegeses.Template:SfnTemplate:Sfn 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.Template:Sfn

According to the Shia al-Kulayni (Template:Died in), Fatima is in this verse both the niche wherein resides the lamp (i.e., the Imams) and the shimmering glass for the divine light.Template:Sfn

Hadith literature

The canonical Sunni collection Sahih al-Bukhari attributes to Muhammad, "Fatima is a part of me, and whoever makes her angry, makes me angry."Template:Sfn Similar versions of this hadith appear in other Shia and Sunni sources.Template:SfnTemplate:Sfn The Sunni al-Suyuti relates from Muhammad that "Whoever loves (my) offspring, God loves; whoever gets angry [at them], God gets angry at them."Template:Sfn The Shia Ibn Babawahy similarly narrates from Muhammad that, "Verily God becomes angry when Fatima is angry and is pleased when she is pleased."Template:SfnTemplate:Sfn

Another prophetic hadith in Sahih al-Bukhari elevates Fatima to the mistress of all the women on earth and in paradise.Template:Sfn Muhammad is also famously said to have listed Fatima, Khadija, Mary, and Asiya as the four outstanding women of all time.Template:Sfn Whenever Fatima arrived, Muhammad used to stand up, greet her and ask her to sit next to him.Template:SfnTemplate:Sfn When leaving Medina, Fatima was the last person that Muhammad bid farewell to, and she was the first he visited upon his return.Template:Sfn Her manners were described to be similar to Muhammad's.Template:Sfn 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.Template:SfnTemplate:Sfn

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 and al-Tirmidhi (Template:Died in) and the Shia al-Qadi al-Nu'man, among others.Template:Sfn A similar tradition is cited by the Sunni al-Suyuti.Template:Sfn There are also competing traditions about Abu Bakr-Aisha instead of Ali-Fatima, though Spellberg believes they were circulated later for political reasons.Template:Sfn

Muhammad's wife Umm Salama relates in possibly the earliest versionTemplate:Sfn of the Hadith al-Kisa that Muhammad gathered Ali, Fatima, Hasan, and Husayn under his cloak and prayed, "O God, these are my (Template:Lit) and my closest family members; remove defilement from them and purify them completely," thus making a reference to verse 33:33 of the Quran,Template:SfnTemplate:Sfn known also as the verse of purification.Template:Sfn The accounts of the Sunni Ibn Kathir and al-Suyuti and the Shia Tabatabai (Template:Died in) continue that Umm Salama asked Muhammad, "Am I with thee, O Messenger of God?" but received the negative response, "Thou shalt obtain good. Thou shalt obtain good."Template:Sfn There also exists a version of this hadith in Sunni sources where Umm Salama is included in the Ahl al-Bayt.Template:Sfn In another Sunni version, Muhammad's servant Wathila bint al-Asqa' is counted in the Ahl al-Bayt.Template:Sfn

In modern culture

While Fatima has been revered as an ultimate archetype for Muslim women,Template:Sfn she has also gained a modern importance as a symbol for the female freedom fighter and the defender of the oppressed.Template:Sfn In Fateme Is Fateme, the Iranian philosopher Shariati portrays Fatima as "the symbol of a responsible, fighting woman when facing her time and the fate of her society."Template:Sfn Fatima is also venerated for her compassion, generosity, and enduring suffering by all Muslims, especially by the Shia.Template:SfnTemplate:SfnTemplate:Sfn The first feature-length movie about Fatima set during the lifetime and after the death of Muhammad is titled The Lady of Heaven, produced in 2020 by the Enlightened Kingdom. The movie premiered in the United States on 10 December 2021.

Mother's Day in Iran

Iranians celebrate Fatima's birth anniversary on 20 Jumada al-Thani as the Mother's Day.Template:Sfn On this day, banners reading Ya Fatima (O! Fatima) are displayed on government buildings, private buildings, public streets and car windows.Template:Sfn The Gregorian date for this changes every year.

Year	2018	2019	2020	2021	2022	2023	2024
Gregorian date	9 March	26 February	15 February	3 February	24 January	14 January	3 January 22 December

See also

• Book of Fatimah
• Hamsa, a type of amulet also referred to as the "Hand of Fatima"
• Our Lady of Fátima, the title of the Virgin Mary based on reported apparitions at Fátima, Portugal
• Bayt al-Ahzan

References

Encyclopedias

• Template:EI2

Theses

• Template:Cite thesis
• Template:Cite thesis

Further reading

Books

Shia sources

• The Life of Fatimah Template:Webarchive
• (In Persian)

Sunni primary sources

• (In Arabic)

External links

• The Life of Fatimah Az-Zahra'
• The Virtues of Fatimah (sa)
• Fidda