A Glimpse of the Fatimi-Muhammadi Relationship

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وا̍ڶــصــﻼ̍ۃ وا̍ڶــســﻼم ؏ــڶــﮯ ســېــدنــا̍ ۛﷴ وآڵــہ

Sayyida Fatima was greatly loved by the Holy Prophet (Blessings be upon them) beyond any ordinary bounds of a father-daughter relationship. Indeed, Fatima was a heavenly spirit in a human form, hence, she is the female replica of the Messenger of Allah (Blessings be upon them). That is one reason why Allah Almighty chose Fatima to be the only bearer of the Holy Messenger's blessed progeny until the end of time.

On the authority of Fatima Al-Zahraa said: The Messenger of God, Blessings be upon him, said: (All children of Adam belong to a paternal league except for the children of Fatima - I am their guardian and I am their league).

The Messenger of God, Blessings be upon him, also said: (Fatima is part of me, whatever upsets her upsets me, and whatever pleases her pleases me.)

Of all the Holy messenger's blessed family members, Fatima resembled the Holy Prophet the most - in her beautiful looks, her habits, her walk and her perfect character, Blessings be upon them both. Sayyida Fatima had a most illustrious soul and a most beautiful face and figure. She had the perfect human character and the noblest of qualities.

From the age of six, Fatima used to stay as close as possible to her father the Holy Prophet and ran to him even outside the house. She wanted to serve him and help him whenever he needed help, and to stand against anyone who would try to harm him in any way.

Although she suffered a lot since childhood, Fatima was very patient and content with the decrees of Allah. Fatima struggled through the various ordeals

in her short life, especially as her father, the Holy Messenger (Blessings be upon him) started preaching the Message of Allah. One day, Fatima was at a distance by her house in Makkah watching her father praying by the Holy Kaaba. When the Holy Prophet was in prostration, one of the disbelievers, named Uqba ibn Abi Mu'ayt, came and threw stinky guts of a slaughtered camel on the Prophet's back. As the Holy Prophet (Blessings be upon him) remained in prostration, someone informed Fatima and she ran, in grief and horror, to her father and started cleaning his Holy back from the filth.

In Makkah, when the Holy Prophet would enter his house dishevelled and covered with dust after a long day of preaching under the hot sun, Fatima would run to him before anyone else and start shaking off the dust from his blessed hair and clothes. She used to cry when she saw her beautiful father in that condition. At seeing Fatima's tears, the Holy Prophet (Blessings be upon him) would say to her, "O my daughter, do not cry! Indeed, Allah will give victory to your father, and this faith will go as far as there are people in the world".

From the age of 13 to16 years old, Fatima was trapped with her family in the narrow mountain strait, called shi’b Abi Talib, at the outskirts of old Makkah, living mainly on dry leaves of the thorny bushes and whatever the men could smuggle into the area. Fatima suffered through the three-year embargo that the Makkans inflicted on her whole family and Bani Hashim, the clan of the Holy Prophet (Blessings be upon him). With no food for three years, Fatima became skinny and weak, but her strong character made her serve her father and siblings as if everything was normal.

After three years of hardship, and as soon as relief from this

confinement was announced, her mother Khadija fell ill, due to the long period of starvation and hardship, and died in her house in Makkah. It was the worst moment of grief for all the Prophet's family. Fatima demonstrated a great and honourable character while grieving the death of her mother, and she felt more pain when she saw how sad the Holy Messenger was feeling at the death of his perfect wife and soulmate, Khadija.

As soon as Abu Talib was buried, the disbelievers in Makkah began harassing the Holy Prophet in a much harsher manner and more frequently. Once, ten of them started hitting the Holy Prophet (Blessings be upon him). Young Fatima immediately stood in their way and yelled, "Woe to you, now that my mother and uncle Abu Talib have died, you dare to attack my father! By Allah, if you don't stop, I will stone you with these stones", and she started throwing stones at them. The Holy Prophet (Blessings be upon him) then said to her, "Take it easy my daughter, for certainly Allah will give your father victory".

When Sayyida Fatima reached 28 or 29 years of age, the Holy Pro

phet (Blessings be upon him) fell seriously ill which scared her fragile heart. The moment she always feared became very close and she lived the hardest days of her life. One day, Sayyida Fatima entered the room where the Holy Prophet (Blessings be upon him) was being nursed from his illness, with tearful eyes, but the Holy Prophet (Blessings be upon him) was unable to stand up for her and kiss her head as he used to do. Fatima sat to his right side, then the Holy Prophet (Blessings be upon him) asked her to bring her ear closer to him, and he whispered something to her, which made her cry again. The Holy Prophet (Blessings be upon him) then whispered something else in her ear, and she smiled.

A few days later, the Holy Prophet (Blessings be upon him) passed away and the whole world was darkened due to his departure. Lady Fatima collapsed, and the grief that filled all her being was too immense and unbearable for anyone to carry. Lady Fatima lost all interest in life and cried out with lamenting poetry verses:

صبت علي مصائبٌ لو أنها**صُبت على الأيام صرن لياليا

ماذا على من شم تربة أحمدٍ**أن لا يشم مدى الزمان غواليا

Alas, I have been inflicted with such painful calamities

That had they fell upon the days, they would turn into dark nights

Look at his glory! Whoever is blessed to smell the grave of Ahmad

Will never need to smell expensive perfumes anymore

Sayyida Fatima never smiled and never felt comfortable after the departure of the Holy Messenger (Blessings be upon him). It was as if her own soul had departed and only her body and heart remained on earth to feel the agony of separation.

Three months (or six, according to different reports) later, Sayyida Fatima gave up her blessed soul and died in her bed with a longing heart for the Messenger of Allah, knowing very well they will be together in Divine Presence of Allah.

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Source: Crown of the Universe Lady Fatima Az-zahra (Divine Blessings be upon her)

by Hazrat Shaykh Sayyid Dr. Al-Sharif Shamsuddin Alhusaini (damat barakatuhum)