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Ayatullah
Al Ozma H.E. M. H. Fadlullah delivered two
speeches (at the Imamain Al-Hassanain Mosque,
Jamadi II 24, 1423h/ August 30, 2002 (Several
prominent religious scholars, dignitaries and
thousands of believers attended the Jumu’a
prayer)
In the Name of
God, the Compassionate the Merciful
Birth
Anniversary of Fatimah Al- Zahra- The Link Between Prophethood and Imamate
Allah
(swt) says in His Glorious Book:
"And Allah only wishes to remove all
abomination from you, ye members of the family, and
to make you pure and spotless"
[33:33]
Fatima
Al-Zahra’ ('a), whose birthday anniversary is
today, is one of those members of the house. She is
a part of the Messenger, wife of Imam Ali ('a) and
the mother of Imams Hassan and Hussein ('a). Thus, she
constitutes a link between prophethood and Imamate,
having inherited, in her character and lineage, the
traits of the Prophet, and having married Imam Ali ('a)
and became a mother to the coming Imams ('a)
The
Secret of
Fatima
When
we study the personality of this lady whom Allah has
purified, and made a role model for Muslim women, we
find out that she is infallible, being one of the
five members of the House that Allah cleansed as
cited in the Ayah above… She was the absolute
purity and the absolute good whom the Quran talked
about in three different Surahs: The verse cited
above, The Man surah in which Allah talked about the
spirit of giving that she shared with her Husband
(Imam Ali)…When they were fasting and gave the
break fast dinner for a poor man, an orphan and a
prisoner and remained fasting {And they feed, for
the love of Allah, the indigent, the orphan and the
captive * (Saying),
“We feed you for the sake of
Allah alone: No reward do we desire from you, nor
thanks}
[76:8-9].
These
two verses explain an important part of Fatima’s ('a)
and Ali’s ('a) secret: They give for the sake of
Allah and not for any other worldly reason.
Thus,
they do not expect any reward or thanks; this is
their secret as well as that of their sons: and it
is the Messenger’s secret: To live, strive and die
for the sake of Allah. And this is what we should do
if we want to follow them.
The
Third Ayah was revealed when the Christians of
Najran (region in Arabia
) came to argue with the Prophet about Issa (p.),
claiming that Christ was God. Having found that it
was no use arguing with them, the Prophet (p.)
asked them to pray for Allah to invoke His curse on
those who lie {If any one disputes in this matter
with thee, now after (full) knowledge hath come to
thee, say:
“Come! Let us gather together, our sons
and your sons, our women and your women, ourselves
and yourselves: Them let us earnestly pray and
invoke the curse of Allah on those who lie"
[3:61].
The
head of the delegation told the group to wait and
see who the Prophet was going to bring. If he brings
some ordinary people of his companions go ahead and
pray, but if he brings the members of his house then
he would be truthful, because he could not possibly
want to sacrifice them. So when the Prophet brought
Ali, Fatima, Al-Hassan, and Al-Hussein
('a) they refused to
pray and signed a treatment with him. Thus this
incident proves that they were the closest to him.
Achieving
the Prophet’s Medal
When
we come to what the Prophet (p.) said about his
daughter ('a), we find that there are many
traditions that both the Shiites and the Sunnis
agree upon. Sahih Al-Bukhari quotes the Messenger
(p.) as saying:
Fatima
is the leader of the women of paradise and the
leader of the women of this nation. Sahih Muslim has
it as the leader of the women believers, while Ibn
Dawoud states that she is “ the leader of the
women of the worlds”.
And
since we know that Muhammad (p.) does not talk
out of his whims or desires, but he only conveys
what is revealed to him by Allah (swt), we can
have an idea about how superior and sublime lady
Fatima ('a) is. To be a leader in Heaven, which
hosts such great ladies as Mary, the mother of
Jesus, and Asyia bint Muzahim, reveals how great is this lady in the
eyes of God.
The
Messenger also has let it be known in several
traditions that Fatima
was part of him: Whatever hurts her would also hurt
him…
In
other narrations that show the position Fatima
held in her father’s heart and mind what
Aisha (one of the Prophet’s wives) said:
"I have not seen anybody who looks
more like the Prophet in his speech looks and
guidance than Fatima
. When he used to see her coming he would stand and
kiss her hand.."
Aisha
also said that
Fatima
was the woman whom the Prophet (p) loves most, while Ali
was the most loved man.
She
also said: I have not seen anyone who is more
truthful than her except her father.
Imam
Al-Kazim ('a) describes Fatima ('a) as being
"a truthful witness” just like the
prophets who bear witness in front of God for what
their people do.
Fatimah's
Childhood
Fatima's childhood was full of pain and suffering. She
lost her mother when she was a young child, and then she had to witness, how the infidels were
hurting her father.
One
of the incidents that shows how much she loved her
father, was when Abu Jahal, one of the leaders of
the infidels, induced one his followers to throw
dirt on the Prophet’s back while he was
praying. When
Fatima
saw this, she removed the dirt and cursed the
infidels. This proves that although a child, Fatima
used to take care of her father and people used to
go and tell her whenever something of this sort took
place.
She
also used to take care of her father at home, giving
him the love and affection he lost when his mother
died. That is why the Messenger said: "
Fatima
is the mother of her father”.
"Had it not been for Ali, there would not have been a
match for Fatima".
And
when she married Ali ('a), the Messenger (p.)
used to tell everybody who asked for her hand before
Ali ('a), that he was waiting for Allah’s command. But
when Ali ('a) proposed, the Messenger (p.) smiled and
said his famous saying: Had it not been for Ali ('a),
there would not have been a match for Fatima
('a).
This
match was not in his relation to Fatima
for she had many other cousins, but it was one of
knowledge and piety. Both Ali ('a) and Fatima were raised and taught by the Prophet (p.) in the
same house. Thus, each of them mirrored the
personality of the other and they both mirrored that
of Muhammad (p.), whether in his mind, character or
attitude.
The
marriage of Imam Ali ('a) and Lady Fatima ('a)
offers an example and a model for women and men to
learn how their life together should be like.
Towards the end of her life, she was asking her
husband to take care of things after her death and
ended by saying: You have not known me to lie to you
or betray you or refuse to do anything you want
since I knew you. And the Imam ('a) agreed and
said: You are too good and pious… for me to
scold you.
Ali
('a) says: I have never angered her and she never
angered or disobeyed me; This kind of spiritual
harmony, moral complementing and mutual care was the
climate in which their children, Al-Hassan ('a),
Al-Hussein ('a), Zaynab ('a) and Um-Khulthoum ('a)
were
raised. It is quite natural when happiness and piety
fills and illuminates a house, the children will be
brought up to be pious and loving human beings.
According
to psychologists, most of the complexes children
acquire are a result of the parents’ quarrels.
Therefore, we are responsible not only for the
physical welfare of our children but about their
psychological health as well.
"Do not make them psychologically sick as a result of
your differences".
Household
Life
How
did Ali ('a) and Fatima ('a) share their
household life?
The
story says that they went to the Prophet (p.) to
divide the work between them. The Prophet (p.) Made
her responsible for making bread while Ali ('a) had to
bring wood and clean the house.
This
is Ali ('a.), not you and me. And yet he was not
ashamed to perform such tasks…Thus it is not
humiliating to attend some household business.
Al-
Zahra’ ('a.) had a role too in teaching the
society. She used to find time, despite all her
duties, to gather all the wives of the believers and
teach them the principles of their religion, and she
used to narrate the sayings and traditions of her
father. One of these traditions is "A believer
is not a believer, if his neighbours do not feel
assured that he will not hurt them. He who believes
in God and the Day of Judgment does not hurt his neighbour…
He
would either say what is good or remain silent..
Allah (swt) is Good and loves those who are good, chaste and
tolerant. He hates the backbiter and those who say
obscene words.
She
was also a devoted worshipper who used to pray all
night every Thursday night.
She
used to never ask for herself. Asked by Imam Al-Hassan
('a) about the reason for this, she said
that the neighbour comes before oneself. She was the
worshipper, the honest truthful believer. She was
both a religious scholar and a firm militant for the
cause of Allah (swt), who defended her husband’s
right not because of her relation to him but because
he was her Imam ('a) and the one who Muhammad (p.)
appointed to succeed him.
Thus, Fatima ('a) is a role model for both men and women.
She is not an object for our crying and mourning.
Following her means and following her role model in
our practice and not crying for her and her son’s
fate.
The
Messenger (p.), Al-Zahra’ ('a) and The Imam ('a)
want us to rid ourselves of every backward symptom
and be a mind that thinks, a heart that loves and a
practice that is both pious and a result of careful
planning.
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