Fatima az-Zahra

7175 - Fatima bint Rasul Allah ﷺ (b d 'a) Fatima bint Rasul Allah ﷺ, the mistress of the women of the worlds, excepting Maryam bint 'Imran, upon both of whom be the blessings of Allah. Her mother was Khadija bint Khuwaylid. She and Umm Kulthum were the youngest of the daughters of the Messenger of Allah ﷺ.

There is disagreement: as to which of them was younger. It is also said: that Ruqayya was the youngest. In my view this is questionable, because the Prophet ﷺ gave Ruqayya in marriage to the son of Abu Lahab, who divorced her before consummation at the bidding of his parents; she then married 'Uthman (may Allah be pleased with him) and emigrated with him to Abyssinia. It would not have been fitting for him to give the younger one in marriage while leaving the older one. Fatima's kunya was Umm Abiha ("Mother of her Father"), and she was the most beloved of all people to the Messenger of Allah ﷺ. He gave her in marriage to 'Ali after the Battle of Uhud.

It is also said: that 'Ali married her four and a half months after the Messenger of Allah ﷺ consummated his marriage with 'A'isha, and that the consummation of his marriage with her took place seven and a half months after the marriage contract. According to one opinion, she was fifteen years and five months old at the time of her marriage. The lineage of the Messenger of Allah ﷺ continued only through her, for his male children died in infancy,

and as for his daughters: Ruqayya (may Allah be pleased with her) bore Abd Allah ibn 'Uthman, who died in childhood; as for Umm Kulthum, she bore no children; as for Zaynab (may Allah be pleased with her), she bore 'Ali, who died in infancy, and Umama bint Abi al-'As, who was married first to 'Ali and then to al-Mughira ibn Nawfal. Al-Zubayr said: the descendants of Zaynab died out (2).

Abu Ahmad Abd al-Wahhab ibn 'Ali al-Sufi informed us; Abu al-Fadl ibn Nasir informed us; al-Khatib ibn Abi al-Saqr al-Anbari informed us; Abu al-Barakat Ahmad ibn 'Abd al-Wahid ibn Nazif informed us; Abu Muhammad ibn Rashiq informed us; Abu Bishr al-Dawlabi told us; Ahmad ibn Yahya al-Sufi told us; Isma'il ibn Aban told us; Abu Maryam told us, from Abu Ishaq, from al-Harith, from 'Ali, who said: Abu Bakr and 'Umar came to the Messenger of Allah ﷺ to seek Fatima in marriage, and the Messenger of Allah ﷺ declined both. 'Umar said:

She is for you, O 'Ali. I said: I have nothing but my coat of mail, which I can pledge. The Messenger of Allah ﷺ gave Fatima to him in marriage. When the news reached Fatima she wept. He said: The Messenger of Allah ﷺ came in to her and said: Why do you weep, O Fatima? By Allah, I have indeed married you to the most knowledgeable of them, the most forbearing, and the first to accept Islam.

He said: Al-Dawlabi told us; Ahmad ibn 'Abd al-Jabbar told us; Yunus ibn Bukayr told us, from Ibn Ishaq; Abd Allah ibn Abi Najih told me, from Mujahid, from 'Ali ibn Abi Talib, who said: I came to the Messenger of Allah ﷺ to seek Fatima's hand in marriage, and a freedwoman of mine said to me: Did you know that Fatima has been sought in marriage from the Messenger of Allah ﷺ? I said: No. She said: She has been sought in marriage - so what prevents you from going to the Messenger of Allah ﷺ that he might give her to you in marriage? I said: And do I have anything with which to marry? She said: If you go to the Messenger of Allah ﷺ, he will give her to you in marriage. By Allah, she kept giving me hope until I entered upon the Messenger of Allah ﷺ. The Messenger of Allah ﷺ had great dignity and awe about him - and when I sat before him I was tongue-tied and by Allah I was unable to speak. He said: What brings you here? Do you have a need? I was silent. He said: Perhaps you have come to seek Fatima's hand? I said: Yes. He said: And do you have anything with which to make her lawful to you? I said: No, by Allah, O Messenger of Allah. He said: What became of the coat of mail with which I armed you? I said: It is with me, by the One in Whose hand lies 'Ali's soul - it is a hutamiyya (3),

worth no more than four hundred dirhams. He said: I have given you her hand in marriage; send it, for it shall be the dowry of Fatima bint Rasul Allah ﷺ. (1)

He said: Al-Dawlabi told us; Abu Ja'far Muhammad ibn 'Awf ibn Sufyan al-Ta'i told us; Abu Ghassan Malik ibn Isma'il al-Nahdi told us; Abd al-Rahman ibn Humayd al-Rawasi told us; Abd al-Karim ibn Salit told us, from Ibn Burayda, from his father, who said: On the night of consummation with Fatima, the Messenger of Allah ﷺ said: Do not do anything until you come to me. The Messenger of Allah ﷺ called for water, performed ablution, then poured it over 'Ali and said: O Allah, bless them both, bestow blessings upon them, and bless them in their offspring.

Ibn Ishaq said: A trustworthy person told me that the Messenger of Allah ﷺ was intensely jealous regarding his daughters, and would never give them in marriage to a co-wife.

Several transmitters informed us via their chains from Abu 'Isa: Abd Allah ibn Yunus and Qutayba ibn Sa'id told us, (2):

Al-Layth told us, from Ibn Abi Mulayka, from al-Miswar ibn Makhrama, who said: I heard the Messenger of Allah ﷺ say from the pulpit: The Banu Hisham ibn al-Mughira have asked my permission to give their daughter in marriage to 'Ali ibn Abi Talib - I grant no such permission, I grant no such permission, I grant no such permission, unless 'Ali ibn Abi Talib wishes to divorce my daughter and marry their daughter. For she is a part of me; what troubles her troubles me, and what harms her harms me. (3)

Abu Muhammad Abd Allah ibn Suwayda informed us; Abu al-Fadl ibn Nasir al-Salami informed us; Abu Salih Ahmad ibn 'Abd al-Malik ibn 'Ali al-Mu'adhdhin informed us; al-Hakim Abu al-Hasan 'Ali ibn Muhammad al-Hafiz informed us, as did al-Qadi Abu Bakr al-Khayri, both of whom said: Abu al-'Abbas Muhammad ibn Ya'qub informed us; al-Hasan ibn Mukram told us; 'Uthman ibn 'Umar told us; Abd al-Rahman ibn Abd Allah told us, from Sharik ibn Abd Allah ibn Abi Namir, from 'Ata' ibn Yasar, from Umm Salama, who said: In my house was revealed: 「Allah only wishes to remove all abomination from you, O People of the Household, and to purify you with a thorough purification」. She said: The Messenger of Allah ﷺ sent for Fatima, 'Ali, al-Hasan, and al-Husayn and said:

These are my family. She said: I asked: O Messenger of Allah, am I not then of the People of the Household? He said: Indeed you are, if Allah wills ﷿.

Abu Salih said: Al-Hakim said in al-Mustadrak, from al-Asam, who said: Sahih on the condition of Muslim, though neither of them transmitted it. (4)

He said: Abu Salih informed us; Abu al-Hasan 'Ali ibn Ahmad al-Ahwazi informed us; Ahmad ibn 'Ubayd ibn Isma'il al-Saffar informed us; Tammam ibn Muhammad ibn Ghalib told us; Musa ibn Isma'il told us; Hammad ibn Salama told us, from 'Ali ibn Zayd, from Anas ibn Malik: that the Messenger of Allah ﷺ would pass by the house of Fatima for six months each time he went out for the dawn prayer, saying: The prayer, O People of the Household of Muhammad! 「Allah only wishes to remove all abomination from you, O People of the Household, and to purify you with a thorough purification.」 (1)

He said: Abu Salih informed us; Abu al-Qasim 'Abd al-Malik ibn Muhammad ibn Bishran informed us; Abu 'Ali Ahmad ibn al-Fadl ibn al-'Abbas ibn Khuzayma told us; 'Isa ibn Abd Allah al-Taya lisi - Ri'ath - told us; Abu Nu'aym told us; Zakariyya ibn Abi Za'ida told us, from Firas, from al-Sha'bi, from Masruq, from 'A'isha, who said:

Fatima came walking, and her gait resembled the gait of the Messenger of Allah ﷺ. He said: Welcome, my daughter. He then seated her on his right or his left, then whispered something to her and she wept, then whispered something to her and she laughed. I said: I have never seen joy so close to grief as today. I asked her what he had said. She replied: I would never betray the secret of the Messenger of Allah ﷺ. When he passed away I asked her, and she told me: He had whispered to me, saying: Jibril used to review the Quran with me once a year, but this year he reviewed it with me twice, and I can only think that my time has come. And you shall be the first of my family to join me - what an excellent predecessor I shall be for you. So I wept. Then he said: Are you not pleased to be the mistress of the women of the worlds?

He said: Abu Salih said: al-Bukhari transmitted it in the Sahih (2), from Abu Nu'aym. This is among the rare hadiths of the Sahih, for Zakariyya transmitted from al-Sha'bi hadiths recorded in both Sahihs, but here he transmits it from Firas, from al-Sha'bi.

Ibrahim ibn Muhammad and others informed us via their chains from al-Tirmidhi: [Husayn ibn] (3) Yazid al-Kufi told us; Abd al-Salam ibn Harb told us, from Abu al-Hajjaf, from Jami' ibn 'Umayr al-Tamimi, who said: I entered with my uncle upon 'A'isha. He asked: Who was the most beloved of all people to the Messenger of Allah ﷺ? She said: Fatima.

He said: And among men? She said: Her husband - as far as I knew, he was much given to fasting and to standing in prayer. (4)

Abu Muhammad ibn Suwayda informed us; Muhammad ibn Nasir informed us; Abu Salih al-Mu'adhdhin informed us; Abu Bakr Muhammad ibn Abd Allah ibn Shadhan al-Muqri' told us; Muhammad ibn Abd Allah al-Qattab told us; Ahmad ibn 'Amr ibn Abi 'Asim told us; 'Umar ibn al-Khattab told us; Abu Salih told us; Sufyan ibn 'Uyayna told us, from Ibn Abi Najih, from his father, from a man who heard 'Ali ibn Abi Talib say: I asked the Messenger of Allah ﷺ: Which of us is more beloved to you - I or Fatima? He said: Fatima is more beloved to me than you, and you are dearer to me than she is.

Yahya ibn Mahmud informed us by permission, via his chain from Ibn Abi 'Asim, who said: Abd Allah ibn 'Umar ibn Salim al-Mafluj informed us - and he was in my view among the best of Muslims - Husayn ibn Zayd ibn 'Ali ibn al-Husayn ibn 'Ali ibn Abi Talib told us, from 'Umar ibn 'Ali, from Ja'far ibn Muhammad, from his father, from 'Ali ibn Husayn ibn 'Ali, from Husayn ibn 'Ali, from 'Ali: The Prophet ﷺ said to Fatima: Truly Allah becomes angered by your anger and is pleased by your pleasure.

Abu al-Fadl ibn Abi al-Hasan al-Makhzumi informed us via his chain from Ahmad ibn 'Ali: al-Hasan ibn 'Uthman ibn Shaqiq told us; al-Aswad ibn Hafs al-Marwazi told us; Husayn ibn Waqid told us, from Yazid al-Nahwi, from 'Ikrima, from Ibn 'Abbas: The Prophet ﷺ, whenever he returned from a journey, would kiss his daughter Fatima.

He said: Ahmad ibn 'Ali told us; Muhammad ibn Isma'il ibn Abi Samina al-Basri told us; Muhammad ibn Khalid al-Hanafi informed us; Musa ibn Ya'qub al-Zam'i told us, from Hashim ibn Hashim, from Abd Allah ibn Wahb, from Umm Salama, who said: Fatima came to the Prophet ﷺ and he whispered something to her and she wept. Then he whispered something to her and she laughed. She was asked about it and said: He told me that he would depart this year, so I wept. Then he said: Would it not please you to be the mistress of the women of the people of Paradise - except for such-and-such a person? So I laughed.

Abd al-Wahhab ibn Abi Habba informed us via his chain from Abd Allah ibn Ahmad: My father told me; 'Affan told us; Mu'adh ibn Mu'adh told us; Qays ibn al-Rabi' told us, from Abu al-Miqdam, from Abd al-Rahman al-Azraq (1), from 'Ali, who said: The Messenger of Allah ﷺ came to me while I was sleeping (2), and al-Hasan or al-Husayn asked for a drink. He said: The Prophet ﷺ went to a sheep of ours with little milk and milked it until it gave milk; then al-Hasan came and the Prophet ﷺ gently moved him aside. Fatima said:

O Messenger of Allah, it is as though he were more beloved to you? He said: No, but he asked first. He then said: Indeed, you, I, and these two, and he who is sleeping, shall be in the same place on the Day of Resurrection. (1)

Ibrahim and others informed us via their chains from Abu 'Isa: Sulayman ibn 'Abd al-Jabbar al-Baghdadi told us; 'Ali ibn Qadim told us; Asbat ibn Nasr al-Hamdani told us, from al-Suddi, from Subayh, freedman of Umm Salama, from Zayd ibn Arqam: that the Messenger of Allah ﷺ said to 'Ali, Fatima, al-Hasan, and al-Husayn: I am at war with those who make war against you, and at peace with those who make peace with you. (2)

Abu Muhammad al-Hasan ibn 'Ali ibn al-Husayn al-Asadi al-Dimashqi, known as Ibn al-Bunn, informed us; my grandfather Abu al-Qasim al-Husayn ibn al-Hasan said: I read to the Judge 'Ali ibn Muhammad ibn 'Ali al-Missisi; the Judge Abu Nasr Muhammad ibn Ahmad ibn Harun ibn 'Abd Allah al-Ghassani informed him; Abu al-Hasan Khurthama ibn Sulayman ibn Jaydarah al-Tarabulusi informed him by reading aloud to him; Ibrahim ibn 'Abd Allah al-Qassar informed us; al-'Abbas ibn al-Walid ibn Bakkar al-Dabbi informed us in Basra, from Khalid ibn 'Abd Allah, from Bayan, from al-Sha'bi, from Abu Juhayfah, from 'Ali, who said: I heard the Messenger of Allah ﷺ say: On the Day of Resurrection, a caller will call out from behind the veil: O people of the gathering, lower your eyes until Fatima bint Muhammad passes.

Abu Yasir ibn Abi Habba informed us via his chain from Abd Allah ibn Ahmad: My father told me; Isma'il ibn Ibrahim told us, from Layth, from Abd Allah ibn al-Hasan - who is Ibn al-Hasan ibn 'Ali ibn Abi Talib - from his mother Fatima bint al-Husayn ibn 'Ali, from her grandmother Fatima al-Kubra - who is the daughter of the Messenger of Allah ﷺ, who said: When the Messenger of Allah ﷺ entered the mosque he would invoke blessings on Muhammad and offer peace, then say: O Lord, forgive me my sins and open for me the doors of Your mercy. And when he departed, he would invoke blessings on Muhammad and offer peace, then say: O Lord, forgive me my sins and open for me the doors of Your bounty. (3)

The chain of this hadith is not continuous, for Fatima bint al-Husayn did not meet her grandmother Fatima al-Kubra - and Allah knows best.

Fatima passed away six months after the Messenger of Allah ﷺ. This is the most reliable opinion. It is also said: three months after him.

It is also said: she lived seventy days after him. She was never seen to smile after the death of the Messenger of Allah ﷺ until she met Allah ﷿, and she mourned him with the deepest grief.

Anas said: Fatima said to me: O Anas, how could your hearts bear it?! You were pouring earth upon the Messenger of Allah ﷺ?!

And she was the first of his household to join him, fulfilling his word ﷺ.

When she was near death, she said to Asma' bint 'Umays:

O Asma', I find it objectionable what is done with women - that a cloth is thrown over a woman's body which describes her form. Asma' said: O daughter of the Messenger of Allah ﷺ, shall I not show you something I saw in the land of Abyssinia? She called for fresh palm fronds, bent them, and draped a cloth over them. Fatima said: How fine this is, and how beautiful! When I die, wash me - you and 'Ali - and do not admit anyone to me. When she died, 'A'isha came, but Asma' prevented her. 'A'isha complained about her to Abu Bakr, saying:

This Khath'ami woman is placing herself between us and the daughter of the Messenger of Allah ﷺ! Abu Bakr stood at the door and said: O Asma', what moved you to prevent the wives of the Prophet ﷺ from entering upon the daughter of the Messenger of Allah ﷺ, and to make for her a canopied bier? She said: She herself ordered me to admit no one, and ordered me to make that for her. He said: Then do as she ordered you. 'Ali and Asma' washed her. (1)

She was the first in Islam whose bier was covered, and after her Zaynab bint Jahsh. 'Ali ibn Abi Talib prayed over her. It is also said: al-'Abbas prayed over her. She had stipulated that she be buried at night, and this was done. 'Ali, al-'Abbas, and al-Fadl ibn al-'Abbas descended into her grave.

It is said: she died on the third day of Ramadan in the year eleven AH, and Allah knows best. She was twenty-nine years old.

Abd Allah ibn al-Hasan ibn al-Hasan (2) ibn 'Ali said: she was thirty years old. Al-Kalbi said: she was thirty-five years old.

It is reported that she performed the ritual bath when death approached her, shrouded herself, and instructed 'Ali not to uncover her when she died and to bury her wrapped in her garments as she was, and to bury her at night. We have also mentioned in the entry of Umm Salma that she washed her as well. The correct view is that 'Ali and Asma' washed her, and Allah knows best.

The three transmitters cited her.