HISTORY OF HAZRAT BIBI FATIMA ZAHRA (A.S)
Allah besides Whom there is
no deity [God]; He describes Himself: the Knower of the unseen and the seen,
the Beneficent, the Merciful, the King of the Holy, the Giver of peace the
Granter of security, the Guardian over all, the Mighty, the Supreme, the
Possessor of every greatness, the Creator, the Maker, the Fashioner, His are
the most excellent names, the Mighty, the Wise [Sura al Hashr22-23].
Abdulla Ibn al Hasan, on the
authority of the tradition that he had based upon the authority of his father,
states:
When Abu Bakr decided to
confiscate from the possession Bibi Fatimah Zahra the property of Fadak, and
this news reached Bibi Fatimah Zahra, she covered her head and also covered her
body with a veil (chadar) and along with her lady companions and servants went
to the mosque of the Holy Prophet. She had covered herself entirely from head
to toe, but the manner of her walking resembled entirely the manner of the Holy
Prophet, when she arrived at the mosque she found Abu Bakr sitting there with
Muslims [Mohajirs and Ansaars]. When she entered, a curtain was put up between
her and her companions on the one hand and between the men assembled in the
mosque on the other.
Once they were seated on
either side of the curtain, Bibi Fatimah let out a lamentation, which made the
people assembled there, weep so loudly that the mosque reverberated with the
sound of their weeping. When there was a pause and the sound of weeping
subsided, Bibi Fatimah began her address to the people gathered in the mosque.
She commenced her speech by
praising Allah and expressing her gratitude to Him, followed by calling Allah's
blessings upon the prophet, at which there was another round of weeping and
wailing on part of the people gathered in the mosque. When again there was
silence, Bibi Fatimah continued her address.
Bibi Fatimah said:
Praise be to Allah for what He has bestowed with Grace, and all gratitude is to Allah for what He has inspired us with, and all thanks and eulogies be for what He has in advance granted [in the form of varied graces], and the abundant goods that He has bestowed upon human beings, and all the benefits that He has made, to follow one after the other [for human beings], the amount is beyond the possibility of enumeration, and the extent is limitless, and the eternal nature is beyond human comprehension, and He called upon them [people] to express their gratitude to Him for it's continuity and increase, and Allah caused human beings to praise Him for increasing the abundance of these benefits, and then doubled these benefits for their asking, I bear witness that there is no deity [God] but Allah, the Only One without any companion; a statement which by its implication, purifies all hearts, beholders' eyes fall short of seeing Him, and describers' imaginations are not able to depict Him, He originated the creatures through His Mighty Power, without any model or pre-planning or any precedence, and caused them to come into being by His Might, and created them by His will to create, not due to any need on Allah's part of bringing them into being, nor for any benefit to Him by giving them forms, but only in order to establish the Proof of His Wisdom, and as a proclamation that creatures obey Him, and in order to manifest His creative ability and enthral creation to perform their duty and devotion to Him, and to Exalt His invitation; and then Allah rewarded those obedient to Himself and punished those who rebelled, so as to guard His creation against His chastisement, and to lead them towards His acceptance and pleasure; I bear witness to the fact that my father [Mohammad ( SAWS)] is His servant and Messenger, and Allah named him Mohammad (SAWS) even before he had created him, and chose him above all the rest before He commissioned him with the Mission, when all creation was still uncreated, and were still waiting to be created, held up in a cover of awful darkness, and nearer to the limits of non-existence; Allah's knowledge of the consequences of all affairs, and His comprehension of all that was to happen, commissioned him [Mohammad ( SAWS)], in order to fulfil His plan, with a resolution to achieve what He commanded, and to enforce what He ordained as inevitable; he saw various people divided into sects of various religions, secluded around their sacred fires, worshipping their idols, denying Allah, despite the wish to worship Allah being built within their soul when born; so Allah illuminated the darkness by virtue of "Muhammad's" ( SAWS) presence and removed from the hearts the darkness of uncertainty, and lifted from the visions the perplexity, and made him rise amongst the people as a source of guidance, and set them free from waywardness, and gave them vision releasing them from blindness (lack of insight), and guided them towards the secure religion, and summoned them toward the right and straight path; then Allah took him [(Mohammad ( SAWS)] back with kindness and the option of goodness and inclination and preference (the option to stay or to die); thus Mohammad (SAWS) is now in comfort and free of the toils and tribulations of this world, and Allah's angels are gathered around him, and he is covered by the pleasure of the All-Sustaining, forgiving Allah, and he is in the vicinity of the Almighty King of Kings, Allah, May the praise of Allah be upon my father, the Prophet of Allah, and upon His trusted for revelation, His chosen and selected one from amongst Allah's creation, the one with whom Allah is most pleased. May peace be upon him and may Allah's Mercy and Benefaction be on him.
Praise be to Allah for what He has bestowed with Grace, and all gratitude is to Allah for what He has inspired us with, and all thanks and eulogies be for what He has in advance granted [in the form of varied graces], and the abundant goods that He has bestowed upon human beings, and all the benefits that He has made, to follow one after the other [for human beings], the amount is beyond the possibility of enumeration, and the extent is limitless, and the eternal nature is beyond human comprehension, and He called upon them [people] to express their gratitude to Him for it's continuity and increase, and Allah caused human beings to praise Him for increasing the abundance of these benefits, and then doubled these benefits for their asking, I bear witness that there is no deity [God] but Allah, the Only One without any companion; a statement which by its implication, purifies all hearts, beholders' eyes fall short of seeing Him, and describers' imaginations are not able to depict Him, He originated the creatures through His Mighty Power, without any model or pre-planning or any precedence, and caused them to come into being by His Might, and created them by His will to create, not due to any need on Allah's part of bringing them into being, nor for any benefit to Him by giving them forms, but only in order to establish the Proof of His Wisdom, and as a proclamation that creatures obey Him, and in order to manifest His creative ability and enthral creation to perform their duty and devotion to Him, and to Exalt His invitation; and then Allah rewarded those obedient to Himself and punished those who rebelled, so as to guard His creation against His chastisement, and to lead them towards His acceptance and pleasure; I bear witness to the fact that my father [Mohammad ( SAWS)] is His servant and Messenger, and Allah named him Mohammad (SAWS) even before he had created him, and chose him above all the rest before He commissioned him with the Mission, when all creation was still uncreated, and were still waiting to be created, held up in a cover of awful darkness, and nearer to the limits of non-existence; Allah's knowledge of the consequences of all affairs, and His comprehension of all that was to happen, commissioned him [Mohammad ( SAWS)], in order to fulfil His plan, with a resolution to achieve what He commanded, and to enforce what He ordained as inevitable; he saw various people divided into sects of various religions, secluded around their sacred fires, worshipping their idols, denying Allah, despite the wish to worship Allah being built within their soul when born; so Allah illuminated the darkness by virtue of "Muhammad's" ( SAWS) presence and removed from the hearts the darkness of uncertainty, and lifted from the visions the perplexity, and made him rise amongst the people as a source of guidance, and set them free from waywardness, and gave them vision releasing them from blindness (lack of insight), and guided them towards the secure religion, and summoned them toward the right and straight path; then Allah took him [(Mohammad ( SAWS)] back with kindness and the option of goodness and inclination and preference (the option to stay or to die); thus Mohammad (SAWS) is now in comfort and free of the toils and tribulations of this world, and Allah's angels are gathered around him, and he is covered by the pleasure of the All-Sustaining, forgiving Allah, and he is in the vicinity of the Almighty King of Kings, Allah, May the praise of Allah be upon my father, the Prophet of Allah, and upon His trusted for revelation, His chosen and selected one from amongst Allah's creation, the one with whom Allah is most pleased. May peace be upon him and may Allah's Mercy and Benefaction be on him.
Then Bibi Fatima (a.s.)
addressed the people gathered in the mosque delivering her sermon "in the
mosque" and said:
You are Allah's servants,
who are ordered to carry out His commands for what is obligatory and what is
forbidden, and you are the carriers of the burden of Allah's Religion and
Revelations, and you are entrusted with the trusteeship of yourselves. You are
charged with the propagation of Allah's Message to all the people of the world.
The leader of Truth is amongst you [meaning her husband Imam Ali ( a.s.)], and
the Pledge that he has pledged with you from before (at Ghadir-e-Khum on 18th
Zil-Hajj 10 A.H.) and the remnant that has been left behind for you, the
rational and articulate Book of Allah (Holy Qur'an), the true Qur'an, the
radiant light, the effulgent radiation, His proofs are manifest, and it's
obscurities are clarified, that what is apparent of it, is clear, and those who
follow it are the envy of all the rest; those who follow it's path are led into
Allah's pleasure, those who heed it are led towards salvation, and by it are
attained the enlightened arguments of Allah, and his elucidated intentions, and
what is forbidden and has been warned against, and the self evident proofs that
have been made clear, and sufficient proofs and the virtues that are desirable,
and the indulgence of Allah that was divinely bestowed, and the divine laws
that have been recorded, and Allah has made Faith as a means of purification
from polytheism, and has made obligatory the prayer as a means of freeing
yourself from arrogance, and He has made the poor Due (Zakat) "alms"
obligatory as a means of cleaning your souls and as a cause of the growth of
your sustenance, and He has made fasting obligatory as a means of steadfastness
in sincerity, and He has made pilgrimage to Makkah (Hajj) obligatory as a means
of might in your religion, and He has made justice obligatory as a means of
harmony for your hearts, and He ha made your obedience to us [Ahlul-Bayt]
obligatory as a means of organising the community properly, and has made
"us religious leaders" [i.e. we Ahlul-Bayt ruling you] a source of
security from disunion of the nation, and He has made struggle and endeavour
(against one's own self or against one's arrogant and aggressive enemies) [the
Holy War] as a means of exaltation for Islam, and endurance and patience as an
aid in acquiring the right of worthy recompense, and commanding virtuous
actions for the good of the commons, and doing good to one's parents obligatory
as a means of avoiding wrath [to avoid the discontent and anger of Almighty
Allah], and caring for blood relatives obligatory as a means of increasing
their number and their income, and the act of retaliation obligatory as a means
of preventing bloodshed, and honesty in measuring and weighing obligatory as a
means of avoiding dishonesty and exposing oneself to receive Allah's
forgiveness, and the prohibition of consuming alcohol obligatory as a means of
purifying from filth and doubtfulness, and avoidance of defamation and abuse (perjury)
as a screen against condemnation and abuse, and keeping away from theft
obligatory as an assurance for chastity. Allah has forbidden polytheism in
order to establish sincerity for His Grace of sustenance; therefore, (you
people) fear Allah in a manner which behoves you to do so and do not die but in
a state of being a real faithful Muslim, and be obedient to Allah in those
things He has commanded you to do and those things He has forbidden you from
doing. Only the knowledgeable ones from amongst Allah's creatures shall care to
fear Him.
She
then continued:
O people, know that I am Fatimah, my father is Muhammad [SWS ]; what I say repeatedly is the same I began with, and I do not say what is wrong, and I do not transgress, nor do I say anything wrong; the Messenger of Allah came to you from amongst yourselves; your suffering has been a heavy burden upon him, and he was very loving and compassionate towards the believers; so, if you honour, you will realize that he was my father and not the father of anyone amongst your women, and he is the brother of my cousin (Ali) to the exclusion of all the rest of your men; how good and wonderful it is to be related to him [ SWS]; the Holy Prophet, my father, fulfilled his Mission by conveying the divine Message; he took pains to warn the people, preaching towards wisdom; he drew his sword against polytheism and held them by their throats; he welcomed the people to the way of Allah through wisdom and beautiful sermons; he broke the idols and he lowered the heads of the arrogant, until they were defeated and forced to flee, until night was cut off from day, and Truth shone forth; the leader of the religion spoke, the strutting of Satan was rendered dumbfounded; he removed the thorns of hypocrisy from the path, the knots of disbelief and schisms were untied, your mouths uttered the words of pure faith and sincerity, saying There is no deity [God] but Allah; amongst you were people whose faces were bright but whose stomachs were empty (the poor but the truthful, who caused you to become Muslims), while you were on the edge of the ditch of fire and like draught of water that anyone could easily drink; and you were object of all the lustful ones, and you were like an ember whose fire went out quickly and did not warm and give light, and you were so weak that you could be trampled and kicked around by anyone; you used to drink from the dirty and stagnant water left on the wayside, and you sought nourishment from the skins of dead animals and leaves of trees; you were degraded and you were turned away failures; you were afraid that people around you would deprive you of what you had; but Allah, the Almighty, saved you by Muhammad ( SWS) from this and that, all dangers, after so many risks, after saving you from the calamities of the people, and the wolves of the Arabs, and the rebellious people (Ahlul-Kitab) who outwardly professed faith in the Book; every time they lit the fires of war, Allah extinguished them; or whenever Satan showed his horns, or whenever the dragon of the polytheists opened its mouth, the Prophet hurled his brother (Imam Ali a.s.) against it, who had never relented until he had trampled under his feet their nose and ears, and he put out the fire with his sword; he strove for the sake of Allah (meaning Imam Ali a.s.) and he struggled for the sake of and cause of Allah; he was very near to the messenger of Allah, and he was a leader amongst those who loved Allah; he was always ready and prepared for the struggle, doing his best; he was advised well and he sought and strove to the utmost, while you were, during
O people, know that I am Fatimah, my father is Muhammad [SWS ]; what I say repeatedly is the same I began with, and I do not say what is wrong, and I do not transgress, nor do I say anything wrong; the Messenger of Allah came to you from amongst yourselves; your suffering has been a heavy burden upon him, and he was very loving and compassionate towards the believers; so, if you honour, you will realize that he was my father and not the father of anyone amongst your women, and he is the brother of my cousin (Ali) to the exclusion of all the rest of your men; how good and wonderful it is to be related to him [ SWS]; the Holy Prophet, my father, fulfilled his Mission by conveying the divine Message; he took pains to warn the people, preaching towards wisdom; he drew his sword against polytheism and held them by their throats; he welcomed the people to the way of Allah through wisdom and beautiful sermons; he broke the idols and he lowered the heads of the arrogant, until they were defeated and forced to flee, until night was cut off from day, and Truth shone forth; the leader of the religion spoke, the strutting of Satan was rendered dumbfounded; he removed the thorns of hypocrisy from the path, the knots of disbelief and schisms were untied, your mouths uttered the words of pure faith and sincerity, saying There is no deity [God] but Allah; amongst you were people whose faces were bright but whose stomachs were empty (the poor but the truthful, who caused you to become Muslims), while you were on the edge of the ditch of fire and like draught of water that anyone could easily drink; and you were object of all the lustful ones, and you were like an ember whose fire went out quickly and did not warm and give light, and you were so weak that you could be trampled and kicked around by anyone; you used to drink from the dirty and stagnant water left on the wayside, and you sought nourishment from the skins of dead animals and leaves of trees; you were degraded and you were turned away failures; you were afraid that people around you would deprive you of what you had; but Allah, the Almighty, saved you by Muhammad ( SWS) from this and that, all dangers, after so many risks, after saving you from the calamities of the people, and the wolves of the Arabs, and the rebellious people (Ahlul-Kitab) who outwardly professed faith in the Book; every time they lit the fires of war, Allah extinguished them; or whenever Satan showed his horns, or whenever the dragon of the polytheists opened its mouth, the Prophet hurled his brother (Imam Ali a.s.) against it, who had never relented until he had trampled under his feet their nose and ears, and he put out the fire with his sword; he strove for the sake of Allah (meaning Imam Ali a.s.) and he struggled for the sake of and cause of Allah; he was very near to the messenger of Allah, and he was a leader amongst those who loved Allah; he was always ready and prepared for the struggle, doing his best; he was advised well and he sought and strove to the utmost, while you were, during
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