On the passing away of our innocent Lady of Qom

Heartfelt condolences to you on the anniversary of a doleful day. Today the 10th of Rabi os-Sani, according to a narration and according to other narrations the 12th of this same month, is the sad anniversary of the departure from the mortal world of our Innocent Lady of Qom, Fatema al-Ma’soumah (SA), the venerable descendant of Prophet Mohammad (SAWA).

These three days are known as “Ayyamiyeh Ma’soumiyeh” or Days of Lady Ma’soumah, especially in the holy city of Qom, where commemorative ceremonies are held in honour of this great lady, whose shrine is the rendezvous of pilgrims from all over Iran and from throughout the world. Now we have a special article in this regard as follows:

Born in Medina in 173 AH – corresponding to 790 AD – she was named in honour of her great ancestress, the noblest lady of all times, the Prophet’s Immaculate Daughter, Hazrat Fatema az-Zahra (SA). She was ten years old when her father, Imam Musa Kazem (AS), the Prophet’s 7^th Infallible Heir, was martyred through a dose of poison in the prison of Baghdad on the orders of the tyrant Haroun Rashid the self-styled caliph of the usurper Abbasid regime. Thereupon her consanguineous brother, Imam Reza (AS) assumed charge of her upbringing. She grew up into the most virtuous lady of her times, demonstrating her God-given knowledge even as a girl of less than ten years old, when in the absence of her father she provided the correct, logical and satisfactory answers to a set of jurisprudential queries posed by a group of Iranian pilgrims from Khorasan. When this group chanced to meet Imam Kazem (AS) on their way back and showed him the answers provided by his little daughter, he said “Fidaha Abuha”, which means: May her father be her ransom.

This excellent lady did not marry as no man of her age was worthy of her hand, in addition to the political conditions of the time that did not permit any qualified suitor from approaching the persecuted family of the Prophet.

In 200 AH, when the crafty Abbasid caliph, Mamoun, forced Imam Reza (AS) to leave Medina and come to his capital in distant Marv in Khorasan, the noble lady became distraught on separation from her brother. When news reached her from northeastern Iran of the respect, although outward, shown to her brother, who was deceitfully declared Heir Apparent by Mamoun, the sister, along with some of her brothers decided to journey to Khorasan. After an arduous journey lasting several months when the entourage of Fatema Ma’soumah (SA) reached the outskirts of the city of Saveh – 128 km west of modern day Tehran – it was suddenly attacked by the agents of the Abbasid regime. In the ensuing battle, several members of her entourage, including her brothers were martyred, making the lady too to change direction of the caravan towards Qom, which was the centre of the followers of the Prophet’s Ahl al-Bayt in Iran. On hearing of her approach, the people enthusiastically came out and welcomed her. She was shown great respect and during her 17 days sojourn in this city she enlightened the people on many issues, including the merits of the Infallible Imams and hadith from the Prophet on their merits. The fatigue of the journey and the injuries she had suffered as a result of the skirmish near Saveh, this blessed lady answered the Divine Call and left for her heavenly abode. The people of Qom turned in large numbers for her funeral and laid her to rest in the orchard beside the local stream, which over the centuries has grown into the sprawling mausoleum in the midst of which is her golden-domed shrine. When Imam Reza (AS) learnt of her death, he miraculously arrived from Khorasan and gave burial to his virtuous sister.

The title of Ma’saumah was given to this noble lady by her brother, Imam Reza (AS). It is worth noting that this title was awarded to her after her death and she was not referred to by this name during her life-time. This also nullifies the erroneous view that she died after her brother, Imam Reza (AS), on hearing the news of his death. The 8^th Imam remarked: “Whoever visits Ma’soumah in Qom is like the one who has visited me.”

The ziyarat-namah or standard form of salutation for this noble lady, which has been recorded on the authority of Imam Reza (AS) contains the phrase: “O Fatema! Intercede for me (on the Day of Judgment), so that I enter Heaven, for indeed you have a great status in the eyes of Allah.”

The intercession of this noble lady in the matter of the entrance of the believers to Heaven has also been mentioned before in the authentic traditions from her grandfather Imam Ja’far as-Sadeq (AS). He foretold: “A lady from my offspring whose name will be Fatema, daughter of Musa, will be buried in Qom. On the Day of Judgement this lady will intercede for my Shi`a to enter Heaven.”

It is worth noting that the 6^th Imam gave these glad tidings even before the birth of his son, Imam Musa Kazem (AS), the father of Lady Fatema Ma’soumah (SA). Since the 7^th Imam was born in 128 AH and Lady Fatema Ma’soumah was born in 173 AH, this statement of the 6^th Imam, was made at least 45 years before her birth. Therefore, the good news of her birth was foretold almost 50 years before she was born!

Today, the shrine of Our Innocent Lady of Qom is the cynosure of the eyes of the faithful all over the world, while the city of Qom has become the centre of diffusion of the genuine teachings of the Prophet as bequeathed by the Immaculate Ahl al-Bayt.

AS/ME