Martyrdom in defence of Wilaya

Heartfelt condolences to you all on the anniversary of a very tragic event. Today we are clad in black in commemoration of the martyrdom anniversary of the only surviving offspring of Prophet Mohammad (Blessings of God upon him and his progeny). Following is a special feature in this regard.

The 13 of the month of Jamadi al-Awwal, the day on which, according to several narrations, the noblest lady of all times, left the mortal world in the prime of her youth. She was martyred, while defending the dignity of women in Islam, their right to own and inherit, their right to protest against social injustice, and their right to support of “Wilaya” or divinely-designated leadership of mankind. As a matter of fact, she attained martyrdom in defence of her husband, whose divinely-decreed right of political leadership of the Islamic Ummah had been usurped by a clique of incompetent persons who had hijacked the caliphate and were misleading the Muslim masses. She was none other than Hazrat Fatema az-Zahra (peace upon her), the Immaculate Daughter of the Almighty’s Last and Greatest Messenger to mankind.

Born in Mecca to the Impeccable Lady, Hazrat Khadija (peace upon her), less than a year after her father’s “Me’raj” or Ascension to the highest point in the heaven and back to Planet Earth within a matter of few moments and his eating of the blessed apple of paradise during the celestial journey, she was named Fatema, which means her devout followers are immune from the fire of hell. While still a child of less than 8 years, she lost her mother to the cold hands of death. She had no maternal material inheritance, since her mother’s vast wealth was spent for the feeding, clothing, sheltering, and protection of the neo Muslim community that was under persecution of the pagan Arabs. Nonetheless, despite her tender years, she so diligently took care of her persecuted father to the extent that she became known as Omm-e Abiha or Mother of her Own Father.

Soon upon migration from Mecca to Medina, her hand was sought by many a wealthy and politically influential neo Muslim Arab, but her father turned down all proposals, saying the commandment should come from God for the marriage of the Prophet’s Daughter. It did when her father’s young and virtuous cousin, the First and Foremost Muslim, Imam Ali ibn Abi Taleb (AS), became the suitor and received the affirmative reply as the Archangel Gabriel informed the Prophet that the nuptials of these two blessed souls were sealed in heaven by God Almighty Himself.

The fruits of this auspicious union were two infallible sons and two immaculate daughters who would rise to the defence of Islam whenever the creed of God came under threat from the hypocrites – the former Arab pagans who now masqueraded as Muslims to seize the political power of the Islamic realm. No wonder, the Prophet used to rise to his feet whenever his daughter entered his presence, and seat her in his place, saying he smelled the fragrance of heaven from her. To confirm her pristine purity and that of her immediately family, God Almighty revealed ayah 33 of Surah Ahzab when the Prophet once entered her house and assembled under his blessed cloak her young sons, Imam Hasan and Imam Husain , her husband, Ali, and herself (peace upon them all), while Gabriel descended with the divine words:

“Indeed Allah desires to keep away all uncleanness from you Ahl al-Bayt and preserve you thoroughly purified.”

Despite her lofty merits, Hazrat Fatema (peace upon her) used to personally do all household chores. After marriage and a very simple dowry given by her father, consisting of basic amenities, the couple shared the blessings of a blissful life. The husband was responsible for all outside work while the wife took care of household affairs. They made an excellent husband-and-wife pair. As the supreme symbol of feminine virtues, she displayed the highest ethical traits in marital life in view of the hadith: A woman’s jihad [striving in the way of Allah] is to behave excellently with her husband.”

She also enjoyed very cordial relations with her mother-in-law Fatema bint Asad (peace upon her), the lady who had brought up her father the Prophet as her own son and to whose care the Prophet had entrusted her on her mother’s death. Hazrat Fatema (peace upon her) never allowed her mother-in-law to trouble herself with household chores and left to her the social relations for keeping the necessary contact with family members and friends. In 7 AH when the Prophet provided her with the virtuous Abyssinian maid, Fizza, she divided the work equally, by giving rest to her maid a whole day after a day’s work and discharging the duties that day herself. These are the qualities that make Hazrat Fatema, the Pride of the Virgin Mary, and the model par-excellence for all virtuous women to mould their life upon. It would not be out of context to say that following divine commandment, the Prophet made a gift of his personal property of Fadak to his dear daughter on revelation of ayah 26 of Surah Isra, which reads: “Give the nearest of kin their [due] right, and the needy and the traveller [as well]”.

On revelation of this ayah, the Prophet called his daughter Fatema and said: “Fadak is one of the territories for which we did not exhaust our horses or camels to acquire it; it is mine exclusively. Now, I gift it to you and your offspring according to God’s instructions.”

Since it is God Almighty Who sends Prophets and appoints Imams and keeps them immune from faults and shortcomings in order to be perfect guides for the human race, it would have been against the fundamental principle of “Adl” or Divine Justice to leave womankind in the dark to the whims of men, without designating the most virtuous role model for ladies to mould their life upon. It thus becomes clear that the Greatest Lady of all time, the Prophet’s infallible daughter Hazrat Fatema az-Zahra (peace upon her), was the divinely-decreed guide for women of all time by her perfect demonstration of the greatness of Islam and the practical meaning of piety, virtue and feminine rights.

The Mohaddessa, as she is also known because of the fact that angels used to speak with her, Hazrat Fatema (peace upon her), barely 75 days after the passing away of the Prophet, was martyred following miscarriage as a result of being pinned between the wall and the door of her house that was flung open in her face, without any respect for her status, by an unruly group of her father’s companions intending to force her husband to swear allegiance to their political rule. The Most Truthful Lady who was unsullied from all worldly impurities, died in defence of the right of Imam Ali (AS), after delivering a memorable sermon in flawless Arabic on the Fundamentals of Islam, and on the governance of the Islamic society on the basis of the holy Qur’an and the precedents of the Prophet. She warned the self-style caliph and his companions of divine punishment for their unjustified actions, including their seizure of Fadak, whose income she used to spend on the poor and needy. She told them:

"Now hang firmly to this cheap dromedary of caliphate of yours and release it not. But beware; the hump of this camel is injured while there are blisters and holes in its feet. It carries the scars of ignominy and the sign of the wrath of Allah. Eternal shame is attached to it."

In Sahih Bukhari, the book of hadith venerated by our Sunni brethren the Prophet is quoted as saying: “Fatema is a part of me, whoever displeases her has displeased me, and whoever displeases me has indeed displeased God."

But why would anyone displease such a paragon of virtue, whom God hails in the holy Qur'an as Kowsar or the Blessed Spring of Perpetual Abundance? Weren't the companions of the Prophet aware of her prime position as the fulcrum of faith?     Hadn't they watched in amazement and admiration the veiled figure of the Immaculate Fatema (peace upon her) accompany her father – along with her husband and two sons – to the memorable Mubahela with the Christians of Najran on revelation of ayah 61 or Surah Aal-e Imran, less than two years before the Prophet's departure from the world? Didn’t they know that God revealed the Verse of Purity as confirmation of the pure and spotless nature of her, of her husband, and of her sons? Weren’t they aware that ayahs 5 to 22 of Surah Dahr were revealed giving tidings of the loftiest mansions in paradise to her, to her husband, to her maid Fizza, and to her sons, when they fasted for three consecutive days to fulfill a vow, and on each evening at the time of breaking the fast, gave away whatever food they had to a beggar, to a traveler and a freshly released prisoner who happened to knock on the door? Alas, this group of rowdies had also ignored ayah 23 of Surah Shura where God explicitly tells Muslims that the token of their gratitude to the Prophet for his enlightening them with the message of Islam is love for his nearest ones, that is, Fatema, Ali, Hasan, and Husain (peace upon them).

The Prophet’s daughter entrusted to God her complaint against injustice. She was laid to rest, as per her will, in the dead of night at a secret spot, so that her tormentors should neither attend her funeral nor cast their shadows on her resting place. That is the reason her grave in Medina is not known to anyone. It was indeed part of Divine Providence that save her blessed grave from desecration by the Godless Wahhabis who would occupy Hijaz through bloodshed a millennium and three centuries after her passing away, and would demolish the mausoleums of the Imams of her progeny, and other saintly figures of Islam. To end this brief radio programme here is a passage from the Ziyarah or standard form of salutation to Hazrat Fatema Zahra (peace upon her).

"O Allah! Call to account those who wronged her and made light of her rights, and wreak vengeance upon them who killed her children. O Allah! In the same manner as You chose her to be the Mother of the Imams of guidance, the Associate of the standard-bearer on the Day of judgment, and granted her the loftiest position in the highest heaven, so, send blessings on her and on her mother (Hazrat Khadija), blessings that brighten the face of her father, Mohammad – blessings of God upon him and his progeny."

AS/ME