The Commander of the Faithful went before the Prophet personally.

The Commander of the Faithful went before the Prophet personally. Modesty and shyness had overpowered him. He had cast his head down and it seemed that he wanted to say something but was feeling shy. The Prophet encouraged him to speak and he made his purpose known in a few sentences. This type of suit is a sign of sincerity. However, our training institutions have not yet been able to teach the prospective suitors such freedom coupled with piety, faith and sincerity.

The Prophet agreed to meet the request of Ali and said: "You should wait a little so that I may mention the matter to my daughter". When he spoke about it to Fatimah she remained absolutely quiet. The Prophet then said: "Allah is Great! Silence means consent". In those days, however, Ali owned nothing except a sword and a coat-of-mail. He was advised by the Prophet to sell the coat-of-mail to meet the expenses of marriage.

He gladly sold his coat-of-mail and brought the proceeds of sale to the Prophet. The Prophet gave a handful of the money to Bilal, without counting it, to purchase some scent for Zahrah. He entrusted the remaining amount to Abu Bakr and Ammar to procure, from the bazaar of Madina, the necessities of life for the couple. They got up as ordered by the Prophet and purchased the following things (which were in fact the dowry of Zahrah) and brought them to the Prophet.

The Dowry Of The Prophet's Daughter A shirt which was purchased for seven dirhams; a head-dress costing one dirham; a black bath-robe which did not suffice the entire body; a bed which was made of wood and date-palm fibre; two mattresses of Egyptian linen, one of which was woolen and the other was made of date-palm fibre; four pillows out of which two were made of wool and the other two of date-palm fibre; a curtain; a hajri mat; a pair of millstones; a water-skin; a wooden bowl for milk; a skin container for water; a green pitcher, some jars; two silver armlets; and one copper vessel.

When the eyes of the Prophet fell on these articles, he said: "O Lord! Bless the lives of those whose untensils are mostly earthen".[^2] The dowry of the Prophet's daughter deserves consideration. Her dowry did not exceed 'Mehrus Sunnah' which is five hundred dirhams.[^3] In fact it was an example for others i.e. for the girls and boys, who cry under the heavy burden of dowry and at times shun the obligation of marriage on this account.