Within such legacies the domestic indeed complements public...

Within such legacies the domestic indeed complements public (masculine) authority and gains a place for feminine sanctity not easily ignored. The Prophet of Islam who speaks nothing but what has been revealed to him or is ordered to say by the Most High, mentioned the following glowing tributes in regards to his beloved daughter, Fatima Zahra: On the Day of Judgment, a caller will call out, ‘lower your gaze until Fatima has passed.’ I am not pleased unless Fatima is pleased.

The most beloved of my family to me is Fatima. The head of the women of Paradise is Fatima.[^1] Many men have reached completion, but no women have reached completion except for four: Maryam, Asiyah, Khadijah, and Fatima.[^2] The verse of purification (Qur’an 33:33) was revealed concerning five people: myself, ‘Ali, Hasan, Husayn, and Fatima.[^3] Fatima is part of me.

Whatever upsets her upsets me, and whatever harms her harms me.[^4] Fatima is part of me, and whoever pleases her, pleases me.[^5] Oh Fatima, verily God is angry when you are angry.[^6] These and hundreds of other Prophetic statements and numerous verses of the Noble Qur’an give us a glimpse into this great woman and oblige us to study her life and the legacy she has left behind.

It is indeed very difficult to speak about the personality of Fatima Zahra; she is the role model that Islam wants all women to follow. She is a symbol of the various dimensions of womanhood. She is the perfect model of a daughter when dealing with her father; the perfect model of a wife when dealing with her husband; the perfect model of a mother when raising her children; and the perfect model of a passionate, strong, fighting woman when confronting her time and the oppressions in her society.

Fatima Zahra herself is a guide - an outstanding example of someone to follow, an ideal type of woman - one whose life bore witness for any woman who wishes to ‘become herself’ and to regain her own identity.

Her life was wrought with many difficulties: losing her mother when she was only five years old; being brought up by her father (the Messenger of Allah) who had the added responsibility of being the final Messenger of God; the physical aggression and mental torture which the polytheists wreaked on her family, friends and the believers; and ultimately, having to leave her birth-city of Mecca and migrate to a new home and community hundreds of kilometers to the north in the city of Medina.