All the Muhajirun (Emigrants) and Ansar (Helpers) of Medina...

All the Muhajirun (Emigrants) and Ansar (Helpers) of Medina assembled in the mosque while Imam `Ali was seated before the Holy Prophet with all the ceremonious modesty of a bridegroom. The Holy Prophet first recited an eloquent sermon and then announced: I have been commanded by Allah to get Fatimah wedded to `Ali, and so I do hereby solemnize the matrimony between `Ali and Fatimah on a dower of four hundred mithqal of silver. Then he asked Imam Ali, "Do you consent to it, O Ali?

" "Yes, I do, O Holy Prophet of Allah! " replied Imam Ali. Then the Holy Prophet raised his hands to pray thus: O my God! bless both of them, sanctify their progeny and grant them the keys of Thy beneficence, Thy treasures of wisdom and Thy genius; and let them be a source of blessing and peace to my ummah. Her children; Imam Hasan, Imam Husayn, Zaynab and Umm Kulthum, are well-known for their piety, goodness and generosity.

Their strength of character and action changed the course of history and fortified Islam which otherwise would have been lost to mankind. Her Ethical Attributes: Hadrat Fatimah inherited the genius and wisdom, the determination and will-power, the piety and sanctity, the generosity and benevolence, the devotion and worship of Allah, the self-sacrifice and hospitality, the forbearance and patience, and the knowledge and nobility of disposition of her illustrious father, both in words and deeds.

"I often witnessed my mother," says Imam Husayn, "absorbed in prayer from dusk to dawn." Her generosity and compassion for the poor was such that no destitute or beggar ever returned from her door unattended. The Property of Fadak: The Holy Prophet during his lifetime gave Hadrat Fatimah a gift of very extensive farm land, known as Fadak, which was documented in her name as her absolute property.

The death of the Holy Prophet affected her very much and she was very sad and grief-stricken and wept her heart out crying all the time. She was confronted, after the demise of her father, with the deprivement of the rightful claim of leadership of her husband Imam Ali, and the usurpation of her inheritance, the Fadak. Throughout her life, she never spoke to those who had oppressed her and deprived her of her rightful claims.

She requested that her oppressors should be kept away even from attending her funeral. Her ill-wishers even resorted to physical violence. Once the door of her house was pushed on her, and the child she was carrying was hurt and the baby-boy was still born.