The most beloved of my family to me is Fatima.
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
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
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. Ultimately, she had to witness the death (or according to most reports,
the poisoning and murder) of her father and the masses vying for
political authority - leaving his lifeless body to take part in
elections; followed by the rejection of her husband and his
Prophetically and Divinely granted authority over the community by the
majority of the Muslims; and tragically in the end, the physical attacks
against her which resulted in her miscarrying the child in her womb,
broken ribs and the untimely murder at the tender age of only eighteen.
✦ ✦ ✦