It has been reported in Nuzhat al-Majalis that Anas Ibn Malik said...
It has been reported in Nuzhat al-Majalis that Anas Ibn Malik said:
"The Prophet (S) was in the mosque when he said to Ali: `Here is
Gabriel informing me that Allah gave Fatima to you in marriage, and
made forty thousand angels testify to her marriage. He also revealed
to the Tree of Tuba to sprinkle them with gems, rubies, jewelry and
embellishments. When it had done this, the Huris rushed to collect
these gems, rubies, jewelry, and embellishments to exchange them for
gifts until the Day of Resurrection. " (Suyuti reported this narration in
The Messenger (S) performed the engagement proceedings in the
mosque while he was on the Minbar, in the presence of the Muslims,
so as to enact the practice of announcing and assigning witnesses to
engagement proceedings; and specified the amount of dowry, so that
the Muslims could follow his practice in requesting modest dowries for
marriages. He said: "Avoid exaggeration in the (amounts of) dowries,
because this causes enmity (between you)."
The Prophet also assigned the desirable practice of limiting dowry to
five hundred dirham. He and the Holy Imams of Ahlul-Bayt never
exceeded this amount of dowry in their marriages. When Ali had sold his sword, he brought the money to the Prophet;
who divided it into thirds: one-third was for household necessities, one-
third was for perfumes and embellishments for the wedding, and the
remaining one-third he gave to Umme Salamah, who was to give it
back to Ali to assist him in paying for food for the guests attending the
Naturally, Ali's marriage to Fatima Zahra (A) raised envy and enmity in
the hearts of some men; especially those who were rejected by Fatima
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and her father when they had asked for her hand. So it was not
strange to see some Quraishans come to the Prophet and say: "Surely
you have taken a lowly dowry for Fatima from Ali."
The Prophet replied: "It was not I who gave (Fatima to) Ali in marriage,
rather Allah did so on the night of ascension near the Lotus tree (in the
He then added: "Verily I am a man just like you, I marry (from) your
women and give you my (marriageable) women in marriage, save
Fatima, for her marriage was revealed in Heaven." [3]
The Prophet gave Abu Bakr some money and asked him to
accompany Bilal and Salman, (or Ammar Ibn Yasir) to buy some
household necessities for Fatima's house.
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