ভূমিকা

her father, , during the early days in Mecca

It is no coincidence that the only child of Prophet

Muhammad to survive past infancy was a girl, his daughter,

Given the era in which Islam came to the Arabian

peninsula and the level of ignorance (jahiliya) of the Arabs,

Lady Fatima not only served as a comfort and point of solace

and strength for the Prophet, but she played a direct role in

the socio-political-ethical revolution which her father was

Fatima al-Zahra: The Spring of Inspiration

In this Meccan period, the Prophet had to struggle for

the hearts and minds of the Quraysh. He had to make them

understand the futility of their worship of the false gods and

their backward tribal customs - and this is where his daughter,

the Quran is quoted as saying: “When one of them receives

tidings of the birth of a female, his face remains darkened, and he

is wroth inwardly (Q. 16:58),” it is no wonder that God willed

that the only child of the Prophet of Islam to survive would

be his daughter as together, they could counter the negative

stigma attached to girls in that society and for generations to

At a time when women were deprived of inheritance, and

in fact were actually inherited by their male family members,

Fatima al-Zahra became the conduit through which humanity

was taught that women had a right to inherit and bequeath

and that they were considered equals in the eyes of the law –

albeit by maintaining a balance in the Divinely-sent

When it comes to the real-world backing which Fatima

al-Zahra provided, she not only saw, but also lived the

endured – and perhaps even more than him as she was a

She witnessed the actions of the people, including close

family members as they insulted, mocked and physically

It is mentioned in the books of history that the noted

companion of the Prophet, Ibn Mas’ud has said, “One day

when the Prophet was offering prayers in the precincts of the

Ka’bah, Abu Jahl and a group of callous individuals of the