ভূমিকা

of hell to the gardens of bliss, that he should ask them for

However, before we provide the answer to what God told

the Muslims they should give to the Prophet in return for his

services, let us pause for a moment. If we really think about

Fatima al-Zahra: The Spring of Inspiration

it, what could ANYONE offer the Prophet for his 23 years of

What could the Muslims possibly gift a man who saved

them and generations to come that would in any way repay

The response of the Prophet was succinct – all he sought

love, respect and honour his immediate family members - the

. Thus, God commanded the Prophet to say to the

masses that, “Say: I do not ask of you any reward for it but love

for my near relatives… (Quran, 42:23)”

However when we glance through the history of Islam

from the moment that the Prophet left this world, we see that

Historians narrate that after the death of the Prophet, his

only child, Fatima al-Zahra, did not step out of her house for

seven days. On the eighth day, in a state of intense

lamentation and grief, she went to visit the grave of her father,

the final Prophet of God. Resting on the grave, due to the

sorrow of the separation from her beloved father, she passed

The women of Medina ran towards her and sprinkled

saying, “My strength has parted away and my patience has left

me, I have turned restless while my enemies rejoice. A heart-

rendering sorrow has taken hold of me. O respected father! I

have been left lonely, in perplexity and without an aide. My

voice has become silent and my back is broken, my life has

overturned and has become dark. After you, O father, I do not

have any companion in these times of fright and there is no

She then recited the following verses of poetry with a

touching lamentation, “O dear father! Indeed everyday, sorrow

is a new sorrow, and by God, my heart has turned restless;

each day, there is an increase in my grief, and your separation

has not been easy for me; O father, who remains for the

widows and indigent, and who remains for the nation until

the day of Resurrection?