character and personality, and by studying the multi-faceted role she played in Medina, women and men alike are given a glimpse into how they should mold their lives. Thus, it is no wonder that the 12th Imam, al-Mahdi, has been quoted as saying that he finds a perfect role model for himself in the daughter of the Messenger of God! Not only did Lady Fatima live the role of a daughter, but after marriage, she displayed the qualities of the ideal wife and a short time later, the perfect mother for her four children – Fatima al-Zahra: The Spring of Inspiration Hasan, born on the 15th of Ramadan in 3 AH; Husayn born on the 3rd of Shabaan in 4 AH; Zaynab born on the 5th of Jumadi al-Awwal in 5 AH and lastly, Umm Kulthum born in As we see when we study her life, her motherly instincts guided her to not only take care of their physical well-being, but also their mental and spiritual betterment, and it is in her role as a mother that we see many lessons that we can learn When it comes to nurturing children, there is no doubt that the father must be there to provide guidance and is something which Ali ibn Abi Talib carried out.However, it is the mother who plays an extremely important role in the training. Not only does she carry the child for 9 months, providing the foetus with various levels of care, but in many cases, she puts her career and life aspirations on pause to bring Fatima al-Zahra excelled in teaching her children through employing multiple methods – which we too can use in our In one beautiful incident, historians narrate that Lady Fatima was busy in her nightly worship of God. Her young son Hasan entered the room and saw her in the niche, engaged in prayer. She was evoking God, making mention of the men and women of the community by name and praying for them one by one. Once finished, the young Hasan approached his mother and asked her why she prayed for everyone but not herself to which she replied, “One must think about others first and then their own family.” As we are told in the traditions, when we pray for others, such a supplication will be more readily accepted by God and in turn, the angels of God are ordered to supplicate for that person as they are more concerned about others over their own selves – and without doubt, their supplications will be In a second example of how we can learn from this illustrious woman when it comes to imparting knowledge, Fatima al-Zahra has shown how it is not only her knowledge, but rather, her method of teaching which are exemplary. Fatima al-Zahra: The Spring of Inspiration One day, a woman came to Lady Zahra with some religious queries concerning the daily prayers. The woman asked her question, received the answer and went on her way. However for many days thereafter, she kept coming to the daughter of the Prophet, asking more and more questions -