The sons were al-Qasim and Abdullah, both of whom died in their infancy, and the four daughters were Zainab, Ruqayyah, Umm Kulthum and Fatimah. All four daughters of the Prophet lived, grew up, married and became shining examples of Islamic piety and goodness. Zainab was born when the Prophet was thirty-one and she married Abul As, who was a noble citizen of Makkah and they had three children. She died at the age of thirty-one – as a result of a wound she sustained during her migration from Makkah to Madinah. Ruqayyah, the Prophet’s second daughter, was born when he was thirty-three and she was known to have been exceptionally beautiful and intelligent. When she reached maturity, all the prominent Makkan chiefs vied with one another to make her their daughter-in-law, but the Prophet married her to Utba, the son of Abu Lahab.
However, after Muhammad assumed Prophethood, Abu Lahab became his most inveterate opponent and ordered his son to divorce Ruqayyah. She was subsequently married to Uthman ibn Affan, a highly respected and wealthy businessman of the banu umayyah clan, who later became the third Caliph of Islam. Ruqayyah bore him a son called Abdullah, who died at the tender age of six. Soon afterwards, she died at the age of twenty-three. The Prophet’s third daughter, Umm Kulthum, was born when he was thirty-eight. She was married to Uthman after Ruqayyah’s death. Umm Kulthum was twenty-five at the time of her marriage. After almost seven years of blissful marital life, she passed away at the age of thirty-two; she had no children. Of all the Prophet’s children, it was his fourth daughter, Fatimah, who was destined to leave her mark in the annals of Islam, so much so that her name and fame continues to reverberate throughout the Muslim world to this day.
Fatimah was born in Makkah when her father was in his late thirties. The title of az-zahra (or ‘radiantly beautiful’) was conferred on her on account of her breath-taking beauty, personal piety and nobility of character. A year after her birth, her beloved father began his Prophetic mission and this immediately created rifts between him and some prominent members of his tribe. Although his wife Khadijah and his three older daughters embraced Islam immediately after he announced his mission, at the time Fatimah was too young to understand and appreciate the true nature of Islam and the impact it had on her family. The one time al-amin (the trustworthy) and al-sadiq (the truthful) of Makkah, overnight became public enemy number one. Why? Because he proclaimed that there was none worthy of worship except the One True God (la ilaha illa Allah). The Makkan chiefs (including the Prophet’s uncle Abu Lahab) could not come to terms with the egalitarian and universal Islamic message which he preached, transcending as it did all political, social, economic and tribal categories, thereby connecting all people, irrespective of their racial and cultural backgrounds, to one common denominator, namely Islam. Fatimah grew up under the loving and tender care of her parents amidst the prevailing sociopolitical chaos and upheaval which the Prophet’s message created in Makkah. Thus it was a very testing time for the Prophet and his family, but they bore the brunt of their opponent’s cruelty and inhumanity with remarkable restraint and fortitude.
When all attempts to persuade the Prophet to stop propagating Islam failed, the Makkans instigated a three-year political and economic siege (shi’ab abi talib) on the Prophet’s extended family. This inhumane boycott not only inflicted tremendous suffering and hardship on the Prophet and members of his extended family, but also became a collective punishment for all the believers. Such was the severity of this siege that the Prophet and his family were even deprived of basic necessities like food and water. Even by Makkan tribal standards, this was unusually harsh treatment and particularly affected the children and babies. As a consequence, young Fatimah suffered severe malnutrition which made her physically very weak and frail; she became so weak that she developed serious health problems, including suffering from severe exhaustion even after minimal physical activity (such as cooking, grinding wheat, and collecting water from the well). When three years of total boycott failed to dissuade the Prophet from his mission, the Makkans eventually relented and lifted it. However, for young Fatimah, the joy was very short lived as her beloved mother, Khadijah, passed away soon afterwards. This was a terrible blow for the Prophet and his children. Khadijah was not only an exemplary wife to her husband, she was also respected throughout Makkah for her character, nobility and intelligence and, above all, she was a loving mother to her children. Thus her death deprived young Fatimah of much-needed motherly love, care and affection. To make matters worse, the Prophet also lost his uncle, Abu Talib, (who was his foremost supporter and benefactor) during this ‘year of sorrow’. Despite the death of his wife and uncle, the Prophet remained very firm and steadfast. He tried his utmost to ensure that his beloved daughter received proper care and attention. Three years later, in 622, the Prophet migrated (hijrah) from Makkah to Madinah and Fatimah followed suit; she was only fourteen at the time.
She grew up in Madinah under the direct care and supervision of her father. During this period she learned the Qur’an from the Prophet, and began to practise Islam in the same way her father practised it. According to Aishah, her stepmother, no one was more devoted and dedicated to Islam than Fatimah. Her qualities of truthfulness, sincerity, piety and generosity made her very popular with her kith and kin. In the second year of the hijrah, she played an active part in the Battle of Badr, where she treated the sick and injured. Her exemplary actions enhanced her reputation further; thus she became well known in Madinah as a caring, intelligent and understanding young lady. Since she was also very attractive, and one of the Prophet’s most beloved daughters, many distinguished companions asked for her hand in marriage, but the Prophet always remained silent on this matter.
But when Ali, the Prophet’s cousin and the first boy to embrace Islam, approached him for Fatimah’s hand in marriage, he first consulted her and then married her to him. After a simple marriage ceremony, Fatimah moved into her husband’s house when she was about sixteen. Ali’s apartment was far from being a bed of roses. Like the Prophet, Ali lived a very simple life; the contents of his house included a simple bed, a pillow filled with dried leaves of date palm, one plate, one glass, a leather water container and a stone for grinding flour. These were all the possessions Fatimah had in her house. Following in the footsteps of her father and husband Ali, Fatimah led a very simple life, far removed from the wealth, luxuries and material possessions of this world. She kept her house impeccably clean, cooked regular meals and did all her daily chores on her own. Throughout her married life she remained very conscious of her duties to her husband and always maintained a dignified lifestyle, focusing primarily on pleasing God and attaining His pleasure. Since the suffering and torment she endured during the three year siege in Makkah made her physically weak, she often struggled to complete her household chores due to excruciating physical pain and exhausation. Seeing his wife struggle with her daily chores prompted Ali to urge her to go to the Prophet and ask for a maid. When she spoke to her father, he taught her a special litany which he said would be more beneficial to her than a maid. Both Ali and Fatimah learned this litany and recited it daily before retiring to bed. It consisted of repeating subhan Allah (Glory be to God) thirty-three times, al-hamdulillah (All praise be to God) thirty-three times, and Allahu akbar (God is the Greatest) thirty-four times. This special invocation later came to be known as tasbih al-Fatimah (or ‘Fatimah’s litany’).
The fact that Fatimah was the apple of her father’s eye is not in doubt; he loved her more than any one else. So much so that whenever he came home from a journey it was his habit to visit Fatimah first. She, in turn, loved her father so much that whenever he visited her she always welcomed him with a huge smile and gave him a kiss on his forehead. Seeing her dear father filled her with joy and happiness; she also bore a striking resemblance to him, physically as well as in her etiquette and mannerisms. On one ocassion, when the Prophet was asked whom he loved the most, he replied that he loved his daughter Fatimah the most. He became unsettled and unhappy whenever he heard that Fatimah was somehow in pain or distress, and the expression on his face used to change instantly. Fatimah – the Prophet used to say – was part of his heart and it pained him to see her sad and unhappy. When he was once asked whom he liked the most, Fatimah or Ali, he retorted that he loved Fatimah more than Ali but, he added, Ali was dearer to him than Fatimah. If this question was an extremely tricky one, then his answer could not have been any better.
Fatimah bore Ali five children, three sons and
