Fatima bint Muhammad (ra) – Part 1

She was the youngest daughter of the Prophet(pbuh) and his favourite. She married his cousin ‘Ali bin Abi Talib(ra) and was the mother of the great martyrs of Islam, Hasan and Husain. She was born in Makkah a few years before her father was granted Prophethood. Though both Muhammad(pbuh) and Khadijah(ra) already had three daughters before her they expressed great happiness at her birth. Going against the accepted custom, her mother did not send her beloved youngest daughter away to be breast fed in any of the surrounding villages, but kept her with her and nursed her herself. She loved her too much to entrust her to anyone else’s care. Some years later her father was declared by Allah to be His Prophet(pbuh) and last Messenger.
She and her mother and her three elder sisters – Zainab, Ruqayyah, and Umm Kulthoom – accepted Islam and believed in their father as Allah’s Messenger from the very beginning. She spent her early years under the loving and tender care of her parents. Zeal for the defense of what is sacred and love of the righteous was ingrained in her. She would protect her father and the cause of Allah against all odds and at all times, with courage and conviction. At the very tender age of ten she had gone through the siege of Shi’b Abi Talib. And it was by no means a short siege; it lasted for three long years. It was a total social and economic boycott, where children sobbed with the pains of hunger, and mothers and sisters were tormented by the
sight of loved ones suffering. During this period she showed exemplary courage, but this terrible time left an effect on her health which lasted till the end of her life. Just the everyday chores like grinding wheat for bread, fetching water and cooking left her exhausted. When she asked her father for a slave girl from the prisoners of war to help her, he said he would give her something better. And then he taught her some special prayers exalting and glorifying Allah that would help to dispel her weariness.
‘Aishah said that she never saw anyone more devoted to the truth than Fatimah. She stood shoulder to shoulder with the other Muhdjir and Ansar women of Makkah and Al-Madinah tending to the injured and the dying in the Battle of Uhud. When she saw her injured and bleeding father, the Prophet(pbuh) in the battlefield at Uhud she just could not take it. She helped to stop the bleeding and bandaged his wounds.
Before Muhammad proclaimed himself the Last Prophet of Allah Almighty, he was the most popular, loved and respected man among the Quraish. The most important decisions that had to be made were referred to his wise judgment. If people needed some valuable goods to be left in the care and trust of a reliable person, he was the man they turned to. He was such an eminent and successful trader even in his youth, that experienced businessmen were amazed at his shrewdness and insight. And when he married Khadijah(ra), the wealthiest businesswoman, exporter and importer of her time, people were amazed. And he became even more sought after and popular. But once he announced himself to be the Allah’s Prophet and Messenger, his whole life seemed to turn around. The entire city seemed to be shaken by an earthquake, as it were. He became the most unpopular and reviled man in Makkah and was the centre of a storm of objections and accusations. Those who wanted him to recant and give up his claims started using all kind of tactics – persuasion and torture. The streets he previously frequented were strewn with thorns and filth and garbage was thrown on him from balconies and rooftops. Elaborate plans were made to murder him. Naturally, all these trials and tribulations could not but leave a mark on his home life. Fatimah(ra) was passing the impressionable years of her childhood in the shadow of these events. Yet, her maturity was such that she faced all this with remarkable patience and determination.
She fought like a courageous little tigress to defend her father and protect him. She would stand in front of him to shield him from the attacks of devilish men like Abu Jahl, ‘Utbah and Shaibah.
On one occasion, the Prophet(pbuh) went into the sanctuary of Makkah with some of his Companions and started to pray, the disbelievers had just then sacrificed a camel. The filth and bowels of the camel were lying there, when a horrible idea came to Abu Jahl. He asked who among his friends would like to lift all that filth and pile it on the back of Muhammad(pbuh). ‘Oqbah bin Abi Mu’eet, the lowest of the low among his friends, got up shrugging his shoulders with satanic glee, and said he would perform the task. And he lifted up the bloody filthy mess and piled it on the Prophet’s back while he was in the act of prostrating before Allah(swt). All of them then broke into peals of uncontrollable devilish laughter. When news of this dastardly act reached Fatimah(ra) in her house, she rushed to the sanctuary. Removing with her pure little hands all the filth she threw it into the distance. She then cleaned her father’s back. And furious at the brutal treatment given to her beloved father, she scolded the disbelievers. When the Prophet(pbuh) finished his prayers, he lifted his hands in supplication and appealed to Allah(swt) to hold these men – Abu Jahl bin Hisham, Shaibah bin Rabee’ah, ‘Oqbah bin Abi Mu’eet and Omayyah bin Khalaf, in His relentless grip. These devils became very nervous because they knew that any supplication made at the sanctuary in Makkah is never rejected by Allah Almighty. And the Prophet’s prayers were answered. All these men were killed in the Battle of Badr, except’Oqbah bin Abi Mu’eet. He was taken prisoner and the Prophet(pbuh) ordered him to be put to death. Trembling with fear, he asked what would be the lot of his children. Muhammad(pbuh) said they would go to Hell. He asked if he would be put to death in spite of the fact that he was a member of the tribe of Quraish. The Prophet(pbuh) answered in the affirmative. Then he looked up at his Companions and asked them if they knew what his crime was. Then he told them all this man’s doings. Once when the Prophet(pbuh) was prostrating before Allah this vile man placed his foot on his neck and pressed it so hard that his eyes almost popped out of their sockets. The next time again when he was in the same position of prostration, he put awful and filthy blood soaked intestines of a camel sacrificed in the name of one of the idols on his back. Then he narrated how his beloved Fatimah(ra) removed it and cleaned his back and his clothes.
Once Abu Jahl was sitting with the disbelievers in front of the Ka’bah planning how to eliminate this man for the ‘crime’ of rejecting the idols installed there as helpless stones which lacked movement. They hated him for propagating the Oneness of Allah and for proclaiming himself as His Last Prophet and Messenger. Fatimah(ra) happened to pass by and heard him. She was so terrified of what these cruel barbarians could do to her beloved father that she went running to tell him of their dastardly plot. As she wept she told him they had sworn in the names of their most famous idols – Lat, Manat, ‘Uzza and Na’ilah – to kill him. All of them would get together and attack him the moment he stepped out of his house. She asked him innocently what would happen, as nothing could stop these men now. The Prophet(pbuh) told her to have faith in Allah(swt), as He was her father’s Protector. He then got up calmly, made the ablution for his prayers and went to the House of Allah. When he passed Abu Jahl and his friends who were seated there, he looked up towards the Heavens, then turned his eyes downward. (Saying that Allah Almighty would cover their faces with dust), he picked up a handful of mud threw it in their direction. These people were so taken aback and overcome that none of them could stir from their places or speak. It was as if the fear of the Almighty had struck them dumb.
Once Fatimah(ra) passed by Abu Jahl bin Hisham on the street and he, for no reason, gave her a tight slap across the face. She went to Abu Sufyan, the leader of the Quraish, and complained to him about Abu Jahl’s cruel and uncivilized behavior. Abu Sufyan took her with him to the place where the uncouth barbarian was still sitting and told her to slap him in exactly the same way as he had done. When she went home and narrated this incident to the Prophet(pbuh) he was very pleased at Abu Sufyan’s sense of justice and fair play. He then prayed that his heart should be enlightened, and that he should accept Islam as the true religion. His supplications for Abu Sufyan were accepted and he finally swore allegiance to Allah and His Prophet Muhammad (pbuh).
Seven years had passed since Muhammad(pbuh) declared himself to be Allah’s chosen Prophet. The whole might of the Quraish had not been able to silence him and his Message; the people who answered the call of Allah were persecuted and tortured in every way possible. They were made to lie on layers of burning coals, and dragged naked across the burning desert sands, but they continued to recite the word of Oneness of Allah – ‘None has the right to be worshipped but Allah, and Muhammad is His Servant and His Messenger’. The numbers of the believers kept multiplying, regardless of the consequences they might face in this world.