1. The Most brilliant Creation
God Almighty appeared to man a hidden gem. His Providence had decided to create a human creature on Earth, who would be His rightful heir. So, To show His Might and Power, and to create the most noble creature who would be His trustful servant, and the keeper of His Knowledge, He created the five " Holy Ones ". Among these five Holy creatures, on the Heavenly plane, Hazrate Fatemeye Zahra was the most beautiful creation among all the other creations ...
In an authentic Hadis, it is said:" 0 Ahmad! If it weren't for thee, I would never have created Heavens and Earth, and if it weren't for Ali, I would never have created thee, and if it weren't for Fatemeh,
would never have created you two ..."
Yes ... It is true that Fatemeh was an Angel ... A most beautiful angel, who for a while, clothed herself with the clothes of Man. So it is not so strange when God says:" We gave you Kowssar! So, respect your God with your prayer, give an offering, for he who is your
enemy, will not have any progeny ..." [Al-Kowssar, 1-3].
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Imam Bagher has been reported to say:" This is the pure Tree of our Prophet; and its trunk is represented by Ali, while its root are represented by Fatemeh, and its fruit are Fatemeh's Progeny, and finally its leaves and blossoms are none others than the Shiites of Fatemeh ..."
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2. Her birth
It was in the fifth year, or the end of the fourth year before Hegira, when the Archangel Gabriel, appeared before our Prophet [ Peace be upon him! ] and announced to him :" 0 Mohammad! God Almighty has sent thee His Greetings, and He orders thee to keep thyself away from Hazrate Khadijeh for forty days! "
Our Prophet, even though he had a great affection and sweet feelings for his sweet and kind wife, in order to obey God Almighty, submitted himself to this ordeal.
So, for forty days, our Prophet spent his days in fasting, and his nights in deep meditation and prayers. Until the Archangel Gabriel came down to Earth once again and announced to him:" 0 Mohammad! God sends His supreme Greetings to thee! He orders thee to be prepared for His precious and worthy gift, and His best wishes."
And then the Archangel Gabriel provided a meal for him, and said:" 0 Mohammad! Thou should eat from this meal ..."
"After our Prophet broke his fast, by eating from the Heavenly plate that the Archangel Gabriel had offered him, he received the order to go home, to his
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sweet and dear wife. After this event, the Archangel Gabriel came down to our Prophet, and told him:" "God has given His solemn Oath to Himself that this very night, a child shall be conceived from thee and thy wife." Hazrate Khadijeh, after having married our Prophet, had been suddenly left alone and ignored most cruelly by other women from her tribe, named "Ghoraysh".
The woman of her tribe didn't approve of her marriage with our Prophet, so, when she got pregnant, the unborn baby, in her womb, became her sole friend in her utter isolation and solitude ...
One day, when Khadijeh was talking with the baby in her womb, our Prophet entered the house suddenly, and asked her most curiously, with whom she had been talking during his absence?! She told him what was happening ... Our Prophet said to her:" The Archangel Gabriel has told me about my beloved daughter.
My race would be coming forth from the womb of this very daughter. There will be religious leaders, who shall come to this world, from this lineage, and after the ending of the Revelations to me, these descendants of mine, shall be my rightful successors ..."
So, Khadijeh spent her days of pregnancy in this manner, and finally, the happy day in which her beloved daughter was destined to be born, arrived. Our Prophet sent messages to the Ghoraysh women, so that they would come and help his tender and beloved wife for the delivery of the child. But the Ghoraych women refused to do so, and replied: "she
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didn't listen to us when we told her not to get married to you! Why did she get married to a poor man like you ...?!"
But God The Merciful, was aware of the hard condition of Khadijeh, and He wouldn't leave her alone ... he sent some of His Intimates to help her out ...
Just as Khadijeh was beginning to deliver her baby, she suddenly saw four women who entered unexpectedly into her private room. They were enveloped by a heavenly Light that filled her room ...
They were none others than : Sara, Abraham's wife, Assieh, Mozahem's daughter [and Pharo's wife], Mary, Imran's daughter [and the mother of Jesus], and finally Safoura, Joshua's daughter ... With the gracious help that they procured, she could deliver her baby safely into the world.
The baby, as soon as she opened her innocent and beautiful eyes into the world, began to talk. She said:" I testify to the great Mission of my holy father bestowed upon him by the Merciful God. My father is the last Prophet, and he is the Messenger of God!. My husband is the patron of great men, and my two sons, are the heralds of our Religion ..."
The Angels brought forth the joyous news of Fatemeh's birth to Heavens, and because of her birth, there appeared a brilliant light in the sky, and it lighted everywhere! Never had the Angels of Heavens seen such a beautiful and bright light in Heavens!
This holy baby had nine names : Fatemeh, Sedigheh, Mobarakeh, Tahereh, Zakieh, Razieh, Marzieh, Mohadesseh, and finally Zahra ...
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3- The Virtues of Fatemeh
Fatemeh is the most gracious Lady that the world has known and seen so far ...! All the friends and all the enemies of Islam, are wont to admit to her numerous virtues and to her great wisdom. Fatemeh is so full of magnificence, innocence and greatness, and possesses such a high rank in the Divine Hierarchy, that God has promised Himself to save all those who truly love Fatemeh, from Hell, and to bestow upon these faithful believers, all the Benedictions that come forth from the adoration of the Angels towards Himself.
In the Eyes of God, Fatemeh possesses such magnitude and such closeness to the Divine Love that God has named her : the most Dignified Lady among all other women in the whole world ... This divine title, means that she is not only a perfect human being, but that she also has links with the great entities of Islam.
Thus, God Almighty has promised Himself that whenever Fatemeh Becomes angry at someone, God Himself shall be angry at that person, and whoever shall rejoice her, shall also rejoice God.
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4. Her marriage
Fatemeh had many suitors, and as one would imagine, every body longed to become the son in law of Hazrate Mohammad-é- Mostafa [Peace be upon him!]; it was something to be desired, and everybody wished to become such, from the bottom of his heart, and to be granted this supreme honor ...
But also because a gracious lady such as Fatemeh, who was great in wisdom, spiritual beauty, and had the sweetest character, doubled this fervent wish among arab men.
But Hazrate Mohammad-é- Mostafa [ Peace be upon him! ], refused all her suitors, and had always the same answer:" I am waiting for the Divine Command ..."
Finally Ali Ibn Abi Taleb [ May the Divine Greetings reach him! ], who was our Prophet's cousin and his beloved brother and friend, and had grown up beside the holy Prophet himself, took his courage into his hand, and asked for the hand of Fatemeh. He came respectfully to the house of our Prophet, and knelt in complete respect and submission before our beloved Prophet, without uttering any word, whatsoever, but just waiting ...
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Our Prophet, by seeing him thus, asked him curiously:" Son of Abou Taleb! Why have you come to see me? "
He answered:" I have come to ask for the hand of Fatemeh ..."
Our Prophet was overjoyed so he said:" Very well! I welcome this announcement. " and then nothing more. Ali asked permission to take his leave. When the people who knew him well, saw him, they asked him most curiously about the outcome of his request.
Ali repeated the sentence that our Prophet had given him. Those who were listening said:" You should satisfy yourself with this answer. It seems that our Prophet has granted you your wish, and has accepted you into his household."
The fact is : if Ali had not come forth, nobody could have become Fatemeh's husband. This irrefutable truth is assured by what Hazrate Imam Sadigh has said about this matter:" If God hadn't created Ali, nobody would have been dignified or worthy enough to become Fatemeh's husband ..."
Our Prophet, talked about this matter to his beloved daughter, and asked her opinion. Fatemeh, in front of his father, blushed and kept quiet. But our Prophet had seen enough: he had seen the signs of deep joy in Fatemeh's innocent face, and had known that her daughter's silence, was in fact her approval. Our Prophet came back quickly to tell the good news to his dear Ali.
Our Prophet then required from Ali, to respect the custom of giving a dowry to his daughter. Ali had to
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determine the sum of money that he wished to give to his wife to be ... Ali began to enumerate his very limited possessions and said:" All I have is one sword, one camel that helps me bring out water from the well, and one armor ..."
Our Prophet answered:" Go my son, and sell your armor. Then you could procure the sum of my daughter's dowry."
Ali sold his armor at 480 dirhams, and then came back quickly to give this sum to our Prophet, and to submit himself to his wishes for further demands.
Our Prophet took a small sum of it to buy some possessions for their home [ Ali and Fatemeh's ], he also took a small portion of it to buy some perfume for her daughter, and to buy some things for the wedding night.
The list of this simple dowry, is as follows :
A dress at the price of 7 Dirham
A fabric at the price of 4 Dirham
A black towel from Kheybar
A bed, woven with palm leaves
Two cotton mattresses: one made of palm leaves
The other one from sheep's wool
Four leather pillows
A woolen curtain
A simple bed
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A Manual Mill
A leather goatskin [ water skin ]
A wooden bowl
A bowl for milking
A bowl for drinking water
A green pitcher
Some earthen pots and jars
When those ho had bought these things, came back home, they showed them all to our Prophet and he said:" May God bestow from His Heavenly Provisions to this family ..."
And then the vows of marriage took place ...
A month passed by, without Ali having the courage to take his bride to his home. Ali went everyday to the mosque, but with no result ...
Finally, one of the most respected wives of our Prophet said sympathetically to Ali:" Do you wish me to ask respectfully from our Prophet, to grant you the permission to take your bride to your home? "
Ali joyously and gratefully acknowledged this, and confirmed his wish to settle this matter.
When our Prophet knew of this matter, he said:" I was expecting Ali to come to me about this matter, and I was hoping that he would tell me himself about his wish ..."
But Ali answered:" 0 Prophet of God! I was verily ashamed to ask you such permission ..."
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So then, our Prophet asked his wives to prepare a room in their home [our Prophet's house] for Ali and Fatemeh.
Then a great number of and Muslims and Ansars and also from the Christian community were invited to come to Fatemeh's marriage banquet and eat their fill and enjoy themselves ... From what history has left to us, that night our Prophet, with his gracious and generous hand, provided miraculous food for four thousand guests ...
Then he put the hand of Fatemeh into Ali's hand, and prayed for them and said:" May God bring happiness and joy to the beloved daughter of His Prophet!"
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5. Her married life
There began the married life of Ali and Fatemeh. From the first, every chore was divided among them : what was inside the house, came to Fatemeh's responsibility, and what was outside of their home came to Ali's responsibility.
Their life was very simple, and required many efforts, so much so that Fatemeh's hands soon became hurt and painful, from the manual mill ...Finally a day came when Fatemeh, in utmost despair, asked her father to give her a maid. Her father asked which of the two things were more precious to her? A maid, or something much deeper and much better ...? Ali was near them; Fatemeh, with her husband's help, chose what was the better of the two, and our Prophet concluded that the better thing was indeed a prayer that every Muslim should feel grateful and most honored to pronounce it, after the daily prayers. He explained: "You have to say 34 times "Allaho Akbar", 33 times "Alhamdolellah" and 33 times " Sobhanallah"!"
The fact is, their poverty was because they helped the poor. They gave so much to the needy that the reader may indeed feel confused ...
One wishes to know if they were indeed humans or were they some heavenly creatures, come to Earth?
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It is indeed impossible to comprehend such spiritual greatness and generosity and abnegation ...
Fatemeh was a pure example in her life, but also in her ways of praying. When she would finish her chores, and after having taken care of her little children, she used to begin her long prayers ... In Friday nights, she used to pray until dawn, and cry and ask God that the whole humanity be granted the Divine Salvation ...
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6. The generous gift to the Prophet
When the day came that the famous combat of Kheybar took place, and after the great heroism of Ali Ibn Abi Taleb before the great gates of Kheybar's fortress, the war ended finally, and victory belonged to Muslims.
There was a little village near Kheybar by the name of "Fadak"; its Jewish inhabitants had made peace with the Prophet. They had offered him half of their village to make peace with him, and to show him their loyalty;
In return, they had asked the permission to remain in their homeland. This piece of land became a possession of the Prophet. The Messenger of God gave the money that came from his land to the poor families of Bani Hashem Tribe.
But with the coming of the sourate : Ar- Roum, [where it said]: "You should give your relatives' due", the Messenger of God, offered Fadak to Fatemeh, by God's Command.
