In the name of Allah, the Most Gracious, the Most Merciful.
A summary of the book:
Ramadan: Events and Lessons.
The passing of Fatimah al-Zahra,
the daughter of the Messenger of Allah, peace be upon him.
The time was the night of Tuesday,
the third day of Ramadan,
in the eleventh year of the Hijrah.
The noble lady,
the mother of the two Hasans (al-Hasan and al-Husayn),
Fatimah, daughter of the Messenger of Allah, peace be upon him,
may the pleasure of Allah be upon her.
She was one of the four daughters
of the Messenger of Allah, peace be upon him,
born to Khadijah, may Allah be pleased with her.
Fatimah is the most noble of those four,
the very heart of the matter,
and the centerpiece of the necklace.
She was a blessed fruit from a noble orchard,
a glorious descendant of an authentic lineage,
and a magnificent example of the believing woman.
She was a radiant model of a life of purity, obedience,
courage, and patience.
She tasted the bitterness of losing her loved ones,
yet she displayed immense fortitude,
despite her youth and lack of experience.
She was raised in the house of Prophethood upon every noble deed
and beautiful character.
She saw nothing but the best of actions,
witnessed nothing but the purest of traits,
and heard nothing but the most truthful of words.
She grew up with righteousness filling her being,
and purity adorning her outward and inward self,
until she reached the age of womanhood.
The Messenger of Allah, peace be upon him, chose for her
the best young bachelor among his Companions,
and the most favored of his kin.
He joined her with him,
so that this blessed marriage might yield
a pure lineage that remains to this day.
Fatimah, may Allah be pleased with her, lived
with her cousin Ali, may Allah be pleased with him,
a happy life,
shaded by clouds of love and joy,
and built upon piety and asceticism.
She did not boast to him of being the daughter of the best of mankind,
nor did she pride herself on her great status in the heart of the Prophet, peace be upon him.
Rather, she was the epitome of righteousness, humility, and good companionship.
Her life with him did not last long,
for death claimed her swiftly.
The father of her pure children did not live with her for long.
It was the night of Tuesday,
the third of Ramadan,
in the year 11 AH,
that was the appointed time for her departure from this world,
and her joining the Messenger of Allah, peace be upon him, her mother,
and her brothers and sisters.
An introduction to the mother of the two Hasans, may Allah be pleased with them.
She is Fatimah, daughter of the master of creation, Muhammad ibn Abdullah, peace be upon him,
and her mother is Khadijah bint Khuwaylid, may Allah be pleased with her.
She was the best and youngest of the daughters of the Messenger of Allah, peace be upon him,
and the most beloved to his heart,
for reasons including
that she was the remaining memory of her late mother, Khadijah,
and her brothers and sisters who all died during his lifetime.
And also because of her great love and attachment to him, peace and blessings of Allah be upon him.
She was nicknamed 'al-Zahra', meaning the radiant or fair-complexioned.
Her birth:
Fatimah, may Allah be pleased with her, was born while the Ka'bah was being rebuilt,
and the Prophet, peace be upon him, was thirty-five years old.
It is said she was born in the forty-first year of the Prophet's life, peace be upon him.
Her birth was shortly before the Prophetic mission,
about a year or more.
She was about five years older than 'A'ishah, may Allah be pleased with her.
Her marriage to Ali, may Allah be pleased with them both:
Ali, may Allah be pleased with him, married her in early Muharram,
though it is said in Safar, in the second year of the Hijrah,
after the Messenger of Allah, peace be upon him, had consummated his marriage with 'A'ishah,
by four and a half months.
Other opinions exist.
He consummated the marriage with her nine and a half months after the wedding contract.
Her age on the day of her marriage was
fifteen years, five months, and a half.
The age of Ali, may Allah be pleased with him, was
twenty-one years and five months.
It is said he married her in Rajab, the year they arrived in Madinah,
and consummated the marriage upon his return from Badr,
at which time she was eighteen years old.
Her dowry was a Hutamiyyah coat of mail belonging to Ali, may Allah be pleased with him.
For Ibn 'Abbas, may Allah be pleased with them both, said:
When Ali married Fatimah,
the Prophet, peace be upon him, said:
"Give her something."
He replied, "I have nothing."
He said, "Where is your Hutamiyyah coat of mail?"
I said, "It is with me."
He said, "Then give it to her."
She lived with Ali, may Allah be pleased with him,
patient with his limited means,
to the point that she would serve herself in the days of slave girls and servants.
For Ali, may Allah be pleased with him, reported:
That Fatimah, peace be upon her, complained of the effect of the hand-mill,
and the Prophet, peace be upon him, had received some captives.
She went but did not find him,
so she found 'A'ishah and told her.
When the Prophet, peace be upon him, came,
'A'ishah told him of Fatimah's visit.
The Prophet, peace be upon him, came to us
while we had already taken to our beds.
I went to get up,
but he said, "Stay where you are."
He sat between us until I felt the coolness of his feet
on my chest.
He said, "Shall I not teach you both
something better than what you asked me for?
When you go to your beds,
say 'Allahu Akbar' thirty-four times,
'SubhanAllah' thirty-three times,
and 'Alhamdulillah' thirty-three times.
That is better for you than a servant."
Ali did not marry anyone else while married to Fatimah, may Allah be pleased with them both,
until she died.
Her children, may Allah be pleased with them:
Ibn Kathir said:
She bore him al-Hasan and al-Husayn,
and it is said, Muhsin.
She also bore him Umm Kulthum and Zaynab.
'Umar ibn al-Khattab married,
during his caliphate, Umm Kulthum,
the daughter of Ali ibn Abi Talib from Fatimah,
and he honored her greatly.
He gave her a dowry of forty thousand dirhams,
because of her lineage from the Messenger of Allah, peace be upon him.
She bore him Zayd ibn 'Umar ibn al-Khattab.
When 'Umar ibn al-Khattab was killed,
she was married after him by her cousin 'Awn ibn Ja'far,
who then died.
Then his brother Muhammad married her,
and he died.
Then their brother 'Abdullah ibn Ja'far married her,
and she died while married to him.
'Abdullah ibn Ja'far had previously
married her sister Zaynab bint Ali,
and she also died while married to him.
Her virtues, may Allah be pleased with her:
The first:
That she is the leader of the women.
'A'ishah, Mother of the Believers, may Allah be pleased with her, said:
We, the wives of the Prophet, peace be upon him, were all with him,
not one of us was absent.
Fatimah, peace be upon her, came walking,
and by Allah, her gait was no different from the gait of the Messenger of Allah, peace be upon him.
When he saw her, he welcomed her and said:
"Welcome, my daughter."
Then he seated her to his right or to his left,
then he whispered something to her,
and she wept bitterly.
When he saw her sadness,
he whispered to her a second time,
and she laughed.
I said to her, among his wives,
"The Messenger of Allah, peace be upon him, singled you out with a secret from among us,
and then you weep?"
When the Messenger of Allah, peace be upon him, stood up,
I asked her what he had whispered to her.
She said:
"I would not disclose the secret of the Messenger of Allah, peace be upon him."
When he passed away,
I said to her:
"I adjure you by the right I have over you,
tell me."
She said:
"As for now, yes."
She told me, saying:
"When he whispered to me the first time,
he told me that Jibril used to review the Qur'an with him once every year,
but this year he reviewed it with me twice,
and I see that my time is drawing near.
So fear Allah and be patient,
for I am the best predecessor for you."
She said:
"So I wept as you saw.
When he saw my distress,
he whispered to me a second time and said:
'O Fatimah,
are you not pleased to be the leader of the women of the believers,
or the leader of the women of this Ummah?'"
The second:
That she is a part of the Messenger of Allah, peace be upon him,
and what angers her angers him,
and what harms her harms him.
From al-Miswar ibn Makhramah, may Allah be pleased with them both:
That the Messenger of Allah, peace be upon him, said:
"Fatimah is a part of me,
so whoever angers her, angers me."
And in the two Sahihs:
"Fatimah is a part of me,
and it harms me what harms her."
The third point:
The great love the Messenger of Allah, peace and blessings of Allah be upon him, had for her.
His comforting of her heart.
And his singling her out with his secrets.
On the authority of ‘A’ishah, may Allah be pleased with her, who said:
The Prophet, peace and blessings of Allah be upon him, called for
Fatimah, peace be upon her, during his final illness in which he passed away.
He whispered something to her, and she wept.
Then he called for her again, whispered something to her, and she laughed.
We asked her about that, and she said:
The Prophet, peace be upon him, whispered to me
That he would pass away during the illness in which he died,
So I wept.
Then he whispered to me again,
And informed me that I would be the first of his household to follow him,
So I laughed.
The fourth point:
That she is among the perfect women.
On the authority of Anas Ibn Malik, may Allah be pleased with him,
That the Prophet, peace be upon him, said:
"Sufficient for you among the women of the worlds are:
Maryam bint ‘Imran,
Khadijah bint Khuwaylid,
Fatimah bint Muhammad,
And Asiyah, the wife of Pharaoh."
The fifth point:
The magnitude of her trials and her patience in losing her entire family:
Her mother, her brothers, and her sisters,
And then her father, peace and blessings of Allah be upon him.
Ibn Kathir said:
"As for Fatimah, the daughter of the Messenger of Allah, peace be upon him,
She was distinguished with greater virtue than her sisters,
Because she was afflicted by the loss of the Messenger of Allah, peace be upon him,
Whereas the rest of her sisters
Had died during the lifetime of the Prophet, peace be upon him."
Her death, may Allah be pleased with her:
Fatimah, may Allah be pleased with her, passed away on the night of Tuesday,
The third of the month of Ramadan,
In the year eleven after the Hijrah.
She was twenty-nine years old,
Though it is also said she was thirty.
She remained after the Messenger of Allah, peace be upon him,
For six months, according to the most well-known accounts.
This is what is established from ‘A’ishah in the Sahih.
She was buried in al-Baqi‘.
From this event and what relates to it,
We derive lessons:
First:
The intensity of the attachment of Fatimah al-Zahra’, may Allah be pleased with her,
To the Messenger of Allah, peace be upon him.
For this reason, she could not endure the grief of his separation for more than six months,
As she withered away from longing and sorrow,
Until her pure soul departed.
Second:
A father’s love for one of his daughters may increase due to reasons that warrant it,
And there is no prohibition in that.
Third:
The biography of Fatimah, may Allah be pleased with her, her virtues, and her merits
Warrant increasing our love and reverence for her,
And spreading her story among women,
So that she may be a beautiful model for them of the righteous woman.
Fourth:
In the life of Fatimah, may Allah be pleased with her, are lessons in patience through the hardships of life,
The poverty of one’s spouse, and the loss of loved ones.
Fifth:
The succession of sorrows and the endurance of longing
Do not leave their bearer in this life for long.
Ramadan:
Events and Lessons.