SAYYEDAT NESAA’ AL-^cAALAMEEN AND RASOOLOLLAAH’S MARTYRDOM

            After ^cAa’eshah^(LAa) and Hafsah^(LAa)[1] poisoned Rasoolollaah acting on the order of Aboo Bakr and ^cOmar[2], some very emotional and very important words were exchanged between the grief-stricken Faatimah and her beloved father on his deathbed.

            In his last hours, Rasoolollaah gave his last instructions to Faatimah. In his last hours, Rasoolollaah gave his last prophecies about his descendants. In his last hours, Rasoolollaah showed, for one last time, his never ending worries about the future of a people who had the best ever chance to find eternal pleasure, yet they were about to sell all that for short term interests.

            In these last hours, Rasoolollaah who was going to Heaven—to a place in which there is what no eye has ever seen, and no ear has ever heard, and no imagination has ever imagined—was saying goodbye to his only daughter, who was about to be subjected to the worst injustice and to face a most horrific death.

            In these last hours, Faatimah was saying farewell to an affectionate, compassionate and warmhearted father, the most beloved person to her in the world, a person whom she had defended against the Idolaters when she was five, a person whom she had nursed whenever his enemies injured him, a person for whom she would have sacrificed herself.  

So let us go back to those hours, and read some of what history records. It has been narrated:

((The Prophet called ^cAli, Faatimah, Hasan and Hosayn, and said to those who where in the room: Leave me. And said to Omm Salamah: Stay at the door, and do not let anyone near it.

Then he said to ^cAli: Come near me. So he went nearer to him. And he took Faatimah’s hand and put it on his chest and took ^cAli’s hand with his other hand. Then when Rasoolollaah wanted to speak, he was overcome with tears, so he could not talk.

So Faatimah, ^cAli, Hasan and Hosayn wept intensely, for Rasoolollaah’s crying. Then Faatimah said: O Rasoolollaah! You have surely cut my heart, and set my liver on fire with your crying O Master of the Prophets! and O Trusty of his God! and O His friend and His Prophet! Who is left for my children after you?! And for the degradation that will descend upon me after you?! Who is left for ^cAli, your Brother and the Defender of the Religion?! Who is left for Allaah’s revelation?! Then she wept and fell on his face and kissed it, and ^cAli and Hasan and Hosayn fell on him.

He raised his head to them, and while Faatimah’s hand was still in his hand, he placed it in ^cAli’s hand telling him: O Abaa al-Hasan! Allaah’s deposit, and His messenger’s deposit is with you, so keep it safe; and I know that you will indeed do your duty.

O ^cAli! She is, by Allaah, the Chief of the Women of the Heaven. She is, by Allaah, the Great Maryam. Verily, I have asked Allaah for her and for you all, and He has granted me what I have asked of Him.

O ^cAli! Carry out what Faatimah tells you to do, for I have indeed told her what Jebra’il has told me. And know O ^cAli! that I am satisfied from whom my daughter Faatimah is satisfied from, and also are my God and His angels.

O ^cAli! Woe unto him who does her injustice; woe unto him who extorts her rights from her; woe unto him who dishonors her sacredness[3].)).

            Bakri scholars narrate from ^cAli al-Helaali, who said:

((I went to the Prophet while he was on his deathbed, and found Faatimah sitting near his head. She wept heavily, so the Prophet looked at her and said: O my beloved Faatimah! What makes you cry?

So she said: I fear the loss after you.

So he said: O my beloved! Do you not know that Allaah, the Great and the Almighty, looked at the inhabitants of the earth and chose your father, and sent him with His message; then He looked once more and chose your husband, and revealed to me to give you to him in marriage?!

O Faatimah! We are a family to which, Allaah, the Great and the Almighty, has surely given seven gifts, that He had not given anyone before us and will not give anyone after us: I am the last of the Prophets, and the most honorable to Allaah. And my Wasi[4] is the best of the awseyaa’[5], and the most beloved to Allaah, the Great and the Almighty; and he is your husband. And our Martyr is the best of the martyrs, and the most beloved to Allaah; and he is Hamzah ibn ^cAbdolmottalib, your father’s uncle. And from us is he who has two green wings, who flies with the angels to whatever direction he wants; and he is your father’s cousin, and your husband’s brother. And from us are the two Grandsons of this nation, who are your sons Hasan and Hosayn, and they are the Masters of the Youths of Heaven; and their father, by Him Who sent me with the Truth, is better than them.

O Faatimah! By Him Who sent me with the Truth, from your sons is the Mahdi of this nation. When the world is reduced to commotion and turmoil, and when strife follows strife, and when the paths are broken, and when some people raid others, so that no old has mercy for a young, and no young has mercy for an old, then Allaah the Great and the Almighty shall send from your sons he who will conquer the fortresses of deviation, and the covered hearts; and he will rule according to the religion at the end of the time, as I ruled by the religion at the beginning of the time; and he will fill the world with justice just as it had been filled with oppression.

O Faatimah! Do not be sorrowful, and do not cry, for indeed Allaah, the Great and the Almighty, is more merciful and compassionate to you than I am, and that is because of your place and position in my heart. Indeed, Allaah gave you in marriage to your husband, and he is of the noblest pedigree, and with the most honorable position; and he is the most kind to the subjects, and the most just in equality, and the most knowledgeable in any field.

And I have surely asked my God, the Great and the Almighty, that you be the first of my family to join me.

And Faatimah died seventy-five days after Rasoolollaah’s death[6].)).

            A large number of Bakri scholars narrate from ^cAa’eshah who said:

((During his illness in which he died, Rasoolollaah summoned Faatimah, his daughter, and whispered in her ear, so she wept. Then he called her again and whispered in her ear, so she laughed.

So I asked her: What was it that Rasoolollaah whispered in your ear so you wept, and then whispered in your ear again so you laughed?

She said: The Prophet told me that he will die in his illness, so I wept. Then he told me that I will be the first to join him from his family, so I laughed[7].)).

            Some Bakri scholars have also narrated this hadeeth in more detail:

((^cAa’eshah used to say: During his illness in which he died, Rasoolollaah said to Faatimah: O daughter! come closer to me; then he whispered in her ear for a while, and she came back crying.

Moments later he told her again: O daughter! come closer to me; then he whispered in her ear for a while, and she came back laughing.

So ^cAa’eshah asked her: O daughter! Tell me what your father whispered in your ear.

And Faatimah said: You saw him whispering in my ear, and you thought I would tell you his secret while he is alive?!

It was very hard for ^cAa’eshah to be kept out of their secret. And when Rasoolollaah died, she once again asked Faatimah, and Faatimah said: Now I can tell you. He first whispered in my ear and told me that Jebra’il used to present to him the whole of the Qor’aan once every year, but he presented it to him twice this year…; and he said that he will shortly die, so I cried. And he told me: O daughter! Indeed, no Moslem woman is afflicted with more calamity than you, so do not be one with the least patience.

Then, for the second time, he whispered in my ear and told me that I will be the first of his family members to join him, so I laughed[8].)).

Ibn ^cAbbaas narrates:

((Just before he died, Rasoolollaah cried so much that his tears soaked his beard.

Someone asked him: O Rasoolollaah! What makes you weep?

So he said: I weep for my descendants and what the evil of my nation will do to them after me. As if I can see my daughter Faatimah, having been subjected to injustice, cries out: O my father! But no member of my nation supports her.

So Faatimah heard that and cried. And Rasoolollaah told her: Do not cry O my daughter. So she said: I am not crying for what will be done to me after you, but I cry for leaving you O Rasoolollaah.

So he told her: Rejoice! O daughter of Mohammad! with the quickness of joining me, for surely you are the first of my family to join me[9].)).

            Both Moslem and Bakri scholars narrate from Ibn ^cAbbaas who said that on his deathbed, Rasoolollaah said the following about Faatimah^(AaS)[10]:

((…And when I saw her, I remembered what will be done to her after me. As if I can see the degradation enter her house, and her sacredness violated, and her rights usurped, and her inheritance kept away from her, and her ribs broken, and her fetus killed; while she cries: O my Mohammad! But she will not be answered. And asks for help, but she will not be helped.

Thus, she will remain after me sorrowful, grief-stricken and crying. Remembering the end of revelation from her home, at one time, and remembering my absence, at another time. She will feel desolated when the night falls, as she can no longer listen to me reciting the Qor’aan. Then she finds herself humiliated after having been respected at the time of her father; thus Allaah shall cheer her up and call on her with what He called on Maryam[11] the daughter of ^cEmraan[12]/[13], so He would say: O Faatimah! Surely Allaah has chosen you and purified you and chosen you above the women of the world. O Faatimah! Keep to obedience to your Lord and perform sojood[14] and perform rokoo^c[15] with those who perform rokoo^c.

Then the pain will start, and she will fall ill; so Allaah, the Great, the Almighty, shall send Maryam the daughter of ^cEmraan to her to nurse her and keep her company. She then shall say: O Lord! I have surely become bored with the life, and have been annoyed by the people; so join me with my father. And Allaah, the Great, the Almighty will join her with me; and she will be the first to join me from my family. Thus she will come to me sorrowful, anguished, grief-stricken, usurped, killed.

Rasoolollaah then added: O Allaah! Keep away from Your Mercy him who does her injustice, and punish him who usurps her, and humiliate him who humiliates her, and keep forever in Your Fire him who hits her side causing the miscarriage of her fetus.

And the angels said: Aameen[16].)).

It has also been narrated:

((Then Hasan and Hosayn came [to Rasoolollaah], kissing his feet and weeping loudly. So ^cAli wanted to move them, but the Prophet said: Let them smell me and I smell them, and see me for one last time and I see them for one last time, for they will encounter after me an earthquake, and a very difficult thing. So may Allaah distance from His Mercy those who wrong them. O Allaah! I surely entrust them to You and the righteous faithful[17].)).

            Bakri scholars narrate that, during his last hours, Rasoolollaah told his daughter Faatimah:

((O daughter! Indeed, no Moslem woman is afflicted with more calamity than you, so do not be one with the least patience. You are surely the Chief of the Women of the Heaven[18].)).

He also told her:

((Then he (Rasoolollaah) said: O daughter! You are the oppressed after me. And you are the week after me. So whomsoever annoys you, he has surely annoyed me; and whomsoever turns away from you, he has surely turned away from me; and whomsoever keeps ties with you, he has surely kept ties with me; and whomsoever breaks ties with you, he has surely broken ties with me; and whomsoever treats you fairly, he has surely treated me fairly. For surely you are from me and I am from you; and you are a part of me, and my soul that is between my sides. Then he said: To Allaah I complain of your oppressors[19].)).

And she addressed her father with these heartrending words just before his death:

((My soul be the sacrifice for your soul; my face be the shield for your face. O my father! Won’t you speak to me a single word?! for surely I look at you and see you leaving this world, and I see the armies of death approaching you.

So he told her: My daughter! I am leaving you, so salaam be upon you from me[20].)).

Sayyedat Nesaa’ al-^cAAlameen was badly affected by Rasoolollaah’s death. She had lost a dear father, and a great prophet whose death had been caused by poison at the hands of those who called themselves good Moslems, and were now claiming leadership.

She was grieving all the time, and crying most of her waking moments. Her great-grandson, Imaam Baaqir^(AS)[21], speaks of her sadness after Rasoolollaah’s demise:

((Faatimah was not seen cheerful or laughing after Rasoolollaah’s death, until she died[22].)).

            She was not even able to hear or see the things that reminded her of her father without losing consciousness, as the following two narrations show:

((When Rasoolollaah died, Belaal[23] refused to perform the adhaan[24]. One day Faatimah said: I wish to hear the sound of my father’s Mo’ath-then performing the adhaan.

So Belaal started to recite the adhaan. When he said: “Allaaho Akbar” (Allaah is greater), she remembered her father and his days, so she could not hold back her tears. And when he reached: “Ash-hado anna Mohammadan Rasoolollaah” (I testify that Mohammad is the Messenger of Allaah), Faatimah whooped and fell unconscious on her face.

So people told Belaal: Stop O Belaal! for surely Rasoolollaah’s daughter departed from this world, and they thought that she had died.

So he stopped his adhaan, and left it unfinished. And when Faatimah regained consciousness, she asked him to finish the adhaan, but he refused and said: O Chief of the Women! I fear for you from what you will bring on yourself when you hear my voice reciting the adhaan[25].)).

Bakri scholars narrate from Ameer al-Mo’meneen^(AS)[26] who said:

((I washed Rasoolollaah (after his death) in his shirt. So Faatimah used to tell me: Show me the shirt. And whenever she smelled it, she lost consciousness. So seeing that, I hid the shirt[27].)).