Hazrat Fatima (A.S), the most oppressed Lady in the world

 

FADAK

Fadak is a land in Hejaz’s desert surrounding Madina (two to three days travel by Foot) and near Khaybar, which a palm-grove and habitable land with enough water and had good production. The land belongs to Banu Nadir’s clan, the settlement of a Jewish agriculture, Prophet Mohammad acquired it by peace resolution during the conclusion of a campaign in Khaybar’s war.

Historians claim that in the way to the mosque, Hazrat Fatimah is walking calmly and serenity, while she was very angry. At that time women were not allowed to attend in social fields, Hazrat Fatimah with self-confidence and serenity tried to get back her right. Moreover, she put on her veil and gown and came, with her maids and some of her fellow-women walking exactly like her father’s gait, to Abu Bakr, who was in the mosque among a crowd of the Muhajerin, the Ansar and others. A curtain was put between women and men. She began to give a beautiful speech and told people that Abu Bakr took away her rights. Then she began to cry and people began to cry by her discourse. She waited until they stopped crying and became quiet and began her speech.

 SERMON OF FADAK

Sermon of Fadak is Hazrat Fatimah’s speech in the Prophet Muhammad’s Mosque (P.B.U.H). Hazrat Fatimah Zahra (A.S) delivered this sermon in the presence of Umar, Abu Bakr and a group of Prophet Muhammad’s Companions who had gathered in Prophet Muhammad’s Mosque. She entered the mosque with a group of women and her trusted servant. Fadak was part of the bounty given to Prophet Muhammad. Much before his Martyred, he bequeathed it to Hazrat Fatimah. Nevertheless, soon after Prophet Muhammad’s demise, it was taken from her by Abu Bakr’s order, and they also let out all lebourers working there. Thus, the land became an object of dispute between her and Abu Bakr.

The sermon can be divided in several subjects and the main points are: praising Allah, declaring points through the prophetic mission of Prophet Muhammad (P.B.U.H), the events that occurred after Prophet Muhammad’s departure, and a speech about Fadak and bringing proofs about her prerogative. Hazrat Fatimah started her speech with moaning and people began to cry. She patiently waited for quiet, then she started her remarkable sermon by praising Allah:

“Praise be to Allah for that which He bestowed (upon us), and thanks be to Him for all that which He inspired, and tribute be to Him for that which He provided; from prevalent favors which He created, and abundant benefactions which He offered and perfect grants which He presented; that their number is much too plentiful to compute and too vast to measure; their limit was too distant to realize. He recommended to them (His creatures) to gain more (of His bounties) by being grateful for their continuity. He ordained Himself praiseworthy by giving generously to His creatures and promised, through supplicating Him, to give more like them. I bear witness that there is no God but Allah Who is one without a partner; a statement which sincere devotion is made to be its interpretation put into hearts its continuation, and illuminated in the minds its sensibility. He who cannot be perceived with vision, neither be described with tongues nor can imagination surround His form.”

Then she witnessed to prophetic mission of her father and said:

”I too bear witness that my father, Muhammad, is His slave and messenger, whom He chose before sending him, named him before creating him, and preferred him by missioning him; when creatures were still concealed in the unseen, guarded from that which was appalling, and associated with the termination and nonexistence. For Allah, the Exalted knew that which was to follow, comprehended that which will come to pass, and realized the place of every event. Allah has sent him (Muhammad) as perfection for His commands, a resolution to accomplish His rule, and implementation of His decrees. So he found the nations to vary in their faiths, obsessed by their fires, worshiping their idols, and denying Allah despite their knowledge of Him. Therefore, Allah illuminated their darkness with my father, Muhammad, uncovered obscurity from their hearts, and cleared the clouds from their insights. He revealed guidance among the people; So he delivered them from being led astray, led them away from misguidance, guided them to the proper religion, and called them to the straight path.”

And she delivered words about Fadak and her inheritance right:

”O Muslims! Is my inheritance usurped? O son of Abu Quhafa, is it in the Book of Allah that you inherit your father and I do not inherit my father? Surely you have done a strange thing! Did you intendedly desert the Book of Allah and turned your back on it? Allah said: (And Sulaiman was Dawood’s heir. 27:16) and said about Yahya bin Zachariah: (Grant me from Thyself an heir, who should inherit me and inherit from the children of Yaqoub. 19:5-6) and said: (And the possessors of relationships are nearer to each other in the ordinance of Allah. 8:75), and He said: (Allah enjoins you concerning your children: The male shall have the equal of the portion of two females. 4:11), and He said: (Bequest is prescribed for you when death approaches one of you, if he leaves behind wealth for parents and near relatives. 2:180). You claimed that I have no position and no inheritance from my father, and there is no kinship between us. So did Allah distinguish you with a verse, from which He excluded my father? Or do you say: people of two religions do not inherit each other? Are I and my father not of one religion? Or are you more aware of the Qur’an than my father and my cousin?

According to a number of sources, Hazrat Fatimah was martyred as a result of injuries sustained when her house was attacked and burned by Umar. She died between 75 and 95 days after the demise of Prophet Muhammad (P.B.U.H). According to many Muslim historians and scholars, including the likes of the Sunni Tabari and the Shia Morteza Motahhari, Hazrat Fatimah asked Hazrat Ali to bury her at night to ensure none of her enemies participated in her funeral.

 

 Burial place of Hazrat Fatimah A.S

 

The burial place of Hazrat Fatimah (A.S) is a disputed issue among different sects of Muslims. Hazrat Fatimah was a daughter of the Prophet Muhammad (P.B.U.H) and Hazrat Khadijah, wife of Hazrat ‘Ali ibn Abi Taleb, and mother of Hazrat Hasan (A.S) and Hazrat Husain (A.S). Hazrat Ali buried his wife in an unknown location, according to Hazrat Fatimah’s decision with the aim of expressing her anger towards the caliph of the time. Different locations have been mentioned as the possible burial place of Hazrat Fatimah. Some of them are said to be nearer to fact: Al-Baqi’, her house and between Prophet Muhammad’s (P.B.U.H) tomb and his minbar.

 

Tradition states that, after the Prophet Muhammad’s Demise and the Saqifah incident, the home of the household of the prophet was crowded with material to set fire for taking allegiance by force from Hazrat Ali (A.S). Defending Hazrat Ali’s Divine successorship Hazrat Fatimah was seriously injured and desired no one attend her burial. Hazrat Fatimah’s burial place remained secret. Also according to some references, Hazrat Fatima asked Hazrat Ali ibn Abi Talib no one attend her funeral except Umm Salimah, Umm Ayman, Fidha, Hazrat Hassan, Hazrat Hussain, Salman, Ammar, Miqdad, Abu Dhar and Hudhayfah. Also, the secret burial was done with the aim of avoiding the presence of caliph (Abu Bakr).

 

The next day; people, while blaming each other, gathered and proposed bringing a group of women for the exhumation of Hazrat Zahra’s grave.

The exact place of her tomb is unknown, for she had asked Hazrat Ali (A.S) to hide it as a proof of her anger against the people who bothered her. Also, other Imams and those who participated in her funeral never revealed the place of her grave. Three places has been specified as her grave; Al-Baqi’, her house and between Prophet Muhammad’s tomb and his minbar.

 

 Shia view

 

According to Shaykh Tusi: ”You may visit her in the shrine of Prophet Muhammad because there is her burial place.”

 

Then continues: ”regarding this matter, there are different ideas ; some of them say that she was buried in Al-Baqi’, some others say that she was buried in Muhammad’s tomb while some others mention her house as her burial place and say that her grave fell in the mosque when Umayyads extended the mosque.”

 

Based on the prophetic narration, some scholars believe that she is buried in Prophet Muhammad’s shrine: “What is between my house and my minbar is a meadow of the meadows of Jannah”

 

Based on Allamah Askari, the last possibility about Fatimah’s burial place is her house. This possibility is backed by several authentic documents. The main documents are those received from the Ahl al-Bayt (A.S), the main members of the prophetic house who know about the incident better than others. An authentic tradition by Ali ibn Mousa Al-Ridha (A.S) narrated in Kitab al-Kafi, Tahdhib al-Ahkam, Man la yahduruhu al-Faqih, Oyoun Akhbar Al-Ridha, and Al-Ma’ani al-Akhbar reports:

 

“She was buried in her house and when Umayyads extended the mosque, the burial place fell in the mosque.”

 

Sunni view

It is narrated in Sahih al-Bukhari, Muwatta of Malik, Hilyat al-Awliya of Abu Nu`aym, Sunan of Tirmidhi, and Musnad of Ahmad ibn Hanbal[c] that Hazrat Fatimah is buried between Prophet Muhammad’s house and his minbar, based on a prophetic narration which says: “What is between my house and my minbar is a meadow of the meadows of Jannah.”

 

She was martyred on 3rd  Jimada Al-Sani 11 years (A.H), At the age of only 18 years old.