Hazrat Fatimah was the only daughter of the Holy Prophet and Hazrat Khadijah. The circumstances of her birth are described by Hazrat Khadijah

Hazrat Fatimah was the only daughter of the Holy Prophet and Hazrat Khadijah. The circumstances of her birth are described by Hazrat Khadijah as follows: At the time of the birth of Hazrat Fatimah, I sent for my neighboring Quraishi women to assist me. They flatly refused, saying that I had betrayed them by supporting Muhammad. I was perturbed for a while, when, to my great surprise, I sighted four strange tall women with halos around them, approaching me. Finding me dismayed, one of them addressed me thus, “O, Khadijah! I am Sarah, the mother of Ishaq, and the other three are, Mary the mother of Christ, Asiyah the daughter of Muzahim, and Um Kulthum, the sister of Moses. We have all been commanded by God to put our nursing knowledge at your disposal.” Saying this, all of them sat around me and rendered the services of midwifery till my daughter Fatimah was born. The motherly blessings and affection received by Hazrat Fatimah were only for five years, after which Hazrat Khadijah left for her heavenly home. Hereafter the Holy Prophet brought her up.

When Hazrat Fatimah came of age, there came forward a number of aspirants to ask for her hand in marriage. The Holy Prophet was awaiting the Divine order in this respect, till Imam Ali approached him and asked for her hand in marriage. The Holy Prophet came to Hazrat Fatimah and asked, “My daughter! Do you consent to be wedded to Ali, as I am so commanded by Allah?” Hazrat Fatimah thereupon bowed her head in modesty. Fatimah’s silence was her acceptance. The marriage ceremony took place and all the Muhajirin (Emigrants) and Ansar (Helpers) of Medina assembled in the mosque while Imam Ali was seated before the Holy Prophet. The Holy Prophet first recited an eloquent sermon and then raised his hands to pray thus: “O, my God! Bless both of them, sanctify their progeny.

Her children; Imam Hasan, Imam Hussain, Zaynab, and Um Kulthun, are well- known for their piety, goodness and generosity. Their strength of character and action changed the course of history and fortified Islam which otherwise would have been lost to mankind.

Harzrat Fatimah inherited the genius and wisdom, the determination and will-power, the piety and sanctity, the generosity and benevolence, the devotion and worship of Allah, the self-sacrifice and hospitality, the forbearance and patience, and the knowledge and nobility of disposition of her illustrious father, both in words and deeds. “I often witnessed my mother,” says Imam Hussain, “absorbed in prayer from dusk to dawn. “Her generosity and compassion for the poor was such that no destitute or beggar ever returned from her door unattended.”

The Holy Prophet during his lifetime gave Hazrat Fatimah a gift of a very extensive farmland, known as Fadak, which was documented in her name as her absolute property. The death of the Holy Prophet affected her very much and she was very sad and grief-stricken and wept her heart out crying all the time. She was confronted, after the demise of her father, with the deprivement of the rightful claim of leadership of her husband Imam Ali, and the usurpation of her inheritance, the Fadak. Throughout her life, she never spoke to those who had oppressed her and deprived her of her rightful claims. She requested that her oppressors should be kept away even from attending her funeral. Her ill-wishers even resorted to physical violence. Once the door of her house was pushed on her, and the child she was carrying was hurt and the baby-boy was still born. Her house was set on fire.

Hazrat Fatimah did not survive more than seventy-five days after the demise of her father. Before her demise she bequeathed the following as her will to Imam Ali: “You will personally perform my funeral rites. Those who have displeased me should not be allowed to attend my funeral. My corpse should be carried to the graveyard at right. Thus Imam Ali, in compliance with her will, performed all the funeral rites and accompanied exclusively by her relatives and sons carried her at night and she was laid to rest.

The Holy Prophet has said: “Whoever injures (bodily or sentimentally) Fatimah, injures me; and whoever injures me injures Allah; and whoever injures Allah practices unbelief. O, Fatimah! If your wrath is incurred, it incurs the wrath of Allah; and if you are happy, it makes Allah happy too.”

 

Source: al-shia.org