In the Name of God, the All-Merciful, the All-Compassionate__Salaam, and heartfelt condolences to you all on a very tragic day.13th of the month of Jamadi al-Awwal, the day on which the noblest ever lady who graced Planet Earth, left the world – a martyr, as per the narration that she was alive only 75 days after the departure from the world of her illustrious father. She attained martyrdom in the prime of her youth, and left not just her aggrieved husband behind, but four small children as orphans. The identity of this Immaculate Lady ought to be clear to our listeners. She was none other than Hazrat Fatema Zahra (peace upon her), the daughter of the Almighty’s Last and Greatest Messenger to all humanity, Prophet Mohammad (blessings of God upon him and his progeny).
"In houses Allah has allowed to be exalted and wherein His Name is celebrated; He is glorified therein, morning and evening."
What you heard was Ayah 36 of Surah Noor of the Holy Qur’an. The renowned Sunni Muslim scholar, Tha’labi, in his exegesis of the holy Qur’an titled “Tafsir al-Kabir” has mentioned on the authority of Anas bin Malik and Buraidah that when asked about the houses exalted by God, Prophet Mohammad (SAWA) said the reference is to the abodes of Divine Messengers. On hearing this, a senior companion of the Prophet, stood up and asked: ‘O Messenger of God! Is the house of Ali and Fatema (peace upon them) also among those houses?’ The Prophet replied: “Yes, rather the greater one of those houses."
Thus, it is clear without the least doubt that Prophet Mohammad (SAWA), whose veracity is vouched by God Almighty in Ayahs 3 and 4 of Surah Najm that he never speaks of his own desire and whatever he says are divinely inspired words, was expounding to his companions and through them to all people till the Day of Judgement, the status of his Ahl al-Bayt. It means that the words of Prophet Mohammad (SAWA) are articles of faith, and any expression of doubt about their meaning, intent, and purport, places a big question mark on the faith of the doubter. God knows the fate of the persons who directly heard from the Prophet and yet disobeyed him.
The Prophet had only one surviving child, and that was his daughter Fatema (peace upon her), whom God had granted him as Kowsar or the heavenly spring of perpetual abundance. Orphaned in childhood on the death of her illustrious mother, Omm al-Momineen Hazrat Khadija (peace upon her), she took care of her father to such an extent that she earned the epithet of Omm Abiha, which means ‘Mother of her Own Father’. She was the pride of Mary, the Mother of Prophet Jesus (PBUH), and as per divine commandment, the Prophet had married the Immaculate Fatema to the equally Impeccable Ali (peace upon them). A famous hadith says: If there was no Ali, Fatema would have remained unmarried – because no person was worthy of her hand. The result of this blessed union, were two Infallible sons, Imam Hasan and Imam Husain, and two virtuous daughters, Hazrat Zainab and Hazrat Omm Kolsoum (peace upon her). At every opportunity, the Prophet emphasized the lofty position of his daughter, on whose approach, it was his habit to rise to his feet and seat her in his own place. She was the only female, who accompanied him to the historic Mubahela with the Christians of Najran, along with her husband and two sons – and no one else – on revelation of Ayah 61 of Surah Aal-e Imraan. After revelation of the Verse of Purity, that is, Ayah 33 of Surah Ahzaab, which confirms the pristine purity of the Ahl al-Bayt, her father used to salute at her door every morning. If he proclaimed her husband as his vicegerent on God’s commandment at Ghadeer-Khom, he hailed her two sons as Leaders of the Youth of Paradise.
In view of these irrefutable facts, Muslims should have obeyed God and the Prophet regarding the blessed Ahl al-Bayt, especially the Leader of the Ladies of all time, Hazrat Fatema Zahra (peace upon her). History, however, bears testimony that no sooner did the Prophet leave the mortal world, a group of his companions usurped the political right of leadership of his son-in-law, Imam Ali (AS), thus causing the greatest discord in Islam, whose scars are still evident on the body-politic of the ummah. Next they seized from the Prophet’s daughter her patrimony of the vast orchard of Fadak, whose yield and revenues, she used to spent for the poor and destitute. Matters then took a more tragic turn, when a group of rowdies, demanding that Imam Ali (AS) give pledge of allegiance to the coup leaders, violated the sanctity of the blessed threshold of the Immaculate Fatema (peace upon her). As all authentic books of hadith have mentioned, when this noble lady protested to their lawless behaviour, reminding them of her status and that of her small children, they blasphemously set fire to the door at which the Prophet used to salute every morning. They then smashed the burning door upon Fatema (SA), thereby pinning her to the wall. The result of this sacrilege was broken ribs and miscarriage for the Prophet’s daughter, as the stillborn Mohsin became the first martyr of the Ahl al-Bayt.
This is the reason we are clad in black today to commemorate the death of the Pride of the Virgin Mary, who following this shocking incident had turned into a faded flower in the prime of youth, walking with the aid of a staff and reciting the heartrending elegy: “O Father! Had the calamities that befell me after you, were to fall on bright days they would have turned into dark nights.”
Yet, in this frail state of health, Hazrat Fatema (peace upon her), never stopped the defence of the political right of leadership of her husband, Imam Ali (AS), the divinely-decreed vicegerent of the Prophet. Her famous sermons delivered to the coup leaders remain the most eloquent testimony in this regard. Till this day, her sermon serves as a lesson of faith, with its emphasis on Towheed or monotheism, divine justice, the purpose of prophethood, the fundamental belief in wilaya or imamate, and the impending Day of Judgement. The regime was unmoved. The coup leaders ignored the Prophet’s famous saying: “Fatema is a part of me; whoever hurts her, has hurt me, and whoever hurts me, has displeased God.”
Hazrat Fatema (peace upon her) ended her sermon with the words; “Now hang firmly to this cheap dromedary of caliphate of yours and release it not. But beware; the hump of this camel is injured while there are blisters and holes in its feet. It carries the scars of ignominy and the sign of the wrath of Allah. Eternal shame is attached to it."
True to the words of Hazrat Fatema Zahra (peace upon her), with the Ahl al-Bayt deprived of their political right of leadership, soon mass murderers, fornicators, adulterers, drunkards, and the Godless started posing as caliphs, as history bears testimony. Now we know why seditious Takfiri cannibalistic terrorists are masquerading today as Muslims to desecrate mosques and shrines, massacre innocent men, women, and children, and eat raw the freshly pulled out livers and other organs of their human victims. Please stay with us for an interesting tribute in verse to the Prophet’s daughter by Iran’s English language poet, Dr. Hassan Najafi
Ah, what terrors frowned upon her fate!
The moment her father left, they said it is yet not late.
The flames they lit at her door remit sparks in each age.
Awake vengeance, provoke the rage.
Every added pang she still suffers.
That malice in each age offers,
As if through the dark cave in a gloomy pageant past,
The coffin in the mind of the night, its gloom shall ever last.
This is the tale age to age told.
Keeps the caravan to proceed with steps bold,
From far and near pilgrims come each day
To bless the dust that wraps the Prophet’s Daughter’s clay.
What a pity unknown is your grave.
Ali made forty graves, the real one to save.
You stood for prayers, engrossed in God’s worship to the full.
You so lost as if in company intimate and faithful.
You are the fountain rises therefrom the celestial storm.
Your sons carried it each in its prescribed form.
Fadak seized from you, yet you establish the Right.
Rescinded the doctrine that might is right.
She like nature a mother kind alike to all,
Still grants compliance at an earnest call.
Whatever bloom in torrid tract appears
Gloom it is, reminds us of Fatema’s tears.
Small is the bliss that sense bestows
Spiritual bliss is what a heart knows.
Only in Fatema’s guardianship we find
The bliss that contends the mind,
As life slides into the smooth current of death – a joy;
In our devotion to you no loud storm would annoy.