~fatimah bint muhammad~

Rasulullah s.a.w said:

"the best women in all the world are four;the virgin of mary,aasiyaa the wife of pharaoh,khadijah the mother of the Believers and fatimah,daughter of muhammad"

fatimah,was given the title of az-zahraa which means "the resplendent one".that was because of her beaming face which seemed to radiate light.it is said that when she stood for prayer,the mihrab would reflect the light of her countenance.

(wow!)

in madinah,fatimah lived with her father in the simple dwelling he had built adjoining the mosque.in the second year after the hijrah,she received proposals of marriage through her father,two of which were turned down.then ali,the son of abu talib,plucked up courage and went to the prophet to ask for her hand in marriage.in the presence of the prophet,however Ali became over-awed and tongue-tied.

(comelnyeer=)

he stared at the ground and could not say anything.the Prophet then asked;
'why have you come?do you need something?'

Ali still could not speak and then the Prophet suggested;
"perhaps you have come to propose marriage to Fatimah?"

(hebatnya rasulullah!)

"yes",replied Ali

at this,according to one report,the prophet said simply:

"marhaban wa ahlan" and this was taken by Ali and a group of Ansar who were waiting outside for him as indicating the Prophet's approval.another report indicated that the Prophet approved and went one to ask Ali if he had anything to give as mahr.Ali replied that he didn't.the Prophet reminded him that he had a shield which could be sold.

ali sold the shield to Uthman for four hundred dirhams and as he was hurrying back to the Prophet to hand over the sum as mahr.Uthman stopped him and said:

"i am returning your shield to you as a present from me on your marriage to Fatimah"

(ok.uthman sangaaat pemurah.dia tak berkira langsung....!)

fatimah and ali were thus married most probably at the beginning of the second year after the hijrah.she was about nineteen years old at the time and ali was about twenty one.

(pasangan pengantin baru yg sangat muda=)

in the middle of the second year after the hijrah,her sister Ruqayyah fell ill with fever and measles.this was shortly before the great campaign of Badr.uthman,her husband,stayed by her bedside and missed the campaign.Ruqayyah died just before her father returned.on his returned to madinah,one of the first acts of the Prophet was to visit her grave.

fatimah went with him.this was the first bereavement they had suffered within their closest family since the death of khadijah.fatimah was greatly distressed by the loss of her sister.the tears poured from her eyes as she sat beside her father at the edge of the grave,and he comforted her and sought to dry her tears with the corner of his cloak.

the Prophet had previously spoken against lamentations fot the dead,but this had to a misunderstanding and when they returned from the cemetery the voice of Umar was heard raised in anger against the women who were weeping for the martyrs of Badr and for Ruqayyah.

'Umar,let them weep,' he said and then added:

"what comes from the heart and from the eye,that is from God and His mercy,but what comes from the hand and from the tongue,that is from satan."

the bereavement which the family suffered by the death of Ruqayyah,was followed by happiness when to the great joy of all the believers Fatimah gave birth to a boy in Ramadhan of the third after hijrah.the Prophet spoke the words of the adhan into the ear of the new born babe and called him al Hasan which means the Beautiful one.

one year later,she gave birth to another son who was called al Husayn which means "little hasan" or the little beautiful one.in the eight year after hijrah,fatimah gave birth to a third child a girl whom she named after her eldest sister Zaynab who had died shortly before her birth.this zaynab was to grow up and become famous as the "heroine of karbala".fatimah"s fourth child was also a girl and fatimah named her ummu kalthum after her sister who had died the year before after an illness.

in ramadhan of the tenth year just before he went one his Farewell Pilgrimage,the Prophet confined to Fatimah as a secret not yet to be told to others:
"jibril recited quran to me and I to him once every year,but this year he has recited it with me twice.I cannot but think that my time has come"

not long afterwards the noble Prophet passed away.fatimah was grief-striken and she would often be seen weeping profusely.one of the companions noted that he did not see Fatimah,may God be pleased with her,laugh after the death of her father.

one morning,early in the month of ramadhan just less than 5 month after her noble father had passed away,fatimah woke up looking unusually happy and full of mirth.in the afternoon of that day,it is said that she called salma bt umays who was looking after her.she asked for some water and had a bath.she then put on new clothes and perfumed herself.she then asked salma to put her bed in the courtyard of the house.with her face looking to the heavens above,she asked for her husbands Ali.

he was taken aback when he saw her lying in the middle of the courtyard and asked her what was wrong.she smiled and said"

"I have an appointment today with the Messenger of God"

Ali cried and she tried to console him.she told him to look after their sons,Hasan and Husayn and advised that she should be buried without ceremony.she gazed upwards again,then closed her eyes and surrendered her soul to the Mighty Creator.

she,Fatimah the Resplendent One was just twenty-nine years old.
sollu alaik,the chosen one....