Her Life – M.Yasar Kandemir, PhD

Fatima was born in Mecca, according to some historians, in 609 about 1 year before revelation to Muhammad (pbuh) began; according to Ibn Sa'd and some other historians, she was born in 605 during the reconstruction of the Ka'ba by the Quraysh tribe. Some sources say that she was five years older than Aisha; for this reason the first view mentioned above seems more credible. We know that Fatima was the youngest daughter of Prophet Muhammad. According to al-Dhahabi, her nickname was "Umm abeeha" which means "my mother" or "his father's mother." The reason why she was given this nickname must have been related to the fact that she was addressed this way by Prophet Muhammad who loved his daughter deeply with a mother's love. She also has two other nicknames including "al-Zahra," which means "a woman with a white, rosy and shining face," and "Batul" that means "modest and virtuous woman."

There is very little information about Fatima's childhood and youth. According to one piece of information, one day Prophet Muhammad was praying in the Ka'ba when the idol -worshippers came and threw the uterus of a camel on him while he was in the position of prostration. The young Fatima saw what was happening and rushed to her father to clean his body and clothes, and then angrily yelled at the pagans who had done it. Other than this incident, we also know that shortly after the Prophet had migrated to Medina with Abu Baqr, Fatima, too, followed them to Medina, together with Ali, his mother Fatima bint Asad, Sawda, her sister Umm Qulsum, and Abu Baqr's family.

When Fatima was 15 years old, first Abu Baqr and then Umar wanted to marry her, but Prophet Muhammad did not accept their proposals. Then Ali proposed to marry her, and the Prophet accepted it this time. Since Ali was a poor young men at that time, he could not pay the mahr (mandatory gift given by the groom to the bride -not to the father); so he had to sell the armor that he got as booty after the Battle of Badr, or according to some historians, he sold his camel and some of his personal belongings and paid about 450 dirham as the mahr. And Fatima's dowry consisted only of a velvet canopy, a leather pillow stuffed with date fiber, two small hand mills, and two water cups made up of leather. Their wedding took place in Medina in the second year of Hijrah, either in Dhul-qa'dah (May 624) or Dhul-hijjah (June 624), about four and a half months after the Prophet married Aisha. She gave birth to her first son, Hassan, in the Ramadan of the third year of Hijrah (February 625), and one year later to Hussein in the month of Sha'ban (January). In later years, three other children were born: Muhassin, who died very young, Umm Qulsum and Zainab. In the first years of their marriage, there emerged some minor problems between Fatima and Ali, but with the help of Prophet Muhammad, who suggested that she obey her husband, they overcame their problems permanently.

During the Battle of ‘Uhud, Fatima, together with ten other women, both delivered water to veterans and helped treat the injuries of the wounded. When the Prophet's tooth was broken in this war, she was the one who rushed for the first aid and cleaned the blood off her father's face off. When he kept bleeding, she found a piece of mat and burned its tip, then pressed it onto the Prophet's face, and thus stopped the blood.

When Prophet Muhammad was on his death bed during his last illness, he told Fatima that he and Gabriel the Angel used to recite the Quran to each other once a year, and that that year the Angel came to him twice for the same purpose, which was for him a sign that he would die soon. Upon hearing this, Fatima started crying; however, when the Prophet also told her that she would be the first one among his family to follow him and complimented her as the leader of all Muslim women, she became quite happy and smiled.

As a daughter who was very fond of her father, Fatima was seriously shaken when Prophet Muhammad died. She even said with reproach to Anas ibn Malik, whom she saw after the Prophet had been buried: "How could you people rush to bury the Prophet of Allah? How could you feel comfortable with that?" For days after that she was unable to hold back her tears.

Later, sometime after the death of the Prophet, Fatima and Abbas ibn Abdul-muttalib went to the Caliph, Abu Baqr, to ask for their share from the inheritance left by the Prophet, which consisted of the date fields in Fadaq and Khaibar, and a small yard in Medina. Prophet Muhammad used to spend the income generated out of these lands for public affairs, travelers and guests, as well as his own family. The Caliph reminded them of the hadith of the Prophet that says that prophets do not leave inheritance, and told them that he could not give the property to them, but the Prophet's family would continue getting income from it, and he himself as the Caliph would act as the regent to oversee its management and make sure that it was done just like the Prophet himself used to do. Fatima had not heard this hadith, but when Aisha and other companions confirmed it, they refrained from their claims for inheritance. However, Fatima still did not like the Caliph's attitude and never talked to him on this issue again until she died about six months later. It has also been reported that some time before she died, Abu Baqr visited her and the two made peace.

Fatima died on 3 Ramadan 11 (22 November 632), five and a half months after the death of Prophet Muhammad (pbuh). According to the report by Muhammad al-Baqir, it was her husband, Ali, who washed the body. It has also been reported that Ali washed it together with Asma bint Umays, Abu Baqr's wife. Earlier, Fatima had told Asma bint Umays that she felt uncomfortable when she saw some of the female corpses covered by shroud and kept in the presence of everybody just like men used to be before the burial, to which Asma had responded saying that she had seen in Abyssinia that corpses were carried in coffins; Fatima then included in her last will that her body be put in a coffin during the funeral. Accordingly, when she died, her body was carried in a coffin made according to instructions given by Asma bint Umays. Her funeral prayer was led either by Ali or Abbas. In accordance with her will, her body was buried at night by Ali, Abbas and his son Fadl in Jannat al-Baki'.