Anecdotes relating to the character of Sayyidah Fatimah bint Hussain

Her worship

Ibn Sa’d has reported with his chain of narration that she would count her Tasbihs on a string that contained knots.[1]

This gives us an indication of her steadfastness in worship and her ardent desire to perform Dhikr. The exact same narration was mentioned by Ibn ‘Asakir with his chain of narration.[2]

Wisdom, justice, and asceticism

A perfect example of her wisdom and fairness is the narration reported by Ibn ‘Asakir from ‘Ubaidullah ibn Hussain ibn ‘Ubaidullah:

Fatimah bint Hussain gave her sons from Hassan al Muthanna her share from the inheritance of Hassan al Muthanna and to her sons from ‘Abdullah ibn ‘Amr ibn ‘Uthman she gave them her share of her inheritance from the inheritance of ‘Abdullah ibn ‘Amr. Her sons from Hassan al Muthanna felt slighted by this because what she inherited from ‘Abdullah ibn ‘Amr was more. So she said to them, “O my sons, I dislike that you see something which belonged to your father in the possession of your [step] brother and feel angered by that. This is why I did what I did.”[3]

This is an indication of her disinclination from the material possessions of this world, distributing her assets amongst her children during her lifetime. Her aptitude and intelligence is worthy of admiration.

Her modesty

Sayyidah Fatimah bint Hussain rahimaha Llah was extremely modest. Ibn ‘Asakir has reported with his chain of narration from Ahmed ibn ‘Abdullah ibn ‘Abdur Rahim, who narrated concerning the naming of Hussain ibn ‘Ali’s radiya Llahu ‘anhu children:

Fatimah bint Hussain came before Hisham ibn ‘Abdul Malik, with the leaders of her tribe, when he came to Madinah; Hisham said to Abrash al Kalbi, “The leaders of my tribe came before me just now and there was none more modest and shy than Fatimah bint Hussain.”[4]

NEXT⇒ Words of Wisdom

[1] Tabaqat al Kubra, 8/474. There is a Majhul (unknown) narrator in the chain.

[2] Tarikh Dimashq, 74/18.

[3] Ibid.

[4] Ibid, 74/15.