The Eighth Narration: Aisha radiya Llahu ‘anha narrates, “The wives of Rasulullah salla Llahu ‘alayhi wa sallam were with him [during his final illness]; none of them departed. Fatimah approached; her gait precisely matched the gait of Rasulullah salla Llahu ‘alayhi wa sallam…..

The Eighth Narration

عن عائشة رضي الله عنها قالت كن أزواج النبي صلى الله عليه و آله و سلم عنده و لم يغادر منهن واحدة فأقبلت فاطمة تمشى ما تخطئ مشيتها من مشية رسول الله صلى الله عليه و آله و سلم شيئا فلما رآها رحب بها فقال مرحبا بابنتي ثم أجلسها عن يمينه أو عن شماله ثم سارها فبكت بكاء شديدا فلما رأى جزعها سارها الثانية فضحكت فقلت لها خصك رسول الله صلى الله عليه و آله و سلم من بين نسائه بالسرار ثم أنت تبكين فلما قام رسول الله صلى الله عليه و آله و سلم سألتها ما قال لك رسول الله صلى الله عليه و آله و سلم قالت ما كنت أفشى على رسول الله صلى الله عليه و آله و سلم سره قالت فلما توفي رسول الله صلى الله عليه و آله و سلم قلت عزمت عليك بما لي عليك من الحق لما حدثتني ما قال لك رسول الله صلى الله عليه و آله و سلم فقالت أما الآن فنعم أما حين سارني في المرة الأولى فأخبرني أن جبريل كان يعارضه القرآن في كل سنة مرة أو مرتين و أنه عارضه الآن مرتين و أني لا أرى الأجل إلا قد اقترب فاتقي الله و اصبري فإنه نعم السلف أنا لك قالت فبكيت بكائي الذي رأيت فلما رأى جزعي سارني الثانية فقال يا فاطمة أما ترضين أن تكوني سيدة نساء المؤمنين أو سيدة نساء هذه الأمة قالت فضحكت ضحكي الذي رأيت

Aisha radiya Llahu ‘anha narrates, “The wives of Rasulullah salla Llahu ‘alayhi wa sallam were with him [during his final illness]; none of them departed. Fatimah approached; her gait precisely matched the gait of Rasulullah salla Llahu ‘alayhi wa sallam.

When he saw her, he welcomed her saying, ‘Welcome my daughter.’ He seated her on his right—or left.

He then whispered to her something and she began to sob profusely. When he saw her restlessness, he whispered to her a second time and she laughed.

I told her, Rasulullah salla Llahu ‘alayhi wa sallam has favoured you with a secret over his wives, and you cried.’

When Rasulullah salla Llahu ‘alayhi wa sallam stood up, I asked her, ‘What did Rasulullah salla Llahu ‘alayhi wa sallam tell you?’ She replied, ‘It is not becoming of me to disclose the secret of Rasulullah salla Llahu ‘alayhi wa sallam.’

After Rasulullah salla Llahu ‘alayhi wa sallam passed away, I said to her, ‘I have taken a determination upon you of the right that I have over you that you will inform me of what Rasulullah salla Llahu ‘alayhi wa sallam told you.’

She said, ‘Now I will inform you. When Rasulullah salla Llahu ‘alayhi wa sallam whispered to me the first time, he informed me that Jibril would recite the Qur’an to him once—or twice—every year and he recited it to him this year twice. He commented, ‘I divined from this my imminent demise. So fear Allah and bear patiently, for I am the best forerunner for you.’ Fatimah radiya Llahu ‘anha continued, ‘I then sobbed as you witnessed. When he saw my restlessness, he whispered to me a second time and said, ‘O Fatimah! Are you not pleased to be the queen of the Muslim women—or the queen of the women of this ummah?’ I then laughed as you saw.’[1]

Commentary and Lessons Learnt from this Narration:

The virtue of Rasulullah’s salla Llahu ‘alayhi wa sallam daughter over the women of the world.

Her immense patience at the news of the imminent death of Rasulullah salla Llahu ‘alayhi wa sallam. A loss to the ummah that cannot be quantified.

All the other children of Rasulullah salla Llahu ‘alayhi wa sallam passed away during his life time upon which he displayed patience and attained great rewards. As for Fatimah radiya Llahu ‘anha, she endured the passing of Rasulullah salla Llahu ‘alayhi wa sallam with patience and thus attained great rewards. This is most probably the reason why she has been crowned Queen in the above mentioned hadith.

The Ahlul Bayt would always give preference to the hereafter over this world.

The hadith states, “The queen of the women of this ummah”. This serves as a proof for those that opine Fatimah radiya Llahu ‘anha to be is the most virtuous of women; more than her mother Khadijah and Aisha radiya Llahu ‘anhuma.

Good conduct dictates that on should hasten to greet the Ahlul Bayt. “When he saw her, he welcomed her.”

Welcoming the Ahlul Bayt with pleasantries should be the norm.

Rasulullah salla Llahu ‘alayhi wa sallam gave her space to sit next to him. From this we understand that the Ahlul Bayt should be given preference by affording them the opportunity to sit at the front of the gathering.

The Ahlul Bayt should endeavour to complete at least two recitals of Qur’an in the month of Ramadan.

The permissibility of disclosing the secret of one after their death as long as it doesn’t result in any evil.

‘O Fatimah! Are you not pleased to be the queen of the Muslim women—or the queen of the women of this ummah?’ An honour unparalleled and a sign of the love of Allah subhanahu wa ta ‘ala. Such virtue and honour doesn’t need fabricated narrations which claim any status greater than this in her regard. Those that do so are indeed fabricating words against Allah subhanahu wa ta ‘ala and his Messenger salla Llahu ‘alayhi wa sallam. Allah subhanahu wa ta ‘ala says:

فَمَنْ أَظْلَمُ مِمَّنِ افْتَرَىٰ عَلَى اللَّهِ كَذِبًا لِّيُضِلَّ النَّاسَ بِغَيْرِ عِلْمٍ ۗ إِنَّ اللَّهَ لَا يَهْدِيْ الْقَوْمَ الظَّالِمِيْنَ

Then who is more unjust than one who invents a lie about Allah to mislead the people by [something] other than knowledge? Indeed, Allah does not guide the wrongdoing people.[2]

Fatimah radiya Llahu ‘anha is referred to as the ‘Queen of the women of this ummah’, which refutes what Imam al Tahawi has recorded regarding Zainab radiya Llahu ‘anha being more virtuous.

This narration places Fatimah radiya Llahu ‘anha as the most virtuous of women. Other narrations cite Maryam bint ‘Imran as an exception to this:

الا مريم بنت عمران

This exception, however, does not mean Maryam bint ‘Imran is better than Fatimah radiya Llahu ‘anha as the Arabic language doesn’t necessitate this. At times exceptions (استثناء) in the Arabic language gives the meaning of equality (تساوي) and at others it is to give preference of any one of the other when there is an outside indication towards this. As for the verse:

وَإِذْ قَالَتِ الْمَلَائِكَةُ يَا مَرْيَمُ إِنَّ اللَّهَ اصْطَفَاكِ وَطَهَّرَكِ وَاصْطَفَاكِ عَلَىٰ نِسَاءِ الْعَالَمِيْنَ

And [mention] when the angels said, “O Mary, indeed Allah has chosen you and purified you and chosen you above the women of the worlds.

The word ال is of ‘Ahd here and not for Jins (catergory) which means that Maryam bint ‘Imran is the best of women in relation to her era. The narration of Sahih al Bukhari attests to this:

خير نسائها مريم ابنة عمران وخير نسائها خديجة

The best women of her era is Maryam and the best women of her era is Khadijah.[3]

One may ask, what of the following narration of Ibn ‘Asakir:

سيدة نساء أهل الجنة مريم بنت عمران ، ثم فاطمة

The queen of the women of Jannat is Maryam bint ‘Imran then Fatimah.

The answer to this apparent contradiction is that this narration of Ibn ‘Asakir is unfounded due to Muhammad ibn al Hassan ibn Zabalah who has been suspected of lying.

Rasulullah salla Llahu ‘alayhi wa sallam advised Fatimah radiya Llahu ‘anha thus, “So fear Allah and bear patiently…”. This serves a reminder that the Ahlul Bayt too are at times in need of advice and reminders. This does not affect their status in the least.

Rasulullah salla Llahu ‘alayhi wa sallam used the title of Sayyidah in favour of Fatimah radiya Llahu ‘anha which proves the permissibility of using the title ‘Sayyidah’ when referring to her.

NEXT⇒ The Ninth Narration

[1] Sahih al Bukhari, Hadith: 4433; Sahih Muslim, Hadith: 2450

[2] Surah al An’am: 144.

[3] Sahih al Bukhari, Hadith: 3249.

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