The Holy Prophet said:

" Whoever injures (bodily or sentimentally) Fatima, injures me; and whoever injures me injures Allah; and whoever injures Allah practices unbelief. O Fatima! If your wrath is incurred, it incurs the wrath of Allah; and if you are happy, it makes Allah happy too."

Fatima, the only daughter of the Holy prophet of Islam, was born in Mecca on 20 Th. Jumadi al- thani 18 BH. The good and noble lady Khadijah and the apostle of Allah bestowed all their natural love, care and devotion on their lovable and only child Fatima, who in her turn was extremely fond of her parents. The princess of the House of the Prophet was very intelligent, accomplished and cheerful. Her sermons, poems and sayings serve, as an index to her strength of character and nobility of mind. Her virtues gained her the title "Our Lady of light".

  She was tall, slender and endowed with great beauty, which caused her to be called " AZ - Zahra" " (the Lady of Light). She was called az - Zahra" because her light used to shine among those in Heaven. After arriving in Medina, she was married to ` Ali, in the first year hijrah, and she gave birth to two sons and two daughters. Her children, Hasan, Husayn, Zaynab and umm kulthum are well - known for their piety, goodness and generosity .Their strength of character and actions changed the course of history.

 The Holy Prophet said, "Fatima is a peace of my heart".

Every morning on his way to the Mosque, he would pass by Fatima's house and say: "peace be on you O the Household of prophet hood and the source of Messengership".

Fatima is famous and acknowledged as the "Leader of all the women of the world" because the Prophethood of Muhammad would not have been everlasting without her. The Prophet is the perfect example for men, but could not be so for women. For all the verses revealed in the Holy Quran for women,Fatima is the perfect model, who translated every year into action. In her lifetime, she was a complete woman, being Daughter, wife and Mother at the some time.

Fatima was very generous; and none who come to her door, when away empty handed. She never asked ` Ali for anything in her whole life. As a mother, she cared for and brought up wonderful children; they have lifted their marks on the face of the world, which time will not be able to erase. The death of the Apostle, affected her very much and she was very sad and grief- stricken and wept her heart out crying all the time. Fatima died in the prime of her life at the age of eighteen, and was buried in jannatu "l-Baqi ` Medina.

Fatimah (peace be upon her) is the student of Islamic school. She was brought up in revelation house and under the supervision of the Prophet (peace be upon him and his descendants), and even when she married Ali (peace be upon him), she had a close contact with her father. Her view towards the world and its aspects is the view of Prophet (peace be upon him and his descendants). It is as if she has derived all her views from the Prophet’s.

In the Islamic school, she was Ali’s classmate. They have got the same views. She was developed under the protection of the Islamic Ideology, taught by the Prophet (peace be upon him and his descendants).

It seems difficult to express and study all aspects of Fatimah’s outlook, but whatever based on her practice, her speech, her view, can be stated includes:

1. Her View on the World:

Fatimah’s view on the world is that it is a farm for cultivation. Its facts and appearance are interconnected, and it has been created by a Creator.

We must love the world, but not absorb in it; it is a means and not an end. Therefore, approaching the end, one must use the means but not attach himself to it. According to Fatimah (peace be upon her), the world deserves love, but not attachment.

The world is the scene of action. It is the field of struggle and effort. The world is a means to make us reach to the otherworldly felicity.

2. Her View on Wealth:

Fatima (peace be upon her) wants property and wealth but not for acquiring value and credit. She wants it for providing her life and protecting her honor.

Those who think of money as an end and seek for it all days and nights, in fact, they have got a complex, and are misleading between means and end. Whatever is achieved in life is not limited to eating, drinking, and wearing. Therefore, we’d better do our utmost to gain wealth but dedicate the rest to our end after satisfying our needs. Fatimah (peace be upon her) never limited herself to wealth and did not think of it as the end, because according to her view, the abundant wealth in man’s hand can bring Allah’s pleasure and His affection if he knows how to use it.

The best wealth is her inner richness and generosity, the hand that pays sincerely will receive Allah’s pleasure, instead, and Fatima (peace be upon her) had got such an spirit.

3. Her View on Happiness:

Her view on happiness and felicity is different from others. She doesn’t see happiness in a doll’s life, luxury, beauty, materialism, decoration, make-up, etc. because these factors cannot solve man’s problems and prepare the ground for inner peace and tranquillity. They are considered as worldly things and can be lost through the passage of time and as a result, involve man in a heart-rending regret.

Any love and adherence to them are wrong, because they will swallow us in themselves and make us forget our real end and ourselves.

The feeling of happiness under the protection of wealth, position, and property is a plot and a deceit, a plot for the decline of our character, and a deceit for keeping us negligent of our development and perfection process. Therefore, we must have another view of happiness. Fatimah (peace be upon her) sees happiness in the eternal moments in which man finds himself in the way of Allah; the time that he fulfills Allah’s orders, and obeys the Divine verdicts.

Happiness is in freedom from all bonds and limitations, having captured our minds, and not in pleasure and fruition. Fatimah (peace be upon her) never spends her lifetime for happiness with the same misconception of ordinary people, and she is more rational to dissipate her life for reaching to pleasure and fruition.

Fortunately, Ali (peace be upon him), as her husband, is also not a person to provide pleasure with negative concept for her, because he deserves a great value and credit for his life and wife.

4. Her View on Mankind:

She is a responsible and duteous being. She is responsible to develop her character and elevate her soul, and tries to achieve her aims and responsibility, and exalt right perfection of mankind, come to people rescue, make progress, and make the people progress.

According to Fatima (peace be upon her), man is more exalted than he passes his life in the way of his passion as a means for a shameful life. Therefore, she tried to elevate her soul.

She was exposed to different exams during her life, in good and bad conditions, misery and happiness, pains and pleasure. She must endeavour to show herself as she really is and endeavour as she must be.

5. Her View on Death:

She has got another view of death. She thinks of it as a means of transfer from this world to the next as well as a door to happiness and prosperity.

She knows that everything in this world is temporary, even its light, its darkness, its pleasure, and its groan. The time when death arrives and Doomsday occurs, everything will be clear; the people are called to account, and man is put in “Dar Ul-Gharar”‌; the place of stability.

She is not frightened of death. And at the time of the Prophet’s death when he sees Fatima’s great love towards himself, he feels he must console her only; therefore, he puts his head into her ears and says, “You are the first person that will join me after my departure”‌. And then, Fatima (peace be upon her) not only does not get sad, but also happy. Yes, the news of death is joyful for her, because she knows that there is prosperity, comfort, and glory to those who have achieved good deeds in this world. She knows that even death for criminals is a bless due to the fact that it prevents them from more crimes and keeps them away from the abyss of adversity.

 

The role of Fatimah (peace be upon her) in women’s revival was fabulous. She is the sample of deconstruction of the misleading customs, which were prevalent among the people in the society and had captured their hearts.

She was the practical sample of laws, through which the Prophet (peace be upon him and his descendants) managed to apply the Islamic principles and programs.

Like the Prophet (peace be upon him and his descendants), Fatimah (peace be upon her) tried to instruct the parents how to revere and love their daughters. While the people buried their daughters alive, the Prophet (peace be upon him and his descendants) kissed Fatimah (peace be upon her) and said,”‌ daughter is Allah’s gift.”‌ When she was a child, the Prophet (peace be upon him and his descendants) sat her on his knees, and through this action wanted the people to take lesson.

The Prophet (peace be upon him and his descendants) should show the high position of women and how they should be viewed in Islamic ideology through her method. Kissing Fatimah’s hand is the symbol of campaign and rebellion against the society viewpoint. It is a revolution against burying girls alive, teaches us indirectly that women as the gift of Allah must be revered and not heated.

The girls and women at her era were not believed, and even they were forced to work hard in the farms. They were not considered as kin; they were deprived from inheritance, retaliation was completely fulfilled for them, etc. A woman having some daughters and no son was considered as barren.

The Prophet (peace be upon him and his descendants) through having Fatimah (peace be upon her) proved that having no son does not mean barrenness as the short sighted think. On the contrary, she can be the source of abundant felicity for her own family and relatives.

She was the sample of deconstructing the wrong marriage customs. In that age, the rich just married to the rich, but she deconstructed this custom and married to Ali (peace be upon him), her cousin who was poor and by selling his chain mail had managed to provide the marriage costs.

In fact, if there existed no Fatimah (peace be upon her), how these false customs were deconstructed, and how the real practical samples in the Prophetic mission were achieved?

If there existed no Fatimah, how the complexes, disgrace, irregularity, making the women’s souls weak, were removed?

 

Fatimah (peace be upon her) is grand and eternal on the account that she has been united with Allah. She has absorbed herself in His.

She is greater than the great, because she is acquainted with Allah, who is the greatest, and she is eternal forever until Doomsday, because she is acquainted with the Eternal.

Fatimah (peace be upon her) is a woman, whose grandeur cannot be inserted in expression and words, because we cannot analyze the infinite with our finite conception. When she is called “Sedigheh”‌ [truthful], it is different from the Sedigheh, applied to others; all her members of body and thought are truthful. It is impossible to describe her grandeur through writing, speaking, and hearing, because all her attributes are in full and infinity. Her faith, her morals, devotion, soul elevation, grandeur, knowledge all are in utmost perfection.

Satisfaction and obedience of Allah:

Fatimah (peace be upon her) is Allah’s real follower, and her exalted purpose and ambition are to satisfy Him and seeks for a way to achieve to this end without any shadow of doubt.

This is Fatimah’s viewpoint that Allah has superiority over all things and everyone. Thus, she has accepted His bondage of servitude. She is seeking for Allah and His satisfaction in her speech, action, and all her life. This is pride that the Prophet (peace be upon him and his descendants) knows her satisfaction His satisfaction and her way as the way of God, the Almighty.

Fatimah (peace be upon her) as a measure:

Scales is an instrument for measuring and the facts are assessed by it. In materialism, for measuring goods, volume, weight, and a period of time, the special measuring instruments are utilized. In spirituality, measuring is possible through samples and symbols.

For instance, the level of somebody’s understanding is measured through comparison with an intelligent person; the level of somebody’s piety is measured through comparison with a pious person; the level of somebody’s intelligence and talent is measured through comparison with a talented and bright person; and the level of somebody’s generosity and humanity is measured through comparison with a generous person.

Fatimah (peace be upon her) is a complete measure for evaluating the ladies’ deeds, and according to the infallible, “she is measure”‌. Fatimah’s spirit power, unique courage, elevated thoughts, and excellent dispositions are all and all measures and samples. Her chastity, piety, faith, nobility, honor, housekeeping, rearing the children, abstinence from sublunary luxury, material and spiritual aspects and even her death are all measures for us.

In the history of the women world, we do not know a woman like her to be the measure and sample. All Fatimah’s attributes make her more adorned than others and give a distinguished face to her.

Fatimah (A.S), the Cause of Continuation of the Prophetic Mission:

It is her clean and pure womb that can be the source of grace and the origin of light and the originator of eleven clean offspring, who are the Prophet’s successors and continuance of the Prophetic mission from generation to generation.

It was not haphazard that the Prophet (peace be upon him and his descendants) knew Fatimah’s wrath his wrath and her torment or satisfaction his torment or satisfaction. He said, “those, who make Fatimah (peace be upon her) happy, have made me happy, and those who tease her, have in fact teased me.”‌

Yes, she was the continuance of the Prophetic mission, and made any kind of endeavour to promote the Islamic teachings along with Ali (peace be upon him). As a trustful trustee, she went to the companions’ houses at night and delivered them an ultimatum. She explained them that Ali is with right, and right is with Ali (peace be upon him), and if they do not adapt it, they must answer back to Allah. She wanted the people to know that what a big crime they would commit if they negate Ali’s (A.S) right and what undesired future they would expect.

Fatimah (peace be upon her) is the continuance of the Prophetic mission. She is Ali’s witness and assistance. She confirms his speeches, and tried to prove his claims, and in this way, she is not afraid of the door stroke, causing damages on her body, and as a result miscarriage. Even the enemy’s whips cannot stop her from defending Ali; the martyrdom and death in Allah’s way cannot prevent her from continuing the Prophetic mission.

She is the continuance of the Prophetic mission, because she has managed to rear a generation that were the preservers of the religion the Karbala mission that was the continuance of the Prophetic mission.

She is the continuance of the Prophetic mission, because Imamate, the continuation of Prophethood, belongs to her generation, and Imam Mahdi (may God hasten his reappearance), who will defend Fatimah’s purpose will rise to revive Islam.

How did this way of Prophetic mission continue and what happened to her offspring, who were the followers of the Prophet and Ali (peace be upon him)? Prison, torture, homelessness, banishment, stroke of sword, poison, separation from dynasty and children were some of the hardships they suffered in the way to achieve their holy end.

 

Fatimah (peace be upon her) has endowed with honor and grand dignity; the honor no one could achieve it as Fatimah (peace be upon her) did. Expressing all her aspects of her character is not feasible; therefore, some points are stated:

1. She is Allah’s beloved:

She is the pure servant of Allah, and is always in worship and contact with Him in order to give her servanthood superiority over her other positions, so that no luxury, effort, or attachments could prevent her from fulfilling her conscious duty. As that the Prophet (peace be upon him and his descendants) appreciated her and praised her position was due to the fact that she was pious and in contact with Allah, and not because she was the Prophet’s daughter.

Fatimah’s generosity, thought, and efforts are all for Allah’s pleasure. Fatimah (peace be upon her) is so dissolved in the Divine grandeur and majesty that she devotes all her things in His way: her position, her rank, her silver bracelet, her wedding dress, the screen of her house, etc. In this case, shouldn’t she be the dear of Allah?

2. She is the Prophet’s dear:

The Prophet (peace be upon him and his descendants) knows her as a part of his body and soul, as he says,

بضعة منه و روحة اللذی بین جنبیه

In the age of Ignorance and the hard times of his Prophethood, she was as a mother to her father in Mecca. She cleansed the thorns and dust that the people had thrown over the head of the Prophet (peace be upon him and his descendants) with her little hands and soothed him. Sometimes, she would cry for his loneliness and caressed for his beaten body.

She was her father’s consular at the time of Hijra, she was so dear for him in Medina that Ayesheh stated, “There was no one dearer than Fatimah (peace be upon her) to the Prophet (peace be upon him and his descendants); he attended her house every day and asked about her mood repeatedly. When he was setting for trips, Fatimah (peace be upon her) was the last one, visited at the time of departure by him, and at the time of arrival, Fatimah (peace be upon her) was the first one, visited”‌.

Owing to her dignity and action, purity and sincerity, she reached to a rank that the Prophet (peace be upon him and his descendants) stated, “ ابوهافداها ”‌ [May his father be sacrificed to her].

Once, the Prophet (peace be upon him and his descendants) saw Ali and Fatimah (peace be upon them), grinding wheat. He asked, “who gives her place to me to turn the mill?”‌ Ali said to Fatimah (A.S), “rise, ‘cause you are tired?”‌ and then the Prophet (peace be upon him and his descendants) sat on her place and continued her job.

Even on his point of death, she was closest to the Prophet (peace be upon him and his descendants). The Prophet (peace be upon him and his descendants) whispered in her ear, “Dear Fatimah, sit beside me, and recite Qur’an”‌. Yes, the whispers and Qur’an recitation of Fatima (peace be upon her) could sooth the Prophet (peace be upon him and his descendants).

3. She is Ali’s wife:

As stated before, if there was no Fatimah (peace be upon her), there would be no one deserving to be her husband. Her marriage was determined by the Word of Revelation. She was a wife, kind and the perfect symbol ofلتسکنو ایها ; confidant with her husband…

She never shattered her family estate under the pretext of ornament and did not make the life bitter for her husband for the false worldly allure.

They had a house, apparently made of clay; a house, void of ornaments, but full of purity, sincerity, faith, piety, and chastity. Their dishes consisted of wooden and earthen bowls, but their soul bowls were full of grandeur and overfilled with cordiality and affection.

 

Her stances were stances for the right, and her sorrow was the sorrow for the issue (Islam), and her joy was the joy of the message; the depth of Islam was manifested in the depth of her personality and she amassed within herself all the Islamic human virtues, since being the Doyenne of the Women of the World implied that she should be at the highest level, spiritually and morally.

This is why we are intensely interested in Fatimah al-Zahra' (s.a) because when we remember her we remember the message and her role, and remember Islam and the dynamic issues in which Fatimah (s.a) was a central figure; hence we feel that she is with us in all of our concerns and that she is alive among us. There are people in history who finish when they die, because their existence is encapsulated in the span of their lives; there are others who remain alive as long as life exists, and who continue as long as their message continues and as long as there are people who are open to their message. Fatimah (s.a) is placed at the pinnacle of these people, since you cannot mention the Messenger of Allah (PBUH) without mentioning her. She was his product and the spirit inside his body; and you cannot mention Ali (a.s) without mentioning her as she was his companion in life and suffering; and you cannot mention Imam Hassan, Imam Hussein and Zainab (s.a) without mentioning her as she was the secret of purity in their childhood and of their personalities throughout their lives.

This is the secret of Fatimah (s.a) that obliges us to keep her in our minds and our hearts as a message and thought, not just the cause of tears. We cannot but open up to her with our tears, but more important than that is to open ourselves to her message because she lived all her tears and all her life for the Message and never for one moment lived it for herself.

This is the secret of all the members of Ahl-ul- Bayt (a.s): they lived for the whole of Islam and gave their lives for Islam and the Message.

Not an inflation of the past

Talking about Fatimah (s.a) involves no unwarranted inflation of history. Besides, with her virtues, she represents the living present and a bright future. We have seen her in her motherhood as the greatest of mothers, and we have seen the cruelty imposed by that role on her weak body, but she withstood all this with an open mind and with patience. Then we saw her fulfilling her different missionary responsibilities when she stirred up the conscience of the nation, and presented the greatest lesson in how to deal with the circumstances following the death of the Prophet (PBUH). She held that stance which has proved itself over time and stayed valid to the present, and will ever be.

Studying the experience of Fatimah (s.a) is not a reversion to the past, and hence a diminution of ourselves within those limitations, but rather a question of trying to draw lessons from a pioneering experience by an infallible personality - an experience which has never been confined to the past but one which shall ever be current and renewed.

A role model for both sexes

When we present Fatimah (s.a) as a role model, we are not talking about women only. We present her as a role model for both men and women because she is a constituent element of Islam and the Muslim people as a whole, not just of women - even if there was a big role as woman in her life.

Muslim women can take a lot from Fatimah (s.a) when they know how to spend their time valuably and how to open themselves up, with all their powers, to knowledge, spirituality and dynamic attitude, according to their abilities.

Love versus allegiance

Love for the great personalities and individuals with a mission are not only an emotion but a stance. This is the difference between being a loving person and being a proponent follower: allegiance is a stance while love is emotion. It is natural that the situation must live the emotion and move by it, but it should move beyond it to open up to the whole of the message through opening up to the bearers of the message, who represent its legitimacy.

Yes! The value of what Ahl-ul- Bayt (a.s) say and do is that it represents the whole legitimacy. When a person takes words of knowledge or rulings, or follows a line of conduct which can be right or wrong, he will be puzzled as to the legitimacy of what he has seen or heard; but if he depends on infallible examples who have been purified from abominable acts, then there can be no place for falsehood, and no place for injustice. He will have taken the truth from a pure fountain, in which nothing can muddy its purity.

Imam Sadiq (a.s) said: 'My hadith is the hadith of my father, and my father's is that of my grandfather, and my grandfather's is that of Imam Hussein, and Imam Hussein's is that of Imam Hassan, and Imam Hassan's is that of the Commander of the Faithful, and the Commander of the Faithfull's is that of the Messenger of Allah, and the Messenger of Allah's is the word of Allah the Great and Almighty.'

 

Reciting the Tasbih of Hazrat Zahra (s.a.) before sleeping

Imam Jafar Sadiq (a.s) says: “One who recites the Tasbih of Hazrat Zahra (s.a) at the time of going to bed, he will be accounted amongst those who have remembered Allah a lot.” (Wasaaelush Shia Vol 4, Pg. 1026)

In the book ‘Wasaaelush Shia’ there is a tradition from Imam Muhammad Baqir (a.s) which says that at the time of going to bed, Tasbih of Hazrat Zahra (s.a) and then Maoozatain (Surah Falaq and Surah Naas) and Ayatul Kursi should be recited.

Teaching the recitation of Tasbih to the children

In this connection, Imam Jafar Sadiq (a.s) says:

“O Abu Haroon! We order our children to recite the Tasbih of Hazrat Zahra (s.a) in the same manner as we order them for the performance of Namaz” (Al-Kafi, Kitabus Salaat, Pg. 343)

Reciting Tasbih made out of the Turbah of grave of Imam Hussein (a.s):

It is better that the Tasbih of Hazrat Zahra (s.a) be made of the pure Turbah (soil) of the grave of Imam Hussein (a.s)

It has been narrated from Imame Zaman (a.s): “ One who just holds the Tasbih made out of the soil of the grave of Imam Hussein (a.s) and does not do any dhikr, even then for him will be written the reward of having recited the Azkaar” (Wasaaelush Shia Vol 4, Pg. 1033)

Imam Jafar Sadiq (a.s) says:

“One dhikr or Isteghfaar recited on the Tasbih made out of the soil of the grave of Imam Hussein (a.s) is equal to 70 such dhikr recited on any other thing.” (Wasaaelush Shia Vol 4, Pg. 1033)

Some noteworthy points:

1. One of the conditions of worship, rather the most important of them all, is being attentive in its performance. This is specially so in the recitation of Tasbih of Hazrat Zahra (s.a).

2. There should be continuity in the recitation of the Tasbih without any interruptions. This has been the practice of our holy Imams (a.s) (Al- Kaafi, Kitaabus Salaat, Pg. 343)

1. In case one has a doubt regarding the number of Azkaar that he has recited, then he should start again. This is according to a tradition from Imam Sadiq (a.s) (Al- Kaafi, Kitaabus Salaat, Pg. 342)

Thus, by the grace of Allah and the blessings of Imam Mahdi (a.s), we have come to realize the importance of reciting Tasbih of Hazrat Zahra (s.a) and its merits. We pray to Allah to grant us the Taufeeq that we may be regular in its recitation.

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Merits of Hazrat Fatimah’s Tasbih - Part 1

Allahu Akbar - 34 times, Alhamdulillah - 33 times and Subhanallah - 33 times.

This is what we call the Tasbih of Hazrat Fatimah (s.a).

The Tasbih of Hazrat Fatimah (s.a) is from the emphatically recommended acts of worship in the Islamic Shariat. It has immense significance in the eyes of the infallible Imams (a.s) and the Shiite jurists. It is a simple act of worship from the aspect of performance; however, its effect, reward and merit are abundant. This can be gauged from the fact that when the Holy Prophet (PBUH) wished to impart this act of worship to his daughter Hazrat Zahra (s.a), he declared,

‘O Fatimah! I have granted you something that is superior to a maidservant and to the world and everything in it.’ (Aasaar o Asraare Tasbih Zahra (s.a), Pg. 7)

In this context Imam Muhammad Baqir (a.s) informs, ‘Allah is not worshipped by anything more meritorious than the Tasbih of Fatima Zahra (s.a). Had there been any worship superior to it, most surely the Holy Prophet (PBUH) would have granted it to Hazrat Fatimah (s.a).’ (Wasaaelush Shea, Vol 4 Pg. 1024)

Imam Jafar Sadiq (a.s) says about the dearness of this Tasbih in the eyes of the Imams of the Ahl-ul-bayt (a.s):

“Reciting Tasbih of Hazrat Zahra (s.a) everyday after every Namaz is liked by me more than reciting one thousand rakats of (mustahab) namaz”. (Al-Kafi, Kitabus Salaat)

Reciting this Tasbih results in forgiveness of sins. In a tradition, Imam Muhammad Baqir (a.s) says:

“One, who recites the Tasbih of Hazrat Zahra (s.a) and then seeks forgiveness, will be forgiven”. (Wasaaelush Shia Vol 4, Pg. 1023)

It also results in driving Satan away and in the satisfaction of Allah as tradition from Imam Mohammad Baqir (a.s) says:“(Reciting Tasbih) drives away Satan and makes results in the satisfaction of Allah”. (Wasaaelush Shia Vol 4, Pg. 1023)

Reciting Tasbih regularly delivers the reciter from adversities in this world as well as the hereafter. One of the graceful effects of the regular recitation of the Tasbih of Hazrat Zahra (s.a) is that it delivers the reciter from adversities and hardships in this world as well as the hereafter. Thus one should not ignore its benefits and effects and should not be careless and lazy in its recitation

In this connection, Imam Jafar Sadiq (a.s) says to one of his companions:

“You do adhere to it and be regular about its recitation, for surely one who is steadfast upon its recitation will not encounter adversity.” (Al-Kafi, Kitabus Salaat, Pg. 343)

How to recite Tasbih of Hazrat Zahra (s.a):

According to a tradition from Imam Jafar Sadiq, one should recite Allaho Akbar 34 times, Alhamdulillah 33 times and Subhaanallah 33 times. (Behaarul Anwaar Vol 85, Pg. 334)

Reciting Tasbih immediately after Namaz

Tasbih of Hazrat Zahra (s.a) should be recited immediately on completion of Namaz. This entails that as soon as the reciter has finished the Namaz, he should remain seated in the same position of Tashahud without moving his feet and doing any other thing, immediately he should commence the recitation of the Tasbih. The reciting of Tasbih immediately on completion of Namaz has a special excellence, which is not there otherwise.

The above statement can be evidenced by the following tradition of Imam Jafar Sadiq (a.s) wherein he states:

“One who recites the Tasbih of Hazrat Zahra (s.a) before even moving his feet, Allah will forgive him.” (At-Tahzeeb of Shaikh Toosi (r.a), Vol 2, Pg. 105)

Imam Jafar Sadiq (as) has said: “One who recites the Tasbih of Hazrat Zahra (s.a) after a wajib namaz before he stretches out his legs (i.e. he recites the Tasbih while he is in the posture of Tashahud) , then Jannat (Paradise) becomes wajib upon him” (Falaahus Saael by Ibne Taaoos (r.a.), Pg. 165)

Another tradition from Imam Sadiq (a.s) says: “One who glorifies Allah after the obligatory prayer through the Tasbih of Hazrat Zahra (s.a.), and then follows it up by saying ‘Laa elaaha illallaho’, Allah will forgive his sins.” (Al-Kafi, Kitabus Salaat, Pg. 342)

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 Merits of Hazrat Fatimah"s Tasbih - Part 2

Fatimah (peace be upon her) is a woman, but has several crucial roles and in each role a real sample. She is a woman, the sample of leadership and grandeur, the one, through fulfilling her roles, has managed to give a practical face to some aspects of the Prophetic mission.

In achieving her role as a sample, she has got a heavy load over her shoulders; the motherhood responsibility, caring the people, helping the poor, administering justice in the society, looking after children, family management, etc. Expressing all Fatimah’s aspects and roles needs a separate and lengthy book, but whatever can be stated here in brief consists of:

1. Fatimah (peace be upon her) as a Muslim:

Before being the Prophet’s daughter, Ali’s wife or the mother of eleven Imams, she is a Muslim, a worthy Muslim, and before being a woman with different roles, she is Allah’s servant. She does not forget Him even for a moment, and never neglect the heavy load of responsibility.

She is a Muslim, who achieves worship and from the other side, fulfils family duties as well as social duties. And how active, energetic, and successful she has been in dividing her time and facilities for achieving her mission.

Her nightly vigils , her worship, her essential social responsibilities, her important political conflicts and campaigns to stand against injustice in the society, her sense of confidence with Ali (peace be upon him), and her teachings for women all and all were in Allah’s way and for His satisfaction.

2. As a Daughter:

Fatimah (peace be upon her) is a daughter, pure and clean, duteous and obedient. Although she is her father’s dear, she reveres the Divine position of her father. She calls him”‌ Rasool Allah”‌ that means the Messenger of Allah, and when she is asked by father about the reason, she answers, “The holy Qur’an addresses you as so.”‌

She is a daughter full of affection so that she was called “Omme Abiha”‌ that means the mother of her father, because she was very kind towards her father like a mother to her son.

While the enemy threw dust to the Prophet (peace be upon him and his descendants), she cleansed them by his figure, caressed him as if this is her mission to soothe to her father, have sympathy towards him, and delicate her affection as a reaction against the people’s wrath and oppression.

3. As a Wife:

Unlike her sisters, she married a poor but illuminated man in order to deconstruct the inner group marriage (the marriage of the people in the same level), and more important is that in order to provide the family, she worked along with her husband.

Despite all pains, Fatimah (peace be upon her) is satisfied with herself, because she does some significant roles in and out of the house through which she proves the importance of the women in the society.

She is Ali’s company in life struggles, his confidant and his consultant in life affairs. She helps Ali (peace be upon him) to administer his right.

She is an ideal wife. Her love towards Ali (peace be upon him) is real; she loves him for Allah’s sake and pleasure, and in this way, she never said any discouraging word to Ali (peace be upon him) throughout her life.

4. As a Mother:

What kind of mother was she! A sample and unique. What kind of children did she bring up! What kind of flowers did she produce in her garden! All sincere and the real obedient to Allah. The children who devoted themselves for the people and had the responsibility of serving the religious laws and its revival.

She educated the children, who were the defenders of Islam; the guards of the sublime ideological values, and are stable in this way. One by his own peace [Imam Hassan (A.S)] and the other by his bloody revolution [Imam Hussein (A.S)] watered the Islam tree and made it grow.

Her daughters were well-reared and purposeful, zeineb and Kolthum (A.S) continued the mission of Imam Hassan and Hussein (A.S). They recorded the voice of Hussein in the day of Ashura, and in Kufa and Sham (Damascus) and on the way made the people hear it. Hussein’s martyrdom is completed by their efforts, and they were the loudspeakers of Hussein’s movement.

5. As a House Manageress:

Although she was the apple of the Prophet’s eyes, and there was no one nobler than her, she worked in the house and turned the mill so that her hands had injured.

She had made the house a place of peace so that when there were a lot of pressure on Ali (peace be upon him) due to sorrow, pains, difficulties, and disorders, he resorted to the house, hoping that through speaking to Fatima (peace be upon her), he could be tranquilized.

She kept the house clean, peaceful, and calm, and although nothing is found for eating, it was overflowing with sincerity and love; her purity and tenderness was the food of the household and made them satisfied.

At the night of her marriage, she went to Ali’s house along with the Prophet (peace be upon him and his descendants), the latter said to her, “My daughter, whatever is related to the inner side of the house belongs to you and whatever is related to out of the house belongs to Ali. Ali has the responsibility of providing the house economic aspects, and you have the responsibility of providing the peace and quietness of the house.”‌

6. As a Lady of the House:

In the house, there existed a lot of chores; on the other hand, she was young, and had a number of children while each of them needed care. Therefore, she must have a fellow-work but not a slave maid. she shared the chores with her and lent a hand to her. Also, she was not as an aristocrat to sit and order, but she always gave a hand to her; washed clothes, cleaned the house, milled the wheat, etc.

Unlike the aristocrats, Fatimah (peace be upon her) did not make the maid do everything and be the cause of the husband’s sensuality and make up like doll.

The Prophet (peace be upon him and his descendants) once said to her, “My daughter, a maid is a human and must be treated as a man”‌. Her treatment towards a maid signifies Fatimah’s justice that she regards the equality with her maid in the house chores.

 

 

Fatimah (peace be upon her) was a responsible and duteous woman, believing that she was not able to think of herself alone and lead a life for her own sake, because Islamic umma belongs to all and regards all people as the members of one body.

“ کنتم خیرامة أخرجت للناس”‌

She had got this strong sense of responsibility since childhood and had been her father’s confidant when she was only five or six. She lent her mother a hand in house works, and when she grew up, she felt sympathetic towards all the people and was willing to solve their problems.

1. She was parallel with people:

Why Fatimah (peace be upon her) was slapped in the face? Why the enemy whipped her? Was she meant to promote her husband’s position? Was she meant to build up a reputation for herself? Wasn’t she the daughter of the Prophet (peace be upon him and his descendants)? Had she done anything to abuse this honour and title?

The history has recorded that all Fatimah’s effort and anxiety, and all her activities were for the sake of the people. She was of the opinion that by the usurpation of Ali’s right, the right of the people keeping Ali (peace be upon him) away from the caliphate is oppression to the humanity. Due to this fact, she is ready to tolerate all pains so as to stop occurring such oppression.

Observing the necklace in Fatimah’s neck, the Prophet (peace be upon him and his descendants) pointed out to her by his look that there were more vital necessities in the society that must be regarded. Fatimah (peace be upon her) opened the necklace and sent it to her father. The father then said, “Dear Fatimah! You are of me. We must attend to the people’s pains”‌. Then, he spent it to ameliorate the life of the poor through selling it. She thinks of the people so that she would not like anybody to deceive the Ummah through her martyrdom and prove his leadership through attending her funeral ceremony and carrying her coffin.

2. She is in Charge of the Women Leadership:

Before the women be abused or taken as a means, Fatimah (peace be upon her) endeavoured to save them from being a plaything.

She raised an opportunity in which women could set themselves free from being ignorant and inferior and made her utmost so as to achieve a noble character for them. She tried to save the lives of the women from absurdity, not to be a means for the satisfaction of men’s passion, and not to jeopardize their grandeur and honour.

She taught the women how to obstruct the way of exploitation and be free by regarding their Qur’anic and Islamic character. Fatimah (peace be upon her) proved that woman should not be bargained as goods with a heavy marriage portion. She also proved that marriage just for the satisfaction of the passion and ambition is a pernicious form of social life and the cause of collapse of woman’s value.

3. She is a Sample for Women:

Fatimah (peace be upon her) is a sample for all the women at all times, especially those who are willing to preserve their honour and defend their purity and piety, since her age to Doomsday.

She is a perfect sample for women in all aspects of man’s life. She is the sample and symbol of freedom and is far from impurity and sin, slavery and captivity. She aimed to teach the people how to elevate their souls instead of indecency and insipid adornment and; therefore, managed to attract the hearts through this way. She taught the women that they could do manly jobs in case of necessity, but have to keep their eyes pure from the strangers and preserve their purity and nobility.

She also taught them how to rise against the oppression, usurpation, and injustice. To teach them the aforementioned lessons practically, Fatimah (peace be upon her) tried so much that the flames of her life light were extinguished. But she never stopped fulfilling her mission until the end of her life.

4. She is at the Service of the People of Society:

She was always thinking about the people and their needs before thinking about herself, and she knew it as a responsibility for herself, and in this way, she thought of both material and spiritual aspects. She had devoted her life to them, thinking day and night how to ameliorate the quality of this service.

She dedicated her wedding dress to the poor at her wedding night and went to Ali’s house with her old dress.

Like her husband and children, she dedicated her food which they had to break their fast to the orphan, poor, and captive for three successive nights as the Prophet (peace be upon him and his descendants) said in this regard,

“واغوثاه اهل بیت محمد یموتون من الجوع”‌.

Although she knew that there existed no food storage in the house, she spent the Fadak income for the poor.

She sent her house curtain to her father in order to provide a shirt for the poor.

Sometimes, she dedicated her share of food to the poor and remained hungry.

She was worshipping and praying during the night and wished luck and prosperity for the people first.

Yes, she was a woman, but thought of human beings as the divine prophets and guardians. Also, she was ruthful and merciful to the believers.

Yes, she should be so, because she is the source of the abundant blessing, and has learnt the lesson of the philanthropy in the school of revelation and under the supervision of a professor as Mohammed (A.S), the father of humanity. She should be benevolent toward people, because she is under the supervision the one, the holy

Qur’an said about him, “ وما ارسلناک الا رحمة للعالمین”‌.