There began the married life of Ali and Fâtemeh. From the first, every chore was divided among them : what was inside the house, came to Fâtemeh’s responsability, and what was outside of their home came to Ali's responsability.

Their life was very simple, and required many efforts, so much so that Fâtemeh’s hands soon became hurt and painful, from the manual mill...

Finally a day came when Fâtemeh, in utmost despair, asked his father to give her a maid. His father asked which of the two things were more precious to her ? 

A maid, or something much deeper and much better...? Ali was near them; Fâtemeh, with her husband's help, chose what was the better of the two, and our Prophet concluded that the better thing was indeed a prayer that every muslim should feel grateful and most honored to pronounce it, after the daily prayers. He explained:" You have to say 34 times" Allâho Akbar", 33 times" Alhamdolellâh ", and 33 times " Sobhânallâh "

The fact is, their poverty was because they helped the poor. They gave so much to the needy that the reader may indeed feel confused...

One wishes to know  if  they were indeed humans, or were they some heavenly creatures, come to Earth?

It is indeed impossible to comprehend such spiritual greatness and generosity and abnegation...

Fâtemeh was a pure example in her life, but also in her ways of praying. When she would finish her chores, and after having taken care of her little children, she used to begin her long prayers In friday nights, she used to pray until dawn, and cry and ask God that the whole humanity be granted the Divine

Salvation...

The generous gift of the Prophet

 

When the day came that the famous combat of Kheybar took place, and after the great heroism of Ali Ibn Abi Tâleb before the great gates of Kheybar’s dungeon, the war ended finally, and victory belonged to Muslims.

There was a little village near Kheybar by the name of" Fadak ", and its inhabitants had made peace with the Prophet. They had offered him half of their village to make peace with him, and to show him their loyalty, in return, they had asked the permission to remain in their homeland. This piece of land, became a possession of the Prophet. The Messenger of God gave the money that came from his land to the poor families of Bani Hashem Tribe.

But with the coming of the sourate : Roum, [ where it said ]: " You should

give your relatives' due ", the Messenger of God, offered Fadak to Fâtemeh, by

God's Command.

 

After the death of Fatima, she began a new life in history. Fatima appears as a halo in the visages of all of the oppressed who later be­come the multitudes of Islam. All of the usurped, extorted, oppressed, sufferers, all of those whose rights have been destroyed and sacrificed by pressure and have been deceived, had the name of Fatima as their slogan.

The memory of Fatima grew with the love, emotions and wonderful faith of the men and women, who throughout the history of Islam, fought for freedom and justice. Throughout the centuries they were nourished under the merciless and bloody lashes of the Caliphates. Their cries and anger grew and overflowed from their wounded hearts.

This is why in the history of all Moslem nations and among the deprived masses of the Islamic community, Fatima is the source of the inspiration for freedom, the desire of that which is a right, the seekers of justice, the resisters of oppression, cruelty, crime and discrimination.

It is most difficult to speak about the personality of Fatima. Fatima is the woman that Islam wants a woman to be. The concept of her visage is painted by the Prophet himself. He melted her and made her pure in the fire of difficulties, poverty, resistance, deep understanding and the wonder of humanity.

She is a symbol in all the various dimensions of being a woman.

The symbol of a daughter when facing her father.

The symbol of a wife when facing her husband.

The symbol of a mother when facing her children.

The symbol of a responsible, fighting woman when facing her time and the fate of her society.

She herself is an Imam, a guide, that is, an outstand­ing example of someone to follow, an ideal type of woman and one who bears witness to any woman who wishes to 'become herself' through her own choice.

She answers the question of how to be a woman with her wonderful childhood, her constant struggling and resisting on two fronts, inside and out, in the home of her father, in the home of her husband, in her society, in her thoughts and behavior and in her life.

In the expression of all of the amazing aspects of the great spirit of Fatima, that which causes the most wonder in me, is this that Fatima is the traveling companion, steps in the same steps, flies together with the great spirit of Ali, through the ascension of humanity towards completeness and the stages of the descent of the spirit and the psyche.

She was not just a wife to Ali. Ali looked upon her as a friend, a friend who was familiar with his pains and his great wishes. She was his endless refuge, the one who listened to his secrets. She was the only companion of his loneliness. This is why Ali looked at her with another look and also at her children.

After Fatima, Ali took other wives and he had children from them. But from the beginning, he separates the children who were from Fatima from his other children. The latter are called 'Banff Ali',[that is, sons of Ali] and the former, 'Banff Fatima' [the children of Fatima].

Isn't it strange! When face to face with their father, and he, Ali, the children are related to Fatima. And we saw that the Prophet also saw her with different eyes. From among all of his daughters he would only discipline Fatima. He only relies upon her. From an early age, she accepted the great invitation.

I do not know what to say about her. How to say it? I wanted to imitate the French writer who was speaking one day in a conference about the Virgin Mary. He said, 'For 1700 years all of the speakers have spoken of Mary. For 1700 years, ail philosophers and thinkers of various nations of the East and West have spoken of the values of Mary. For 1700 years, the poets of the world have expressed all of their creative efforts and power in their praise of Mary. For 1700 years, all of the painters and artists have created wonderful works of art showing the visage and states of Mary. But the totality of all that has been said, thought and the efforts of all the artist through­out all of these many centuries were not able to sufficiently describe the greatness of Mary as these words, 'Mary was the mother of Jesus Christ'.'

And I wanted to begin in this manner with Fatima. I got stuck. I wished to say, 'Fatima is the daughter of the great Khadijeh.' I sensed it is not Fatima. I wished to say, 'Fatima is the daughter of Mohammad (‘s).' I sensed it is not Fatima. I wished to say, 'Fatima is the wife of Ali (‘a).' I sensed it is not Fatima. I wished to say, 'Fatima is the mother of Hasan and Hosein.' I sensed it is not Fatima. I wished to say, 'Fatima is the mother of Zainab.' I still sensed it is not Fatima.