PESHAWAR NIGHTS

Sultanu'l-Wa'izin Shirazi

Eighth Session, Part 13

FATIMA WAS FREE FROM WORLDLY ATTACHMENT

Well-Wisher: First, you said that Fatima's anger was not religious but worldly. You have expressed this view without careful study. According to the principles of the Qur'anic verses and the hadith of the Holy Prophet, no perfect believer would ever show such an indignation, not to speak of Fatima, whose eminence is evident from the "Verse of Purity": "Verse of Mubahala" and the Sura Hal Ata of the Holy Qur'an. (76:1)

There are numerous hadith in your and our authentic books that Fatima occupied the highest rank of iman (belief) and that the Holy Prophet had explicitly said about her: "Verily, Allah has filled my daughter, Fatima, with belief from head to foot."

FATIMA'S INDIGNATION MOTIVATED BY RELIGION

Any believer, man or woman, whose special mark is to admit the truth, would never show any indignation when a judge issues a just order. Nor would such a believer cling to that anger and wrath till his death insisting in his will that none of those who were in any way connected with those orders should be allowed to join in his funeral prayers.

Moreover Fatima, about whose purity Allah Himself gives evidence, could never make a false claim, so that a judge might reject her claim.

Second, if Lady Fatima's indignation was merely "worldly indignation" as you call it, or her disappointment in having her claim rejected, her anger should have subsided soon, particularly after the regret shown by those responsible for her anger. There should have been no grief in her heart. The Holy Prophet said: "One of the signs of a believer is that he does not naturally nurse any grudge based on carnal sentiments, against anybody." Also the Holy Prophet said: "If a believer happens to commit a fault, the aggrieved believer does not feel antipathy towards him for more than three days." So the pure and truthful Fatima Zahra, who was, according to the testimony of Allah Almighty, imbued with faith from head to foot, could never bear malice against anybody. And it is acknowledged by both sects that Fatima left this world angry with Abu Bakr and Umar. So it follows from this that Fatima's indignation was purely religious. When she saw that the order was passed against her in violation of the commands of Allah and her holy father, she felt furious with religious displeasure and this was that anger, which incurred Allah's and His Prophet's wrath.

FATIMA'S SILENCE DID NOT INDICATE HER ACQUIESCENCE

Third, You have said that since Fatima's silence meant that she acquiesced in the decision. Here again you are mistaken. Silence does not necessarily mea nconcurrence. Sometimes the oppressor's rigidity forces acquiescence.

Fatima was not only grieved, but she left this world indignant. Both Bukhari and Muslim wrote: "Fatima was indignant with Abu Bakr. She kept aloof from him and did not talk with him for the rest of her life."

ALI WAS NOT FREE TO ACT DURING HIS CALIPHATE

Fourth, you said that because Ali did not, during the period of his caliphate, take possession of Fadak and return it to the descendants of Fatima, this indicated his acquiescence in the decision of the previous caliphs. Even here you are mistaken. The Holy Imam was not free to act during the period of his caliphate so as to have stopped any innovation or restore any right. Whenever he intended to take such a step, there was immediate opposition.

If he had returned Fadak to the descendants of Fatima, his opponents, particularly Mu'awiya and his followers, would have claimed that Ali acted against the practices adopted by Abu Bakr and Umar. Besides this, in order to pass such orders, authority and independence were necessary. But people had not allowed him such power. He could not introduce anything which would have violated the precepts and practices of the previous caliphs. Ali's powerlessness is evident from the following two examples.

Since the previous caliphs had removed the pulpit from its place where the Prophet had placed it, the Holy Imam intended to return it to its original place. But the people opposed him and would not tolerate anything contrary to the practice of Abu Bakr and Umar, even though it might be compatible with the practice of the Holy Prophet.

Similarly, when the Holy Imam forbade the people to offer congregational tarawih prayers, they rose against him and claimed that Ali wanted to change the way of Caliph Umar.

Nawab: Respected Sir! What was tarawih, which Ali forbade be offered in congregation?

Well-Wisher: Literally tarawih is the plural of tarawia, which meant "sitting." Later it came to mean "sitting for rest" after the four rak'ats of prayer during the Ramadhan nights. Then it came to mean four rak'ats of recommended prayer. It is a clear ruling of Islamic jurisprudence that only obligatory prayers may be offered in congregation, whereas recommended prayers in congregation are prohibited. The Holy Prophet himself said: "Verily, the offering of nafila (recommended prayers) in congregation during the nights of Ramadhan is an innovation. The Namaz-e-Chasht (sometimes called Dhuha and recited in the forenoon) is a sin. O people! do not say nafila prayers of Ramadhan in congregation, and do not offer Namaz-e-Chasht. To be sure, performing a minor act of worship which is according to the sunna is better than performing a major act of worship which is an innovation. Let it be known to you that every innovation is a transgression and every transgression leads to Hell."

One night during the period of his caliphate in 14 A.H. Umar entered the mosque. He saw that the people had gathered there. He asked them why they had come together. The people said that they had assembled to offer sunna prayers. Umar said: "This performance is an innovation, but it is a good innovation."

Bukhari quotes in his Sahih from Abdu'r-Rahman Bin Abdu'l-Qari that when the caliph saw the people offering prayers individually, he told them that congregational prayer was preferable. He ordered Ubayy Bin Ka'b to lead the prayers in congregation. When he came to the mosque on the next night, he saw the people offering congregational prayers in obedience to his command. He said: "How good an innovation it is."

It became the common practice until the time of Amiru'l-Mu'minin. He prohibited it, saying that since it did not exist in the time of the Holy Prophet, it was then forbidden; in fact it should not be allowed to continue.

When he came to Kufa, the Kufans asked the Holy Imam to appoint for them an Imam to lead the nafila prayers during the nights of Ramadhan. The Imam forbade them to offer that prayer in congregation. In spite of that, since the people had been accustomed to it, they did not follow the Imam's order. As soon as the Imam left that place, they gathered together and appointed one of them to lead the prayers in congregation. The news soon reached the Holy Imam, who called his eldest son Imam Hasan and asked him to take a dagger and forbid those people to offer recommended prayers in congregation. When the people saw this, they made loud cries saying: "O Ali! Hasan has come, and he does not allow us to offer prayers."

Although they knew that this practice of offering communal recommended prayers did not exist during the time of the Holy Prophet, they did not follow Ali's command which conformed with the orders of the Holy Prophet.

So how could Ali restore Fadak to the descendants of Fatima? If he had done so and said that it had been unjustly confiscated, the people would have cried that Ali Bin Abi Talib was inclined towards the world and was usurping the right of the Muslims for their own descendants. Hence, he thought it proper to be patient. Since the real claimant had left this world, he suspended his claim to it, so that when the last of the divinely guided Imams comes to restore rights to their just claimants, he will secure his right.

In such a state of affairs the silence of the holy Imam did not mean that he was satisfied with the decision. If he had considered the action of the previous caliphs just, he would not have argued his case before them. Also, he would not have expressed his anguish and displeasure and would not have invoked Allah to be the arbiter.

It is recorded in Nahju'l-Balagha that Ali in a letter to the Governor of Basra, Uthman Bin Hunaif Ansari wrote: "Among those things on which the sky casts its shadow was Fadak, which was in our possession. But a group showed niggardliness and the other side, Fatima, and her descendants withdrew from pursuing their claim. And the best Judge is Allah."

You said that Fatima was satisfied with the decision in the last days of her life and pardoned those responsible for it. I am afraid you are mistaken here. As has been proved beyond doubt earlier through reliable hadith that oppressed Lady remained indignant until she died.

ABU BAKR AND UMAR TRIED TO VISIT FATIMA TO EXPLAIN THEIR POINT, BUT IN VAIN

To prove my point of view I should like to submit the following report. Abu Muhammad Abdullah Bin Muslim Bin Qutayba Dinawari (died 276 A.H.) in his Ta'rikh-e-Khilafa'i'r-Rashidin, known as Al-Imama wa's-Siyasa, vol. I, p. 14 and others of your ulema, like Ibn Abi'l-Hadid, write in their authentic books:

"Umar asked Abu Bakr to go with him to visit Fatima. They had certainly enraged her. (Some reports say that it was Abu Bakr, who asked Umar to go with him to visit Fatima. This seems more plausible.)

In short, both of them went together to the door of Fatima but she did not allow them to visit her. When they asked Ali to intervene, he remained silent, but he allowed them to go in. When they went in and saluted her, she turned her face to the wall. Abu Bakr said: 'O part of the Prophet's liver, by Allah, I value the relationship of the Holy Prophet with you more than my relationship with my daughter, A'yesha. Would that I had died soon after the Holy Prophet of Allah. I know your rank and position more than any one else. If I have deprived you of your right of heritage, it was really because of the Holy Prophet, whom I myself heard saying: 'We prophets do not leave any heritage. What we leave is charity (for the Muslims).'

Fatima then said to Amiru'l-Mu'minin that she would remind them of a hadith of the Holy Prophet and ask them to say in the name of Allah if they had not heard the Holy Prophet saying it: 'Fatima's pleasure is my pleasure, Fatima's indignation is my indignation. So one who loves my daughter Fatima loves me; one who pleases Fatima, pleases me. One who offends Fatima, offends me.'

Both of them said: 'Yes we heard these words from the Holy Prophet of Allah.' Then Fatima said: 'I call Allah and His Angels to witness that both of you have offended me and did not treat me justly. When I meet the Holy Prophet I will certainly complain to him of you both.'

ABU BAKR REALIZED THE SERIOUSNESS OF FATIMA'S ANGER

Abu Bakr, being troubled at these words, began to weep and said: 'I seek Allah's shelter from the Holy Prophet's anger.' Fatima began to weep and said: 'I swear by Allah that I will certainly call down curses upon you in all my prayers.'

After hearing this, Abu Bakr went out, weeping. People gathered round him and consoled him. To them he said: 'Woe be to you. You are all happy, sitting with your wives comfortably, but I am in this wretched state. I do not need your allegiance. Rid me of it. By Allah, after what I have seen and heard from Fatima, I do not want any Muslim to suffer the burden of allegiance to me.'"

These reports, related by your own notable ulema, show that the oppressed Fatima remained indignant with Abu Bakr and Umar until the last hour of her life.

FATIMA WAS BURIED AT NIGHT, A PROOF OF HER LASTING DISPLEASURE WITH ABU BAKR AND UMAR

The clearest proof of Fatima's anger in this regard is that she made the following will to her husband, Amiru'l-Mu'minin Ali: "None of those persons who have oppressed me and snatched away my right should be allowed to join my funeral. They are certainly my and the Holy Prophet's enemies. Do not allow any one of them or their associates to offer funeral prayers for me. Bury me at night when people are asleep."

Bukhari writes in his Sahih that Ali complied with Lady Fatima's will and buried her at night quietly. People tried their best to find where Fatima was buried, but they could not. It is unanimously accepted that Fatima was, according to her will, buried at night. The Holy Prophet left a single daughter to serve as his memory. Your own ulema agree that he said: "Fatima is a part of my body. She is my legacy and trust. Respect her as you respect me. Never do anything to incite her anger against you. If she is angry with you, I also will be angry with you."

Mir Seyyed Ali Hamadani Faqih Shafi'i writes in his Mawaddatu'l-Qurba that the Holy Prophet said: "Those who grieve Fatima will be strictly dealt with by me on the Day of Judgment. Fatima's pleasure is my pleasure, and Fatima's anger is my anger. Woe be to him with whom Fatima is indignant."

How tragic is it that for all these declarations, the Community not only ignored her but also snatched away her right and caused her so intense torment. Even while still a young woman, she declared: "I was subjected to so many troubles that if days had been subjected to such troubles, they would have turned into nights."

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