Marriage of Fatima (pbuh)

Fâtemeh had many suitors. As one would imagine, becoming the son in law of Hazrate Mohammad-e Mostafâ [Peace be upon him! ], was something to be desired, and everybody wished to become such, from the bottom of his heart, and to be granted this supreme honor...

But also because a gracious lady such as Fâtemeh, who was great in wisdom,beauty, and had the most sweetest of the caracters, doubled this fervent wish between men. But Hazrate Mohammad-e Mostafâ [Peace be uon him!], refused all her suitors, and had always the same answer :" I am waiting for the Divine

Command ..."

Finally Ali Ibn Abi Tâleb [ May the Divine Greetings reach him! ], who was our Prophet's cousin and his beloved brother, and had grown up beside the holy Prophet himself, took his courage into his hands and asked for the hand of Fâtemeh. He came respectfully to the house of our Prophet, and knelt in complete respect and submission before our beloved Prophet, without uttering any word, whatsoever, but just waiting...

Our Prophet, by seeing him thus, asked him curiously:" Son of Abou Tâleb! Why have you come to see me ? "

He answered:" I have come to ask for the hand of Fâtemeh... "Our Prophet was overjoyed and he said:" Very well! I welcome this announcement." and then nothing more. Ali asked permission to take his leave. When the people who knew him well, saw him, they asked him  most curiously about the outcome of his request.

Ali repeated the sentence that our Prophet had given him. Those who were listening said:" You should satisfy yourself with this answer. It seems that our Prophet has granted you your wish, and has accepted you into his household."

The fact is : if Ali had, not come forth, nobody could have become Fâtemeh’s husband. This irrefutable truth is assured by what Hazrate Imâm Sâdigh has said about this matter :" If God hadn't created Ali, nobody would have been dignified or worthy enough to become Fâtemeh’s husband..."

Our Prophet, talked about this matter to his beloved daughter, and asked her opinion. Fâtemeh, in front of his father, blushed and kept quiet. But our Prophet had seen enough : he had seen the sign of deep joy in Fâtemeh’s face, and had known that her daughter's silence, was in fact her approval. Our

Prophet came back quickly to tell the good news to Ali .

Our Prophet then required from Ali to respect the custom of giving a dowry to his daughter. Ali had to determine the sum of money that he wished to give to his wife to be... Ali began to enumerate his very limited possessions and said:" All I have is one sword, one camel who helps me bring out water from the well,

and one armour..."

Our Prophet answered:" Go my son, and sell your armour. Then you could procure the sum of my daughter's dowry. "

Ali sold his armoar at 480 dirhams, and then came back quickly to give this sum to our Prophet, and to submit himself to his wishes for further demands. Our Prophet took a small sum of it to buy some possessions for their home [ Ali and Fâtemeh’s ], he also took a small portion of it to buy some perfume for her daughter, and to buy some things for the wedding night.

The list of this simple dowry, is as follows:

* a dress at the price of 7 Dirhams

* a fabric at the price of 4 Dirhams

* a black towel from Kheybar

* a bed, woven with palm leaves

* two cotton mattresses : one made of palm leaves

* the other one from sheep’s wool

* four leather pillows ...

* a woolen curtain

* a bed

* a manual mill

* a leather goatskin [ water skin ]

* a wooden bowl

* a bowl for milking

* a bowl for water

* a green pitcher

* some earthen pots and jars When those ho had bought these things, came back home, they showed this items all to our Prophet and he declared: " May God bestow from His Heavenly Provisions

to this family..." And then the vows of marriage took place...

A month passed by without Ali having the courage to take his bride to his home. Ali went everyday to the mosque, but with no result... Finally, one of the most respected wives of our Prophet said sympathetically

to Ali:" Do you wish me to ask respectfully from our Prophet, to grant you the

permission to take your bride to your home? "

Ali joyously and gratefully aknowledged this and confinned his wish to settle this matter. When our Prophet knew of this matter, he said:" I was expecting Ali to come to me about this matter, and I was hoping that he would tell me himself about his wish…"

But Ali answered:" OProphet of God! I was verily ashamed to ask you such permission ..."

So then, our Prophet asked his wives to prepare a room in their home [ our Prophet's house ] for Ali & Fâtemeh.Then a great number of Ansars [ immigrants ] and also from the Christian community were invited to come to Fâtemeh’s marriage banquet and eat their fill and enjoy themselves… From what history has left us, that night our Prophet, with his gracious and generous hand, provided miraculous food for four thousand guests… Then he put the hand of Fâtemeh into Ali's hand, and prayed for them and said:" May God bring happiness and joy to the beloved daughter of His Prophet!"

Farideh Mahadavi-Damghani

August 2001

[ from Tir Publishing ]