Fatima (605/15-632 CE) was daughter of the Islamic prophet Muhammad and wife to his cousin Ali, the fourth of the Rashidun caliphs and the first Shia Imam.[1] Fatima has been compared to Mary, mother of Jesus, especially in Shia Islam.[2][3] Muhammad is said to have regarded her as the best of women[4][5] and the dearest person to him.[6] She is often viewed as an ultimate archetype for Muslim women and an example of compassion, generosity, and enduring suffering.[2] It is through Fatima that Muhammad's family line has survived to this date.[7][5] Her name and her epithets remain popular choices for Muslim girls.[8][9]

Names and titles

Her most common epithet is al-Zahra (lit. 'the one that shines, the radiant'),[4] which encodes her piety and regularity in prayer.[10] This epithet is believed by the Shia to be a reference to her primordial creation from light that continues to radiate throughout the creation.[4] The Shia Ibn Babawahy (d. 991) writes that, whenever Fatima prayed, her light shone for the inhabitants of the heavens as starlight shines for the inhabitants of the earth.[11] Other titles of her in Shia are al-Ṣiddiqa (lit. 'the righteous'),[9] al-Tahira (lit. 'the pure'),[12] al-Mubaraka (lit. 'the blessed'),[12] and al-Mansura (lit. 'helped by God').[4] Another Shia title is al-Muḥadditha, in view of the reports that angels spoke to Fatima on multiple occasions,[13][14][15] similar to Mary, mother of Jesus.[16]

Fatima is also recognized as Sayyidat Nisa' al-Janna (lit. 'mistress of the women of paradise') and Sayyidat Nisa' al-Alamin (lit. 'mistress of the women of the worlds') in Shia and Sunni collections of hadith, including the canonical Sunni Sahih al-Bukhari and Sahih Muslim.[5]

Fatima

The name Fatima is from the Arabic root f-t-m (lit. 'to wean') and signifies the Shia belief that she, her progeny, and her adherents (shi'a) have been spared from hellfire.[4][17][18] Alternatively, the word Fatima is associated in Shia sources with Fatir (lit. 'creator', a name of God) as the earthly symbol of the divine creative power.[19]

Kunyas

A kunya or honorific title of Fatima in Islam is Umm Abiha (lit. 'the mother of her father'), suggesting that Fatima was exceptionally nurturing towards her father.[20][21][6] Umm al-Aima (lit. 'the mother of Imams') is a kunya of Fatima in Twelver sources,[2] as eleven of the Twelve Imams descended from her.[22]

See also

References

Sources

  • Fedele, Valentina (2018). "FATIMA (605/15-632 CE)". In de-Gaia, Susan (ed.). Encyclopedia of Women in World Religions. ABC-CLIO. p. 56. ISBN 9781440848506.
  • Ernst, Carl (2003). Following Muhammad: Rethinking Islam in the Contemporary World. Chapel Hill: University of North Carolina Press. ISBN 9780807875803.
  • Qutbuddin, Tahera (2006). "FATIMA (AL-ZAHRA') BINT MUHAMMAD (CA. 12 BEFORE HIJRA-1 1/CA. 610-632)". In Meri, Josef W. (ed.). Medieval Islamic Civilization: An Encyclopedia. Routledge. pp. 248–50. ISBN 978-0415966900.
  • Buehler, Arthur F. (2014). "FATIMA (d. 632)". In Fitzpatrick, Coeli; Walker, Adam Hani (eds.). Muhammad in History, Thought, and Culture: An Encyclopaedia of the Prophet of God. ABC-CLIO. pp. 182–7. ISBN 9781610691772.
  • Abbas, Hassan (2021). The Prophet's Heir: The Life of Ali ibn Abi Talib. Yale University Press. ISBN 9780300252057.
  • Aslan, Reza (2011). No god but God: The Origins, Evolution, and Future of Islam. Random House. ISBN 9780812982442.
  • Ayoub, Mahmoud M. (2011). Redemptive Suffering in Islam: A Study of the Devotional Aspects of Ashura in Twelver Shi'ism. Walter de Gruyter. ISBN 9783110803310.
  • Ruffle, Karen (2011). "May You Learn From Their Model: The Exemplary Father-Daughter Relationship of Mohammad and Fatima in South Asian Shiʿism". Journal of Persianate Studies. 4: 12–29. doi:10.1163/187471611X568267.
  • Rogerson, Barnaby (2006). The Heirs of the Prophet Muhammad: And the Roots of the Sunni-Shia Schism. Abacus. ISBN 9780349117577.
  • Pierce, Matthew (2016). Twelve Infallible Men: The Imams and the Making of Shi'ism. Harvard University Press. ISBN 9780674737075.
  • Nashat, Guity (1983). Women and Revolution in Iran. Westview Press. ISBN 9780865319318.
  • Glassé, Cyril (2001). "Fāṭima". The New Encyclopedia of Islam. AltaMira Press. ISBN 9780759101890.
  • Soufi, Denise Louise (1997). The Image of Fatima in Classical Muslim Thought (PhD thesis). Princeton University.
  • Campo, Juan Eduardo, ed. (2009). "Fatima (ca. 605-633)". Encyclopedia of Islam. Infobase Publishing. pp. 230–1. ISBN 9781438126968.
  • Thurlkill, Mary F. (2008). Chosen Among Women: Mary and Fatima in Medieval Christianity and Shi`ite Islam. University of Notre Dame Pess. ISBN 9780268093822.
  • Glassé, Cyril (2001a). "Fāṭima". The New Encyclopedia of Islam. AltaMira Press. p. 137. ISBN 9780759101890.
  • Amir-Moezzi, Mohammad Ali; Calmard, Jean (1999). "FĀṬEMA". Encyclopædia Iranica. Vol. IX/4. pp. 400–4.
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