IMMORTAL MARTYRS OF Fāṭima al-Zahrā

IMMORTAL MARTYRS OF Fāṭima al-Zahrā

Share on facebook
Share on twitter
Share on linkedin
Share on whatsapp

As the day draws to an end, the sky and Sun in embrace, I attempt to write a footnote which, after three days of writing, rewording, editing, deleting, and starting over, I’m beginning to see as an impossible task. Attempting to write about the martyrs from the Prophet’s ﷺ family without succumbing to tides of emotion is one thing, but trying to fit the lachrymose tale of sacrifice, godliness, and love which is the history of Ahl al-Bayt into a mere footnote is most certainly a forlorn endeavour. So, here I am, writing a brief history of persecution, courage, and martyrdom among the Prophet’s family, in the hope that someone will read, absorb, and summarise it—perhaps such a summary would prove to be a helpful aid in my footnote-battle. It is said that the secrets of martyrdom are concealed in the tears of Fāṭima al-Zahrāʾ. I was once sceptical. Now, it is the most obvious truth.

ʿAlī b. AbīṬālib – Husband of Lady Fāṭima

21 Ramadan, 40 AH | 27 January 661 CE

This most sacred of days for Muslims, being one of the last odd nights of Ramadan, witnesses Sayyidunā ʿAlī b. Abī Ṭālib lead the faithful in Fajr prayer. If praying behind a pious person is akin to offering prayers behind a prophet, then what of those worshipers led in prayer by a man described as bearing likeness to Prophet Hārūn. Moments pass before a man bearing a Muslim name, but far from its spirit, approaches the Imam—he conceals a dagger whose tip has been drenched in poison. Plunging without remorse or care, he strikes the Imam’s head. This Imam, whose grip would render the strongest of men motionless, lifeless, instead of retaliating, makes an impassioned cry: ‘By Allah! I have succeeded’; the words of a man deeply in love with the Divine which echo through the Mosque of Kufa. This is ʿAlī b. Abī Ṭālib, the Lion of Allah, a martyr of Fāṭima al-Zahrāʾ. His son and heir, Ḥasan al-Mujtabā, eulogized him the following day with these words:

Yesterday, a man departed from you whom no one had surpassed in the past, and none will be his equal in the future. The Messenger of Allah would dispatch him with the banner. With Jibrīl to his right and Mikāʾil to his left, he would only return after Allah had given him victory. He did not leave behind silver or gold except 700 coins left over from what he had given away.1

Ḥasan b. ʿAlī– Older Son of Lady Fāṭima

05 Rabīʿ al-Awwal, 50 AH2 | 02 May 670 CE

Our master Ḥasan is the son of ʿAlī and Fāṭimaʾ; a prince and a leader who gave up his right to the Caliphate following the assassination of his father, readily handing it over to end the civil strife that had swept the Muslims. His act of abdication was a gesture of magnanimity and by no means a display of weakness. For had he wanted, the Caliphate would have remained firmly with him, given that the entire Hijaz, Khorasan, and other regions had already pledged allegiance to him, and a legion of ‘12000 people in the front row, swords drawn, ready to fight till death’,3 stood by him to defend his right. Nevertheless, this sacrifice was not enough to satiate his political rivals, so they gradually poisoned him over a period of time until that last fatal dose, which pained him for forty days, took his life. Historians from across Islam’s theological spectrum are undecided about the perpetrator’s identity. This is Ḥasan, the Prophet’s grandson, martyr of Fāṭima al-Zahrāʾ.

Ḥusayn b. ʿAlī – Younger Son of Lady Fāṭima

10 Muḥarram 61 AH | 10 October 680

Some tales are woven into the minds of people, etched by the hand of eternity in the annals of history, and carried by the breeze of immortality to every heart and corner of the world. Such stories are not in need of retelling. And such is the soul-stirring and heart-wrenching story of Karbala—a desert plain that became the stage for one of humanity’s greatest tragedies. Following the appointment of an unfit Yazīd to the supreme office of Caliph, a selfless Ḥusayn b. ʿAlī set out with his family hoping to end what would later become an entrenched tradition of nepotism within subsequent governments. Ḥusayn’s small entourage of friends of family was met by Yazid’s imperial army in Karbala. They inhumanely killed most of Imam Ḥusayn’s family before finally striking the Imam’s neck while he prostrated in prayer. His blessed head was paraded as a trophy by Yazīd’s forces before being laid to rest in Egypt, while the surviving members of the Prophet’s family and their supporters were shackled and taken as prisoners. This is Ḥusayn—the Prophet’s grandson, an immortal martyr of Fāṭima al-Zahrāʾ.

Zayd b. ʿAlī– Great-grandson of Lady Fāṭima

Zayd son of ʿAlī Zayn al-ʿAbidīn s/o Ḥusayn s/o ʿAlī and Fāṭima al-Zahrāʾ

02 Safar 122 AH | 07 January 740 CE

He is the grandson of Imam Ḥusayn, the Champion of Karbala. While leading an armed revolution against the Omayyad regime of Hishām b. ʿAbd al-Malik, the bulk of his supporters from Kufa deserted him after seeing his unwavering admiration for the greatest Companions, our masters Abū Bakr and ʿUmar. Though outnumbered, he persevered in an unmatched display of courage and mettle for two days until he was finally martyred. The memories of Karbala and how the desecration of Imam Ḥusayn’s body were echoing through the minds of the people. To avoid a similar fate, Zayd’s loyal followers buried him secretly outside Kufa. However, Hishām’s forces located the grave, exhumed the body, and decapitated it. His head was sent to Hishām’s imperial court in Damascus, where it was hung for all to see while the body was left publicly crucified for three years4 before being burnt and the ashes were thrown into the Euphrates. The shrine dedicated to him in Kufa could either house his head or mark the place of his crucifixion—Allah knows best.

When the news of his death reached his son Sayyid Yaḥyā, who was in Khorasan at the time, he remarked:

لكل قتيل معشر يطلبونه | وليس لزيد بالعراقين طالب

“For any killed person, the world claims recompense | But for Zayd, there isn’t a single claimant in all of Iraq.”

Abū Ḥanīfa studied under him and supported his revolution both financially and theologically, according to some reports. In later decades, Imam Zayd’s followers would study with Abū Ḥanīfa’s students in Iraq. He had four sons, of whom ʿĪsā was forced to live in hiding until his death while his other son, Ḥusayn the Tearful (dhi al-damʿa) was only seven years old when his father was martyred. He was then taken and raised by his cousin Jaʿfar al-Ṣādiq.

Yaḥyā b. Zayd – Great-great grandson of Lady Fāṭima

Yaḥyā son of Zayd s/o ʿAlī Zayn al-ʿAbidīn s/o Ḥusayn s/o ʿAlī and Fāṭima al-Zahrāʾ

Sha’ban 125 AH | May 743 CE

Three years after Zayd’s revolution, we see his son, Yaḥyā b. Zayd mirroring the determination and fortitude of his martyred father. The Abbasids are desirous of dethroning the Omayyad dynasty, but the latter are still very much in control. Yaḥyā revolted in Khorasan, continuing the revolutionary spark of his father, which later gave way to the fall of the Omayyad dynasty at the hands of the Abbasids; but until now, no-one had dared to militarily challenge Omayyad rule. In the words of al-Dhahabī, Yaḥyā was very close to taking the entire Khorasan province. The Caliph5 was desperately searching for Yaḥyā, but even under torture, his followers refused to disclose his location. Despite his initial successes, Yaḥyā was martyred after fierce battling when he was fatally struck by an arrow to the temple. Like his father before him, his body was decapitated. The head was sent to Hishām’s court, and the body was crucified in Jowzjan, Afghanistan. Immediately after, in the court of Hishām, Omayyad commanders read out the names of Yaḥyā’s supporters; those who were killed in battle and those who survived. The survivors were then tracked, one by one, and killed. Yaḥyā was hailed as a champion by Muslims in so much that historians, like al-Dhahabī, noted that an Arab child was not born in Khorasan except he was named Yaḥyā in honour of Yaḥyā b. Zayd, the great-great-grandson and martyr of Fāṭima al-Zahrāʾ.

Muhammad Nafs al-Zakiyya – Great-great grandson of Lady Fāṭima

Muhammad son of Abd Allah al-Kāmil s/o Ḥasan al-Muthannā s/o Ḥasan s/o ʿAlī and Fāṭima al-Zahrāʾ

14 Ramadan 145 AH | 6 December 762

By now, the Abbasids have toppled the Omayyad dynasty, taking the office of the Caliph with an iron claw. For the last eight years, Abū Jaʿfar al-Manṣūr has been Caliph. In this age of reason and science, often hailed as the Golden Age of Islam by Western historians, the tribalism of yonder, pre-Islamic years remains deeply embedded in the ruling families. This could not be seen more so than in the contempt which a few, not all, of the Abbasid rulers held for the Banū Hāshim, the Prophet’s clan. In these climes, we find Muhammad b. ʿAbd Allah; he is the grandson of Imam Ḥasan, the third cousin removed of Yaḥyā b. Zayd, and the brother of Idrīs al-Awwal, founder of the Idrisid Dynasty of Morocco (our master Idrīs will appear again later). In 144 AH, al-Manṣūr performed Hajj before visiting Medina. Notables of all families come out to greet him, but al-Manṣūr was not there to see them. He sojourned this far to meet the Banu Hashim, the Ahl al-Bayt, and specifically the sons of Ḥasan al-Muthannā: Ibrāhīm al-Ghamr and Ḥasan al-Muthallath. He was also keen to meet two of Imam Ḥasan’s grandsons: Ḥasan b. Zayd b. Ḥasan6 and Muhammad b. ʿAbd Allah b. Ḥasan. From among the Ahl al-Bayt, it was these two figures of the Ḥasanī branch who posed the greatest threat to his Caliphate, and so he was deeply frustrated by their absence. Adding to his fears, Muhammad’s brother Ibrāhīm b. ʿAbd Allah was also in hiding. The governor of Medina assured him that Ḥasan b. Zayd was living in secrecy and posed little threat of a rebellion. He nonetheless invited the Banū Hāshim, one by one, asking about Muhammad b. ʿAbd Allah. The absence of Muhammad b. ʿAbd Allah al-Nafs al-Zakiyya was a sure sign of an impending insurrection. Eventually, al-Manṣūr’s fears were realised when Muhammad raised a force against the Abbasid army from Suwaiqa al-Madina7—the traditional homeland of Imam Ḥasan’s decedents through his son Ḥasan al-Muthannā, located 50 km West of Medina. With a small force of followers, the Sayyid fought relentlessly against the imperial soldiers of al-Manṣūr until he joined the ranks of the martyrs. He was decapitated and his head taken away. The body was laid to rest in the Baqiʿ Cemetery. Leading scholars supported his cause financially and militarily, including Abū Ḥanīfa, Mālīk b. Anas, Ibn ʿAjlān, and ʿAbd al-Ḥamīd b. Jaʿfar, the acclaimed authority on hadith. Peace be upon Muhammad the Pure Soul—a worthy heir of ʿAlī and a heroic martyr of Fāṭima al-Zahrāʾ.

The Imprisonment and Martyrdom of the Ḥasanī Masters

Ramadan 145 AH | December 762

Following the uprising, al-Manṣūr’s governor in Medina, Rayāḥ b. ʿUthmān, invited members of the Ḥusaynī and Ḥasanī branch to his palace. After releasing the former, he arrested every key figure of the Ḥasanī branch and tortured them in a desperate attempt to quell any desire they may have to rebel. One of the members of Ahl al-Bayt gave the following account, as related by the historian Ibn Athīr:

We went to the door of Rayāḥ inside the enclosure. The caller announced: ‘Whoever here is from the family of Ḥusayn, may enter’. So, they entered via the door in the enclosure. They then left via the Door of Marwān. Then the caller announced, ‘Whoever here is from the family of Ḥasan may enter.’ So, they entered via the door in the enclosure. Iron smiths from the family of Marwan also entered, whereupon the caller immediately ordered for the capture of Imam Ḥasan’s family. They were captured and imprisoned. Rayāḥ proceeded to publicly curse the Ḥasanī Sayyids on the pulpits of Medina before transporting them to Iraq, draped in shackles around their necks and feet.8

Those imprisoned included Muhammad Muhammad al-Nafs al-Zakiyya’s father, uncles, and cousins:

1.Ibrāhīm al-Shibh al-Ghamr

He is Ibrāhīm son of Ḥasan al-Muthannā

He was honoured with the epithets al-Shibh­ (the Similar) because he resembled the Prophet and al-Ghamr (the Flood) because he was renowned for giving substantial amounts of charity in so much that recipients would be “flooded” with alms and gifts. Aged 69 years, he was the first to pass away in captivity.

2.ʿAbd Allah al-Kāmil (the Perfect)

He is ʿAbd Allah al-Kāmil son of Ḥasan al-Muthannā s/o Ḥasan s/o ʿAlī and Fāṭima al-Zahrāʾ. As we read earlier, Muhammad al-Nafs al-Zakiyya is his son. His epithet al-Kāmil (the Perfect) was a reference to his lineage; both of his parents were from Ahl al-Bayt. Yet, al-Manṣūr would refer to him as ‘the disgraced one’ in an attempt to break his spirits, but his words had little impact. ʿAbd Allah was later executed or poisoned9 by order of al-Manṣūr. He was the second Ḥasanī prisoner to die in Abbasid captivity, aged 75 years. Before the uprising, he would say to his sons: ‘Though al-Manṣūr may not let you live with honour, he cannot stop you from dying with honour.’

3. Ḥasan al-Muthallath (the Third)

He is: Ḥasan al-Muthallath, son of Ḥasan al-Muthannā

4.ʿAlī al-ʿĀbid (The Worshipper)

He is ʿAlī b. Ḥasan al-Muthallath

ʿAlī al-ʿĀbid, the grandson of Imam Ḥasan, was not present during the arrest of his family. The following day, a man wrapped in a garment appeared before Rayah, who welcomed the man and asked, ‘What do you want? The man replied: ‘I have come so that you can imprison me with my people’—it was ʿAlī al-Abid. Rayāḥ imprisoned him with the rest of his family. Al-Manṣūr had imprisoned them in a manner that deprived them of any natural light or sounds of the outside world. Even the otherwise resounding sound of the azan could not reach them. As a result of this sensory deprivation, they were unable to know when it was prayer time. ʿAlī al-Abīd’s cousin and fellow prisoner Mūsā b. ʿAbd Allah described the situation, as reported by al-Dhahabī and others: ‘We were unable to tell if it was prayer time; so we relied on the Quran recitation of ʿAlī al-Abīd’,10 i.e., when he would finish one-fifth of the Qurʾān, they would offer a prayer. He was the third person to pass away in captivity, aged 43 years. His son, Ḥusayn, was not arrested, but will appear later.

5.Muhammad al-Dībāj al-Aṣghar

He is Muhammad, son of Ibrāhīm al-Ghamr. Like his older brother, he was given the epithet al-Dībāj (the Handsome). When presented before al-Manṣūr, he asked him, ‘Are you the younger al-Dībāj’? He answered in the affirmative. Al-Manṣūr then said, ‘I will kill you in a way which is unprecedented’. He then had Muhammad al-Dībāj immured in a stone pillar until he passed away.

6. Al-ʿAbbās b. Ḥasan al-Muthallath

He is ʿAbbās, son of Ḥasan al-Muthallath s/o Ḥasan al-Muthannā

He was among the Ḥasanī prisoners who were executed.

7. Muhammad al-Dībāj al-ʿUthmānī

He is Muhammad son of ʿAbd Allah s/o ʿAmr s/o ʿUthmān b. ʿAffān—great-grandson of Sayyidunā ʿUthman b. ʿAffān. His mother is Fāṭima al-Ṣughrā, the daughter of Imam Ḥusayn. Although he was maternally related to the Ahl al-Bayt and not technically from Ahl al-Bayt, his popularity along with his maternal lineage made him a threat to al-Manṣūr who had him imprisoned with his Ḥasanī relatives. Firstly, al-Manṣūr had him severely beaten and then executed before dispatching his head to Khorasan, where Muhammad’s supporters resided, with a witness who would testify, ‘This is the head of Muhammad al-ʿUthmānī, and his mother is Fāṭima, great-granddaughter of the Prophet’.11

8. Jʿafar al-Khaṭīb

He is Jʿafar son of Ḥasan al-Muthannā

9. Sulaymān

He is Sulaymān, son of Dāwūd s/o Ḥasan al-Muthannā – among the survivors.

10.ʿAbd Allah

He is: Abd Allah son of Dawud s/o Ḥasan al-Muthannā. He, too, survived the imprisonment.

11. Ismāʿīl al-Dībāj al-Akbar

He is Ismāʿīl son of Ibrāhīm al-Ghamr – both he and his brother Isḥāq survived.

12. Isḥāq

He is: Isḥāq son of Ibrāhīm al-Ghamr

13. Mūsā al-Jawn

He is Mūsā son of ʿAbd Allah al-Kāmil. Despite surviving Abbasid captivity, he faced state-enforced persecution upon release. His movements were monitored, and he was banned from teaching. He informed a person wanting to learn hadith from him in Baghdad: ‘I have been banned from teaching hadith. If that were not the case, I certainly would have taught you’.12 He then went on to spend the remainder of his life in secrecy. He is also the ancestor of the celebrated saint Shaykh ʿAbd al-Qādir al-Jīlānī. According to historians like Ibn Athīr, the arrest and imprisonment of these luminaries were among the factors which led to Muhammad al-Nafs al-Zakiyya’s uprising, while others suggested that the uprising took place first, and the arrests were a response to that.

Ibrāhīm Qatīl Bākhamrā (the Martyr of Bākhamrā) – Great-great grandson of Lady Fāṭima

Ibrāhīm son of ʿAbd Allah al-Kāmil.

25 Dhul Qada 145 AH | 16 March 763 CE

Ibrāhīm is the brother of Muhammad al-Nafs al-Zakiyya, who had joined him in the earlier uprising but managed to evade arrest and imprisonment. As a fearless and courageous warrior of Ahl al-Bayt, he was also a seasoned poet and litterateur. Raising an army to march on al-Manṣūr, he began from Basra and headed towards Kufa, The Caliph responded by dispatching a large force, with both sides meeting near Kufa at Bākhamrā, Iraq. Vastly outnumbered, he was martyred in battle, aged 48 years, on Monday, 25 Dhu al-Qa’da 145 AH. He was decapitated and his head taken to Egypt. His uprising was supported by Imam Abū Ḥanīfa.

Ḥusayn al-Fakhī (the Champion of Fakh) – Greatx3 grandson of Lady Fāṭima

Ḥusayn son of ʿAlī al-ʿAbid

17 Dhul Qaʿda 167 AH | 11 June 786

Ḥusayn had visited the new Abbasid Caliph, Abū ʿAbd Allah al-Mahdī in Baghdad who honoured Ḥusayn, recognising him as a notable scion of the Prophet’s family who was both a scholar and a man of deep piety. The Caliph gifted him 20,000 dinar, which Ḥusayn distributed as alms across Baghdad and Kufa, keeping nothing save a shirt and trousers for himself. Although a few years earlier, his father and uncles were among the Ḥasanī prisoners who died in Abbasid captivity, perhaps he was extending a peaceful hand to the regime by visiting the new ruler. Alas, his kindness was not reciprocated, and the persecution and torment of Ahl al-Bayt continued under the new governor of Medina, who specifically targeted the Banū Hāshim with measures that heavily restricted their finances living standards, and movement. The final act of persecution that caused Ḥusayn to take a stand occurred when one of the Ahl al-Bayt sought the governor’s permission to travel, but he refused until Ḥusayn became a guarantor. When the travelling relative failed to return on the appointed date, the governor asked Ḥusayn to search for him, but when he refused to do so, the governor had him imprisoned until he agreed. Upon release, Ḥusayn gathered members of Ahl al-Bayt in secret and informed them that he will revolt. They pledged allegiance to him, swearing their lives to the cause. In May, they seized Masjid Nabawi, where most of the non-Arab pilgrims, who had arrived for Hajj, also gave allegiance to him. Along with his small force, he marched towards Mecca, meeting the Abbasid army at the valley of Fakh, near Mecca.13 After initial victories, Ḥusayn’s followers were outnumbered, and he, along with several Sayyids and supporters, was martyred in battle. His cousin, Idrīs al-Awwal, survived the battle by mixing with the pilgrims and later moved to Morocco, where he founded the Idrīsid Dynasty. Ḥusayn was decapitated just like his namesake ancestor in Karbala. Muhammad al-Nafs al-Zakiyya’s brother and son, Sulaymān and Ḥasan respectfully, were executed in Mecca for their role in Fakh, while the houses of Ḥasanī Sayyids were burnt down and their assets confiscated.

The Sayyid martyrs of this battle include:

1. Ismāʿīl al-Dībāj son of Ibrāhīm al-Ghamr

2. ʿAbd Allah son of Isḥāq s/o Ibrāhīm al-Ghamr

3. Ḥasan son of Muhammad al-Nafs al-Zakiyya

4. Sulaymān son of ʿAbd Allah al-Kāmil

This Battle of Fakh is sometimes called the Second Karbala.

Yaḥyā Ṣāḥib al-Daylam (Champion of Daylam)

Yaḥyā son of ʿAbd Allah al-Kāmil

175 AH | 792 CE

He is the brother of Muhammad al-Nafs al-Zakiyya and a student of Imam Jʿafar al-Ṣādiq and Imam Malik. Having survived his brother’s uprising and the Battle of Fakh, he moved to Daylam—a mountainous region of modern-day Gilan, Iran. Here, he led a counter-Abbasid insurrection as a result of which, he was imprisoned by then Caliph Hārūn al-Rash =īd, aged 65 years. Successive governments had made life very difficult for Banū Hāshim, and so they attempted to find places where they could live without persecution. However, their attempts were overshadowed by the tribal contempt and political avarice of successive Caliphs.

Ibrāhīm Ṭabāṭabā

Ibrāhīm son of Ismāʿīl al-Dībāj s/o Ibrāhīm al-Ghamr

190 AH | 806 CE

He may have been imprisoned alongside his father by al-Manṣūr during the Ḥasanī imprisonment—historians are undecided—but he was certainly imprisoned for nine years by al-Mahdī in 158 AH. Throughout imprisonment, he was heavily tortured, and then, upon release in 167 AH, he participated in the Battle of Fakh. Evading capture, he migrated to Abyssinia before returning to Medina, where he lived in secrecy. In 170 AH, during the reign of Hārūn al-Rashīd, he was imprisoned for twenty years until his execution in 190 AH, possibly for leading an uprising in which all of the decedents of ʿAlī (the ʿAlids) pledged allegiance to him.

Conclusion

It must be highlighted that whenever possible, these heroic figures of Ahl al-Bayt tried to live peacefully. Their uprisings were reactions to the tyranny of successive Caliphs who consolidated their political ambitions by suppressing the Prophet’s family, forcing them to live in miserable conditions, banning them from public teaching, isolating them from mainstream society, and regularly subjecting them to capricious political moves. The story of martyrdom and sacrifice does not end here, for the heirs of Ahl al-Bayt have suffered in every century, but the scope of this “footnote” accommodates only two centuries. This is not the story of one family which excludes everyone who is not born of Fāṭima’s children—not at all. This is the story of Islam. And so, with the bond of faith and love, every believer is a child of Fāṭima al-Zahrāʾ; and this bond is stronger than the bond of blood, for Allah’s Messenger gave the good news, ‘You will be with those you love’, and he did not say you will be with those who are related to you. So, this tale of martyrdom is a universal account of Islam and an inseparable chapter of every believer’s story.

May the peace and blessings of Allah be upon our master Muhammad, every champion of Ahl al-Bayt, and upon our mother, the radiant and pure Sayyida Fāṭima al-Zahrāʾ.

References

[1] Musannaf Ibn Abī Shayba: 32105. Grade: Authentic

[2] According to a report in the Ṭabaqāt of Ibn Saʿd. The exact date is subject to much debate. It was 51 AH according to al-Bukhārī.

[3] Musannaf Ibn Abī Shayba: 37357

[4] According to al-Dhahabī in al-Siyar (5: 390) it was four years.

[5] Some sources, like al-Dhahabī, state it was Hishām b. ʿAbd al-Malik while others believe al-Walīd b. Yazīd b. ʿAbd al-Malik was appointed Caliph at this time. The former opinion is more accurate; given the young age of al-Walīd when he was appointed Caliph, it seems highly unlikely that he could coordinate a counter-rebellion operation.

[6] Al-Manṣūr later appoints him as governor of Medina before deposing and imprisoning him. He remained imprisoned after al-Manṣūr’s death but was released by his successor al-Mahdi, with whom he travelled to make the Hajj pilgrimage but passed away en route in al-Hajar, Oman.

[7] This region was an oasis with several wells and date trees. al-Manṣūr had it raised to the ground following the uprising of Muhammad al-Nafs al-Zakiyya. Despite being an arid, unoccupied piece of land today, it remains brimming with the blessings of those sacred feet which once lay upon its back.

[8] al-Siyar: 6: 210.

[9] Ibn Athīr mentions both views in al-Kāmil.

[10] al-Dhahabī, ibid.

[11] Ibn Athīr, ibid.

[12] Tārikh Baghdad: 13: 28.

[13] Al-Ṣafadī in al-Wāfī: 12: 282.

Explore more

Loving the Prophet’s Family

by Fatemiye on February 15, 2023

Only Your Praise is Delightful

by Fatemiye on February 5, 2023

From Fāṭima’s Door I Arrive

by Fatemiye on January 14, 2023