Marriage of Sayeda Fatma

Sayeda Fatma, the youngest daughter of the Prophet (Peace be upon him), had now become eighteen and persons desirous of marriage with her had started sending proposal to the Prophet (Peace be upon him). When ‘Ali (may Allah be pleased with him) proposed, the Prophet (Peace be upon him) asked Sayeda Fatma for her consent. Out of modesty, she kept quiet, which was taken as her consent.

The Prophet (Peace be upon him) then asked ‘Ali (may Allah be pleased with him) what he had to offer to the bride as Mahr (marriage gift). He replied that he had nothing worthwhile to offer her. The Prophet (Peace be upon him) inquired, “What happened to that armor (Zerah) of Hutay`a, that you had got in Badr?”   

 ‘Ali (may Allah be pleased with him) replied that he had it. The Prophet (Peace be upon him) told him that, that would do as Mahr. That armor was worth no more than rupees. Besides it, all that the groom owned at that time was a lambskin and an old Yamani sheet of cloth.   

‘Ali (may Allah be pleased with him) presented all this to Sayeda Fatma.  Until then ‘Ali used to live with the Prophet (Peace be upon him). Now the newly-wed couple needed a separate house. Haritha bin N’oman Ansari owned several houses in Madinah, out of which he had already presented some to the Prophet (Peace be upon him). When Sayeda Fatma expressed her desire to the Prophet (Peace be upon him) to ask Haritha to give her a house, he (Peace be upon him) declined as he had already asked him to do so in the past several times. When Haritha heard about it, he came running to the Prophet (Peace be upon him) and submitted:

“O Prophet of Allah, whatever I have is, in fact, yours. When you accept a house from me, it becomes dearer to me than the house that is left in my possession.”

He eagerly vacated one of his houses and Sayeda Fatma moved to it. The things that the Prophet (Peace be upon him) gave to his daughter in dowry consisted of a cot (charpai) made of rope (baan), a leather cushion filled with date leaves, a leather water container (Chaagal), a leather bag for carrying water (Mushk), two grindstone sets (Chakki), and two earthen water pots.

When Sayeda Fatma moved to the new house, the Prophet (Peace be upon him) went to her and, standing at the door, sought permission to enter. After entering, he asked for some water in a pot. He put his both hands in the pot and sprinkled water over the chest and shoulders of ‘Ali (may Allah be pleased with him). He then called Sayeda Fatma. Shyly, she came to him by taking short steps. He sprinkled water over her also and said:

 “I have given you in marriage to the best person in my family.”[1]