Fatimah bint Asad (2/2)

The same was the case with Maisarah, the slave of Khadijah (may Allah pleased with her). He was amazed at some of the strange signs he witnessed on that first business trip to Syria with him. His courtesy,  his humane  treatment  of people,   his  business acumen, the enormous profit made   as well as some  of  the  strange   supernatural happenings, the prediction of the monk, Nestor, all these he  narrated to Khadijah (may Allah pleased with her). Nestor, a Jewish monk, noted   for his knowledge of religion had predicted that he would be exalted to prophethood by Allah. Maisarrah told her about the Prophet (Peace be upon him) and his reputation for honesty and intelligence.  She was impressed by what she heard and the more she came to know Muhammad (Peace be upon him) the more she liked and respected him. And, finally, she proposed marriage, rejecting the offers of marriage from the foremost leaders of the Quraish.

When  the Prophet  (Peace be upon him) placed  the invitation  to a religion  with  a new  and rational  perspective  before  the Quraish  of Makkah,  the worshippers   of all  the false idols in the Ka'bah  were  infuriated.  They could not dream that   the Prophet (Peace be upon him) would dismiss their gods as useless helpless creatures, and they became his bitter enemies for propagating   a new faith that did away with their traditional and inherited practices. They adopted a very antagonistic attitude and swore to crush him and Islam.  During   this  period  they resorted  to the most cruel and  sadistic forms  of torture  to make  the converts  give up the new  faith and  return to  their  old  barbaric    practices  and  rituals.  It was only the power and influence of Abu Talib that prevented them from doing any harm to Muhammad (Peace be upon him).  He   stood by him with all his love and carried out the responsibilities of a guardian faithfully by giving him his protection. No enemy could dare to do anything to him as long as he was under the mantle of his uncle's protection.

Fatimah bint Asad cooperated   with Abu Talib wholeheartedly and she was   a mother pure and simple where the safety and wellbeing of Muhammad (Peace be upon him) was concerned. No wonder he loved and respected her so highly. Considering   the dangerous   conditions  which  developed   for the  Muslims   in  Makkah, he thought it was better that the Muslims migrate to  Abyssiniah   where   the  ruler  Najashi   was  known   to  be tolerant   and  hospitable.  The leader  of this first group  of migrants  was Ja'far  bin  Abi  Talib  (may Allah be pleased with him), the brother of 'Ali (may Allah be pleased with him), and  the favorite  son of Fatimah bint Asad (may Allah be pleased with her)  . She loved him more than the others because he resembled Muhammad (Peace be upon him) very   much, and was extremely intelligent.

He  seemed   to  have  inherited   the family's  mastery  over language  and was   also   an  eloquent   speaker   who  could  win  people   over   to  his viewpoint.    It was with this same skill that he had won over Najashi when the Quraish appealed   to him to surrender   the Muslims to them.

The Quraish now decided to restrict the Muslims to one small area, besiege   them and boycott them. Social and economic sanctions were imposed, and   these   three years were perhaps the toughest that the followers of Islam faced. Economically, it was certainly the worst ever. Children could   be  heard   on  all  sides  sobbing  with  hunger,  and  the elders   looked   on  helplessly   with   tears  in  their eyes. To satisfy their hunger they started eating the leaves of trees and grass; they even sucked on wet skins to slake their thirst.  Fatimah bint Asad (may Allah be pleased with her) passed this terrible period with fortitude and patience, and did not waver in the smallest degree.  Ten years after the first revelation to Muhammad (Peace be upon him), appointing him the Messenger of Allah, this harsh siege was finally lifted. It was in the same year that the Prophet's   wife and most faithful   supporter, Khadijah (may Allah be pleased with her) passed away.  The pangs of separation from   her   were very   strong for the Prophet   (Peace be upon him). He  had  not  yet recovered from her loss, when  he was dealt  another  terrible  blow - his best  ally,  Abu  Talib,  also  passed   away.   This   year is known as 'The Year of Sorrows’ in Islamic history.

The torture and torment, atrocities and cruelties reached such proportions that Allah finally ordered the Prophet to migrate to AI­Madinah. Fatimah bint Asad (may Allah be pleased with her) was among these migrants.  When the Prophet's     daughter Fatimah (may Allah be pleased with her) married 'Ali (may Allah be pleased with him), there were two Fatimah in the family, a mother-in-law and daughter-in-law. 'Ali narrated how one day the Prophet (Peace be upon him) gave him a very large expensive sheet and told him to divide it between the Fatimahs.  At that time there were four Fatimahs in the family.

Fatimah bint Muhammad (may Allah be pleased with her) Fatimah bint Hamzah (may Allah be pleased with her) Fatimah bint Shaibah (may Allah be pleased with her),   who was the wife of ‘Aqeel bin Abi Talib, the brother of ‘Ali (may Allah be pleased with him).

'Ali (may Allah be pleased with him) says he did as the Prophet & told him and divided it among the four Fatimahs in his family.

Anas bin Malik says that when the Prophet (Peace be upon him) got news of the death of Fatimah bint Asad (may Allah be pleased with her) he immediately went to her house, sat beside her and prayed for her.

"My dear mother, may Allah keep you under His Protection. Many times you went hungry in order to feed me well. You fed me and clothed me on delicacies that you denied yourself. Allah will surely be happy with these actions of yours. And your intentions were surely meant to win the goodwill and pleasure of Allah is and success in the Hereafter."

He gave his shirt to be used as part of her shroud, saying he prayed to Allah to forgive her and give her the dress of Paradise.

When the grave was prepared the Prophet (Peace be upon him) himself examined it and with his own hands placed her into the grave.

Thus Fatimah bint Asad (may Allah be pleased with her) was one of the few blessed people in whose graves the Prophet (Peace be upon him) himself examined. Their names are given below:

Khadijah (may Allah be pleased with her).

'Abdullah Mazni (may Allah be pleased with him) - very well known as Zulbajadain.

His son, born by Khadijah (may Allah be pleased with her), who died in his infancy.

Fatimah bint Asad (may Allah be pleased with her) that great lady for whom he (Peace be upon him) gave the glad tidings that she would be blessed with a place in Paradise.

He (Peace be upon him) said that he shrouded her with his shirt, praying that Allah would give her the dress of Paradise.

Allah pleased with them and they pleased Allah.