All of Fatimah’s (peace be upon her) Support for Ali (peace be upon him)

the martyrdom of the Noble Prophet (PBUH) occurred after that Prophet of Mercy had repeatedly introduced his caliph and successor. He declared the caliphate and succession to be a matter ordained by the Lord—a matter in which no one has the power to intervene or decide. Even the Prophet of Islam neither added to nor diminished anything of his own concerning this matter. Rather, he conveyed to the people what had been revealed by the Lord concerning the Commander of the Faithful, Ali ibn Abi Talib, may God's blessings be upon them both.

The defiance and rebellion of certain weak-faith Muslims and hypocrites—whom God describes as having «فی قلوبهم مرض» (“a sickness in their hearts”)—was an established fact. Whoever carefully studies the political events of the Prophet’s lifetime can readily foresee the defiance of some members of the community: from their failure to go to the Battle of Tabuk, to the attempt to assassinate the Prophet on the road back from Tabuk; from fleeing the battlefield at Uhud, to refusing to accept the Ghadir sermon, and finally their presence and pledge of allegiance at Saqifah. All of this indicates that some whose hearts are filled with the disease of hypocrisy were determined to rebel. Thus, knowing this did not require revelation or unseen knowledge, even though the Messenger of God, through divine instruction, knew the details of the events after him.

Guidance was the purpose of the Prophet’s mission. The work of guidance must not be suspended by the obstruction of a group of hypocrites. It was therefore that God Almighty took a covenant from the successor of that Messenger of Mercy—a covenant whose content was patience, for preserving the main highway of guidance. Yet patience never means silence.

Patience never means satisfaction with existing conditions, nor does it mean relinquishing one’s right or setting truth aside. Patience is a tactic through which the path of guidance for humanity may be kept clearly illuminated. It means that when everyone broke their pledge, neglected their duty to support and aid the Imam of their time, and left the Imam without helpers, the Prophet’s efforts must be preserved and right and truth conveyed to those thirsting for guidance—even at the cost of enduring a bone in the throat and a thorn in the eye. Yet in the midst of this, Lady Fatimah al-Zahra, peace be upon her, had another mission.

It was as though her duty was to become an unceasing cry. She bore a covenant from God to ensure that they could not silence the voice proclaiming Ali’s loneliness, peace be upon him. Yes, Fatimah al-Zahra, peace be upon her, supported the Imam of her time with her entire being and with all that she possessed, on the basis of a divine mission. Yes, Fatimah, peace be upon her, received a divine mission to keep the sun of Ghadir shining at the heart of the sky of guidance.

Imam al-Kazim (a), narrating from his revered father Imam al-Sadiq (a), reports from the Messenger of God (s) that he (s) said to the Commander of the Faithful (a): «O Ali! I have entrusted my daughter Fatimah with carrying out certain matters, and I have commanded her to convey them to you; therefore, carry them out, for she (=Fatimah) is always truthful and sincere.»(1)

It is also narrated in another noble hadith that Imam al-Kazim (a) said: “By God, the Messenger of God (s) said to the Commander of the Faithful and Lady Fatimah (a): Have you understood and accepted that which I commanded you to do? They both said: Yes, and we shall endure patiently that which causes us sorrow and anger.” (2)

Fatimah al-Zahra, peace be upon her, mounted a steadfast defense of Imam Ali, peace be upon him, in accordance with a divine mission conveyed to her by the Messenger of God. A defense that marked a bloody chapter in the life of that noble lady. Yet some, disregarding the facts, have written: “ ‘Fatimah’s struggles, her cry for justice, and ... all of these are nothing more than legends.’!” (3)

The sacrifices and support offered by the Pure and Truthful Lady (s) to the Commander of the Faithful (s) began with the martyrdom of the Greatest Prophet; for the Saqifah and the denial of Ghadir likewise began from that very moment, and Fatimah al-Zahra (s), the first martyr on the path of Ghadir, commenced her steadfast defense of the caliph explicitly appointed at Ghadir.

The sit-in of Abu Bakr’s opponents in the house of Fatimah, peace be upon her (4). Ibn Abi Asim al-Shaybani (d. 287) and Ahmad ibn Abd al-Aziz al-Jawhari (d. 323) write: “When allegiance was pledged to Abu Bakr—after the Messenger of God—Ali and al-Zubayr would go to Fatimah, the daughter of the Messenger of God, consult with her, and then return to their affairs. Another narration states: Al-Zubayr and al-Miqdad, together with a group of people, would come and go to Ali—while he was in Fatimah’s house—consulting with him and discussing their affairs among themselves.” (5)

Argument with the attackers (6): ʿAllāmah Ibn Shahr Āshūb al-Māzandarānī (d. 588) and Shaykh Aḥmad al-Ṭabarsī (d. 6th century) narrate: “Fāṭimah, the daughter of the Messenger of God, came out and stood behind the door. Then she said: I know of no people worse than you, who do not preserve their respect in the absence of their people (= the Prophet, may God’s blessings be upon him and his family). You left the [pure] body of the Messenger of God with us and settled your affair among yourselves with no room for doubt; you did not appoint us as your leaders and did not acknowledge any right for us. It is as though you did not know what [the Prophet] had said on the day of Ghadīr Khumm.”

By God! On that day, he secured for him the covenant of guardianship in order to cut off your hope of it; yet you severed the bonds between yourselves and your Prophet, and God will judge between us and you in this world and the Hereafter. (7)

Al-Yaʿqūbī (d. 292) writes: “Abū Bakr and ʿUmar received word that a group of the Muhājirūn and the Anṣār had gathered with ʿAlī ibn Abī Ṭālib in the home of Fāṭimah, the daughter of the Messenger of God. So they came with a group [to the house of Lady al-Zahrāʾ, peace be upon her] until they assaulted the house … and entered it. Then Fāṭimah came out and said: By God! Either you leave my house, or I shall dishevel my hair and cry out to God.” (8)

Ibn Abī al-Ḥadīd al-Muʿtazilī (d. 656) writes: “He took the sword from al-Zubayr’s hand, struck it against a stone, and broke it. He then marched all of them (= those who had taken refuge) before him and brought them to Abū Bakr, compelling them to pledge allegiance to him. No one refused [to pledge allegiance] except ʿAlī, for he sought refuge in Fāṭimah’s house, and they refrained from bringing him out by force and coercion. Fāṭimah stood beside the door of the house and spoke harshly to those who wished to seize ʿAlī; so they dispersed, realizing that he was alone and could cause no harm, and thus they left him. (9)

Ibn Qutaybah (d. 276), concerning the nighttime appeals for aid (10), writes: At night, Ali came out—having seated Fatimah upon a mount—and took her around the gatherings of the Ansar, while Fatimah sought their support. But they said: “O daughter of the Messenger of God! Our pledge of allegiance has been concluded for this man (= Abu Bakr), and had your husband and cousin come to us before Abu Bakr, we would not have inclined toward Abu Bakr!”

Ali then said: “Was I to leave the body of the Messenger of God in his house, without burying him, and come out [of the house] to contend with the people over his rule?!” Fatimah then said: “Ali did nothing except what was fitting for him; and they did something for which God will call them to account and is pursuing them.”(11)

Lady al-Zahra, peace be upon her, on Monday, Tuesday, and Wednesday (the seventh, eighth, and ninth days after the passing of the Seal of the Prophets (PBUH)), by demanding her inheritance and the share of the near relatives, undertook to expose the face of the ruling system and to defend the usurped caliphate of the Commander of the Faithful, Ali, peace be upon him.

Ibn Abi al-Hadid al-Muʿtazili (d. 656) reports that Lady Fatimah, peace be upon her, in a passage from her sermon (12), turned toward the Ansar and cried out: “Have you retreated after advancing, withheld after being able, and, after courage, feared a people who broke their oaths after their covenant and reviled your religion? ‘So fight the leaders of disbelief, for they have no [binding] oaths; perhaps they will desist.’” (13)

ʿAllamah Ibn Shahr Ashub al-Mazandarani (d. 588) relates the principal assault (14) from the letter of ʿUmar ibn al-Khattab: Fatimah came out, stood behind the door, and said: “O misguided deniers! What are you saying, and what do you want?” I said: “O Fatimah!” Fatimah said: “O ʿUmar! What do you want?!” I said: “Why has your cousin brought you forth to answer, while he himself sits inside the house?”

She said to me: “O wretch! Your insolence has brought me out, and [my coming out] has completed the proof against you and against every bewildered misguided person.” I said: “Leave aside women’s false words and fanciful notions, and tell ʿAli to come out.” (15) She said: “I shall never do so. O ʿUmar! Do you threaten me with the party of Satan, while the party of Satan is weak? ...”

Shaykh Ahmad al-Tabrisi (d. 6th century) and ʿImad al-Din al-Tabari (d. 7th century) narrate from the Book of Sulaym (d. 76 or 90), on the authority of Salman al-Farsi: ... Then he ordered those around him to bring firewood; they brought the firewood and ... placed it around ʿAli’s house—while ʿAli, Fatimah, and their two sons were inside the house—then ... he called out, so that ʿAli and Fatimah could hear him: “O ʿAli! By God, either you come out and pledge allegiance to the caliph of the Messenger of God, or I shall set the house on fire over you.” (16)

Shaykh Ahmad al-Tabrisi (d. 6th century) and Imad al-Din al-Tabari (d. 7th century) narrate from the Book of Sulaym (d. 76 or 90), from Salman al-Farsi: “Then they placed a rope around his neck, and Fatimah stood beside the door, between them and Ali, and separated them. Then Qunfudh struck her with a whip...”

Further on in the same report we read: When Fatimah stood between Qunfudh and her husband and separated them, Qunfudh struck her, for they had sent him the message: “If Fatimah separates you from Ali, strike her.” Then Qunfudh threw her into a corner of her house and pushed her; as a result, a rib was broken and she miscarried the fetus from her womb. She—may God’s blessings be upon her—became bedridden [after this incident], until she passed away as a martyr.(17)

The eminent Ibn Shahr Ashub al-Mazandarani (d. 588) narrates from Imam al-Sadiq, peace be upon him: When the Commander of the Faithful—may God’s blessings be upon him—was forcibly brought out of his house, Fatimah came out distressed. No woman of Banu Hashim remained without coming out with her, until she reached near the grave [of the Prophet, peace and blessings be upon him and his family], and said: “Release my cousin! By the One Who sent Muhammad with the truth, if you do not release him, I shall dishevel my hair, cast over my head the garment that the Prophet wore at the time of his death, and wail [and lament] to God, Blessed and Exalted, [to curse you]...” (18)

One of the most important virtues of that martyred Lady was the fulfillment of this arduous divine mission—a mission accompanied by the martyrdom of the six-month-old son of that noble Lady. Its fulfillment required immense patience in the face of afflictions—afflictions which, in the words of Lady Fatimah herself, were such that, if they had befallen the days, the days would have been wholly transformed into nights. This support continued until Fatimah al-Zahra, peace be upon her, was confined to a sickbed because of the severity of the blows and injuries. Of course, her support continued even while she was bedridden. This writing has recorded her support up to the time of the principal assault; yet undoubtedly, her will for a nighttime burial and her declaration of dissatisfaction with the two rulers who were in charge of the caliphal apparatus must also be regarded as forms of that oppressed martyr’s support for the first oppressed one in all existence.

Adapted from the book Standing in the Wind
1- (Al-Hujum, p. 37; quoted from: al-Tara’if, authored by Sayyid Ibn Tawus—d. 664, p. 38, Najaf edition)
2- (Al-Hujum, p. 41; quoted from: al-Taraf, p. 22)
3- Ayyub Ganji, Fatimah al-Zahra Defends Herself, p. 168.
4- The sit-in at the house of Fatimah, peace be upon her (that is, going to Fatimah’s house as a sign of refusing to pledge allegiance to Abu Bakr), took place on Wednesday, Thursday, and Friday (the second, third, and fourth days after the passing of the Seal of the Prophets, blessings of God upon him and his family).
5- Al-Hujum, p. 166; quoted from: al-Mudhakkir, p. 41, Dar al-Sahabah lil-Turath edition; Sharh Hadidi, vol. 2, p. 45.
6- The first assault—the assault resulting in the breaking of the sit-in—took place on Friday (the fourth day after the passing of the Seal of the Prophets, blessings of God upon him and his family).
7- Al-Hujum, pp. 289–290; quoted from: Mathalib al-Nawasib (manuscript), pp. 419–420; al-Ihtijaj, 80.
8- Al-Hujum, pp. 175–176; quoted from: Tarikh al-Ya‘qubi, vol. 2, p. 126.
9- Al-Hujum, pp. 194–195; quoted from: Sharh Hadidi, vol. 2, p. 21. Ibn Maytham al-Bahrani, in his commentary on Nahj al-Balaghah (volume 2, page 26), after referring to the forced taking of allegiance from those staging the sit-in, writes: «إنَّ عَلِیّاًعلیه‌السّلام إعْتَصَمَ بِبَیْتِ فاطِمَةَعلیهاالسّلام وَ عَلِمُوا أنَّهُ مُفْرَدٌ فَتَرَکُوهُ.» Ali took refuge in Fatimah’s house, and they knew that he was alone, so they left him.
10- The nighttime calls for assistance took place on Friday night, Saturday night, and Sunday night (the nights of the fourth, fifth, and sixth days after the passing of the Seal of the Prophets, blessings of God upon him and his family).
11- Al-Hujum, p. 110; quoted from: al-Imamah wa al-Siyasah, vol. 1, p. 19.
12- The Fatimid sermon took place on Thursday (the tenth day after the passing of the Seal of the Prophets, blessings of God upon him and his family).
13- Al-Hujum, p. 407; quoted from: Sharh Hadidi, vol. 16, pp. 211–213, 249–251.
14- The principal assault on the house of Fatimah, peace be upon her, took place in the final days of the third week of Abu Bakr’s caliphate.
15- Al-Hujum, pp. 284–286; quoted from: Mathalib al-Nawasib (Indian manuscript), pp. 371–374 and pp. 418–419.
16- Al-Hujum, pp. 226–227; quoted from: Kitab Sulaym, vol. 2, pp. 577–599.
17- Al-Hujum, p. 228; quoted from: Kitab Sulaym, vol. 2, pp. 577–599.
18- Al-Hujum, p. 241; quoted from: Manaqib Al Abi Talib, vol. 3, pp. 339–340.