Fatimeh Al-Zahra (Sa)

By Sayyid Munthir Hakim

By God! They raised objection against the cutting swords of Ali, his being indifference with respect to the death in the battlefield, his power of the combat in the warfare, and the scattering strokes. By God! If people have joined with each other and would have given the caliphate to some one about whom the Holy Prophet (SAW) has recommended, any time if the people had deviated from the path of the truth, he would guided them towards the righteous path with out any pain and disturbance that neither the mount had become incapacitated nor its rider would have tired and sad. Ultimately he would have lead them to the pure and pleasant fountainhead of water, the canal that on both sides was saturated with the waterthat had never been polluted. And then after the complete quenching of their thirst had returned them, and as a result they would have found him their well-wisher in hidden and apparent.

 [Ali] would never had taken any benefit from the world and from it there had not been any advantage except the quenching of the thirsty and feedings of the hungry ones. And here the world-worshipper from the ascetic one, righteous one from the liar had been explicit for all of them. And in accordance of what God’s has said in the Holy Qur’an: ‘If the people of towns would have accepted faith and were pious, We would have opened the gates of heaven’s blessing upon them, but since they denied We punished them for their evil deeds.’ And: ‘Those who indulges in the tyranny and oppression their deeds would caught their skirt, and they would never be able to escape from the divine punishment.’

The second Sermon of Fatimeh al-Zahra (SA), p-155.

• Language: English
• Publisher: AuthorHouse
• Release date: Jul 28, 2014
• ISBN: 9781496926951

Sayyid Munthir Hakim

Sayyid Hussein Alamdar P.E, holds a MSCE from the University of South Carolina, at Columbia, S.C. He served Duke Power Company, Charlotte N.C from 1971-1982. In 1983, he was invited to join the Water and Power Co in Tehran, where he served as a Project Manager for the Hydroelectric Projects until 2003. During his stay in Iran for 20 year (1983-2003) in addition to his engineering responsibilities he was blessed with the divine grace of also attending the Islamic Seminary under the able tutorship of Ayatollah Seyed Mohammad Taqi Hakim Shooshtari and Hajj Aghai Ali Solemani Aashtiani in Tehran. He also founded the Ahl al-Bayt (AS) Islamic Cultural Services (AICS) of USA to accomplish the following exalted objectives to publish Ahl al-Bayt’s (AS) Learning and Knowledge. 1. It has been narrated that Imam al-Rida (A.S) has said to one of his followers: “May Allah bless the servant who keeps our vicegerency (vilayat) alive through the publication of our learning (mu’arif) and knowledge (uloom).” Alamdar, has translated the following books, some of them are also available on the internet at WWW. Al-Islam.org, Islamic Library Project of Stanford University California (USA). Some of his translated books are also being published by the Author house of Bloomington, Indiana, USA and are being marketed through Amazon.com and Burns and Nobles as hard copy, soft copy, and kindle book. 1. Self Building (Khud Sazi wa Tahzib wa Tazkiyeh Nafs): Ayatollah Ibrahim Amini 2. Truth and Falsehood: Martyr Ayatollah Murtaza Mutaheri (RA) 3. Discourse of Patience: Grand Ayatollah Seyed Ali Khamenie 4. Profundities of the Prayer: Grand Ayatollah Seyed Ali Khamenie 5. Spiritual Journeys of the Mystics: Grand Ayatollah Malaki Tabrizi (RA) 6. Etiquette of the Holy Month of Ramadan: Grand Ayatollah Malaki Tabrizi (RA) 7. Radiance of Vicegerency (Frooghe-e-Vilayat): Grand Ayatollah J’afar Sobhanie 8. Shi’i Replies to Wahabi Questions: Grand Ayatollah J'afar Sobhanie 9. The Story of Karbala: Ayatollah Ali Nazari Munfarid 10. How to Bridge the Generation Gap: Ayatollah Seyed Muhammad Taqi Hakim 11. Imam al-Zain al-A’abedin (AS): Seyed Munthir Hakim 12. Imam al-Baqir (AS): Seyed Munthir Hakim 13. Biography of Ash Sharif ar-Radi: Muhammad Ibrahim Nejad 14. History of the Holy Mosque of Jamkaran 15. Translation of the Death-Will of Grand Ayatollah Seyed Muhammad Rida Golpaygani (RA) 16. Every Must Know (Hame Bayad Bedanand): Ayatollah Ibrahim Amini 17. Fatimeh al-Zahra (SA): Seyed Munthir Hakim 18. Imam Jafar al-Sadiq (AS): Seyed Munthir Hakim

Book preview

In the Name of Allah, the Compassionate and the Merciful.

2. Preface by the Ahl al-Bayt (AS) World Assembly

P raise belongs to God who guided his creatures towards the path of guidance, and salutations be upon the especially distinguished Seal of the Prophets─Muhammad bin Abdullah (SAW) and his Holy Progeny. God has created man and bestowed upon him intelligence and the faculty of reason; with intelligence he could discover the truth and should be able to distinguish it from the falsehood; with his determination he should select which is good for him, and decide his objectives accordingly. God has bestowed intelligence as an obligation upon His servants and rained it upon them from the fountainhead of His blessings and guidance. He taught man that was unknown to him, and enlightened him with the path of perfection and aim of His creation. The Holy Qur’an made the pillars of the faith, illuminated the obligations and paths of guidance clearly, revealed their meanings, and rolled the curtain up, showing the fruitful results until the following verses were descended:

Say: Lo! The guidance of Allah is guidance, and we are ordered to surrender to the Lords of the worlds.

─The Holy Qur’an (6:71).

Allah guideth whom He will unto a straight path.

─The Holy Qur’an (2:213).

But Allah sayeth the truth and He showeth the way.

─The Holy Qur’an (33: 4).

"He who holdeth fast to Allah, he indeed is guided unto a right path.

─The Holy Qur’an (3:101).

Say: Allah leadeth to the truth. Is He Who leadeth to the truth more deserving that He should be followed, or he who findeth not the way unless he (himself) be guided? What aileth ye? How judge ye?

─The Holy Qur’an (10:35).

Those who have been given knowledge see that what is revealed unto thee from thy Lord is the truth and leadeth unto the path of the Mighty, the Owner of Praise.

─The Holy Qur’an (34: 6).

And who goeth farther astray than he who followeth his lust without guidance from Allah?

─The Holy Qur’an (28:50).

Yes, God is the most exalted fountainhead of the real guidance; He is the One Who guides man towards the straight path of the truth. His Knowledge verifies this reality, and the intellectuals bow their heads to it with their entire existence. God has provided the mankind with the desire for perfection and beauty in our primordial nature, then has done a favor, and bestowed upon us the blessing of identifying the path of perfection; and from this consideration He has revealed in the Holy Qur’an:

I created the jinn and humankind only that they might worship Me.

─The Holy Qur’an (51:56).

The only path to access the peak of perfection is worshipping, accompanied by understanding and farsightedness. God has equipped human beings with the two powers of wrath and passion, to have the stregnth of movement towards the path of perfection, and didn’t make him immune from the domination of these two powers and his self’s desires produced by them─that are always accompanied with the human being. Therefore, humans in addition to requiring the faculty of reason, and other tools of identification of the perfection, require something which could guarantee the soundness of their farsightedness so that the divine proof (hujjat) and guidance become clear, and all the factors contributing to the conscious selection of either righteous or deviated paths are available to them as options.

It was due to this consideration that the divine tradition has always been based upon the fact that man’s faculty of reason should be backed by the divine revelations, and the guidance of the exalted spiritual guides appointed by the God for all dimensions of his life. Since the beginning of human history, divinely appointed messengers carried the torch of divine guidance upon their shoulders so that His servants should never remain without a guide and leader, and the world would never be empty from the presence of the Divine Proof (Hujjat-e-Khuda). The Proof of God has always been such that if there are only two people left in the world, one of them would be the Proof of God. The Holy Qur’an also has indicated this as follows:

Thou art a warner only, and for every folk a guide.

─The Holy Qur’an (13:7).

The divine messengers and their successors have responsibilities of guiding the people, and their responsibilities and duties could be described as follows:

1. They receive revelations correctly and accurately, and such a task requires a complete readiness. Therefore, God Himself selects his representatives, and the Holy Qur’an has spoken about it explicitly:

Allah knoweth best with whom to place His message.

─The Holy Qur’an (6:124).

"But Allah chooseth of His messengers whom He will, (to receive knowledge thereof).

─The Holy Qur’an (3:179).

2. They should be able to deliver the divine message to the people. Deliverance of such a divine assignment depends upon their possessing complete competence and this is based upon their completely being aware of the details of objectives of their mission and their being totally immune from the committing of mistakes (infallibility or ismat) as clearly explained in the following verse:

"Mankind were one community and Allah sent (unto them) Prophets as bearers of good tidings and as warners, and revealed therewith the Scripture with the truth that it might judge between mankind concerning that wherein they differed.

─The Holy Qur’an (2:213).

3. They should be able to establish a community that is loyal and committed to the divine mission and make it ready to support its leader. The Holy Qur’an with two special phrases, nourishment (tarbiyat) and education (t’aleem), has announced this assignment in a very eloquent manner:

He it is Who hath sent among the unlettered ones a messenger of their own, to recite unto them His revelations and to make them grow and to teach them the scripture and wisdom, though heretofore they were indeed in error manifest.

─The Holy Qur’an (62:2).

They purified (tazikiyeh) them, taught the Book (the Holy Qur’an) and wisdom. Self Cleansing (tazkiyeh) i.e, nurturing the perfection within the human soul, and this nurturing required a model that should contain all the parameters of perfection:

Verily in the messenger of Allah ye have a good example for him who looketh unto Allah and the Last Day, and remembereth Allah much.

─The Holy Qur’an (33: 21).

4. He protects his divine assignment from the deviation and misleading. Such a responsibility requires the spiritual and intellectual decency that is defined as infallibility (ismat).

5. He should continuously endeavor to implement the meaningful objectives of his divine assignment and to strengthen the moral values in the souls and consciences of the individual human beings, as well as in the basic pillars of human society. This could only be accomplished by the execution of divine commandments and religious laws and is not possible except through building a political infrastructure based upon the most sublime divine values. The execution of these designs, and regulations requires the leadership of a wise learned person, extremely valiant, especially determined, and aware regarding the morals of various strata of the community including the social, political and intellectual patterns, and the relevant laws to manage and nurture the paths and customs of the life. The abovementioned factors that could be interpreted as the intellectual capabilities are in addition to the infallibility (ismat), which are called the spiritual worthiness.

The divine messengers and their successors, in accomplishing the objectives which were assigned by the God for them, never sat comfortably even for a moment, were ready to sacrifice their lives, stretched their hands to untangle the most difficult complexities, and left no stone unturned. God completed their persistent endeavors with the messenger ship of the last carrier of the heavenly illumination─Muhammad bin Abdullah (SAW), and put the trust and responsibility of the human guidance upon the shoulders of that exalted person. The Holy Prophet (SAW) took astonishing giant steps in this path and accomplished the greatest objectives within the shortest period of time. Accomplishments achieved during his twenty three years of endeavors are reported as follows:

1. Presenting the most complete and perfect mission to the mankind consisting of elements of permanence and eternity.

2. Equipping that mission with the elements which are responsible for preventing all sorts of deviations and crookedness.

3. Establishing and founding an ideal Islamic Community which believed in Islam as their school of thought, the Holy Prophet (SAW) as their divinely appointed leader, and the divine scripture as their code of life.

4. Formation of an Islamic Government which executed the divine commands and proudly carried the Flag of Islam upon its shoulders.

5. Presenting the illuminated face of a wise divine leadership that he himself was its most perfect manifestation.

The total accomplishment of his divine mission was dependent upon the following acts:

A. A competent and capable leader who was able to execute the divine assignments, protect them from the greedy egoistic individuals, and bestow upon them permanence.

B. An appropriate training that would remain durable with the passage of time. Such a difficult task could be attained only divinely appointed teachers possessing the intellectual and spiritual worthiness─the spiritual leaders who in their behavior and character should be the most exalted─like the Holy Prophet (SAW) himself.

Therefore, God desired that the Holy Prophet (SAW) should make exalted persons from his own Ahl al-Bayt (AS) readied for the task, should announce their blessed names, and should assign the affairs of the heavenly guidance of religion to them in accordance with the God’s permission; in order to secure the religion from the deviation by the mischievous and ignorant people so that the upcoming generations could be nurtured with virtues. This program of God was manifested in the following sentence of the Holy Prophet (SAW):

I am leaving two heavy trusts; so far you would remained attached and committed to them, shall never be deviated, and these two are the Book of God (Qur’an) and my progeny. They would never be separated from each other until they meet with me at the Spring of Kouther.

Therefore, in this path the infallible Imams (AS) were the same exalted individuals selected by the Holy Prophet (SAW) through the God’s Command, and were assigned for the leadership of the Islamic community after him. Their performance was the perfect manifestation of the true Islam. The research and investigation into their lives rolls curtains up from many dimensions of the true Islamic Movement─the Movement that has been traveled in the profundities of the Muslim souls. Without any doubt, the capacity of this movement was slowed down in the aftermath the Holy Prophet’s (SAW) demise. Due to this consideration the infallible Imams (AS), without leaving their leadership roll of providing heavenly spiritual guidance to the Islamic Community, engaged themselves in enlightening the people and elevating their awareness about their school of thought, the Holy Prophet’s (SAW) movement, and his magnificent revolution, thus adding to its energy, movement, and acceleration.

The lives of the Imams (AS) were also based upon the continuation of the Holy Prophet’s (SAW) traditions, and the people gathered around them as though they were radiant beacons of the heavenly guidance. In this manner the religious leaders, guided the people towards supporting the truth, persisted in the execution of the divine commandments, and in accomplishing the human perfection were far more distinguished than the others. Their lives were saturated with crusades, patience in facing calamities, and tolerance of suffering inflicted by the oppressors to the point that they preferred the path of martyrdom with dignity and honor over the wretched life, living with the tyrants. After waging the magnificent and grand crusades, they left this world to meet their beloved God. The historians were never able to have the access to all dimensions of the lives of these exalted personalities. Therefore, efforts have been made, so that by conducting comprehensive studies and research─what has been described in the history about the traditions of those virtuous spiritual leaders─their lives could be fruitfully presented to our readers. Our project starts with a description of the life of the Holy Prophet (SAW) and ends with an explanation of the blessed existence of the Seal of divinely appointed spiritual leaders, the Lord of the Age Imam Muhammad al-Mehdi (AF). May Allah illuminate this darkened world with the radiance of justice and peace with his blessed reappearance.

This book deals with the research about the precious life of Fatimeh al-Zahra (SA), the beloved honorable daughter of the Holy Prophet Muhammad (SAW), who was the model lady and the third celestial star of the chasitity─the lady who in her own life was the most perfect manifestation of the divine code in all dimensions of spirituality, actions, and deeds. The personality that was named by the Holy Prophet as─the Lady of the Worlds Women, the most distinguished symbol of woman hood that the faith, purity, and sincerity are radiating from her blessed existence. It would be now appropriate to sincerely thank all those who have contributed significantly and bestowing it upon the world of illumination, the honorable members of this special project, especially Hujjatul Islam wal Muslimin Janab Hajj Aghai Munthir Hakim, Hajj Aghai Eddi Gharibavi, and Hajj Aghai Abbas Jalali; and place our head upon the God’s threshold for the bestowment of His divine grace in undertaking this auspicious work.

***

PART-1

Chapter-1: A Bird Eye View of Zahra (SA)

Chapter-2: Aspects of Zahra’s (SA) Personality

Chapter-3: The Glories of Zahra’s (AS) Personality

Chapter-1: A Bird Eye View of Zahra (SA)

F atimeh al-Zahra (SA) was the honorable daughter of the Holy Prophet Muhammad bin Abdullah (SAW) and Khadijeh (SA), Khulid’s daughter. Fatimeh, the sacred, was born with the blessed and auspicious marriage of the most superior mother and father in the history of mankind. No one has ever possessed comparable divine education and commandments like the example of her exalted father’s commandments─that have so much changed the face of the history. During these countable and limited years, human beings were able to take the giant steps forward under the reflection of this education. History does not show us any one like Zahra’s (SA) mother, who possessed a sincerity and purity of the heart which she offered to her exalted husband, and in return, God bestowed upon her guidance, illumination, and enlightenment as a reward for her sacrifices.

It was under the shadow of such an exalted mother and father that Zahra (SA) was nourished in a home full of love and affection where her exalted father shouldered a heavy responsibility of the prophet hood, and suffered such hardships that even the mountains were helpless to bear that responsibility.⁴ That exalted human being, no matter where he went, encountered the Qureshite and their sons who were sitting in waiting, and Zahra (SA), witnessing all these scenes as a child, acted as a partner and sympathizer with her mother to reduce the effects of all the pains and hardships of her father. She through witnessing the torture and annoyance that her beloved father was encountered, suffered a lot, and endured the pains and suffering, which were inflicted upon the Muslims during the early period of Islam.

The Greatest Truthful (Sadigha-e-Kubra) since her childhood witnessed the pains and tortures of the propagation of the prophet hood, and before her puberty was under the siege for two years with her parents and other Banu Hashim inside a mountain pass named the Shayb-e-Abu Talib. Immediately after the three years of hunger and famine, when the siege was lifted, Zahra (SA) at the age of 6 years lost her kind mother Khadijeh (SA) and grandfather Abu Talib (AS). Zahra (SA) tolerated the adversities, and was her father’s friend during his difficulties and hardships. She provided sympathy to her father’s heart, acted as his friend and caretaker, when she saw the tortures and annoyance inflicted by the rascals and lewd persons. At the age of eight, accompanied by her cousin and others, Fatimeh (SA) migrated from Mecca to Medina and, until her marriage with Ali ibn Abi Talib (AS), remained by her father’s side. In this manner, the house of the Holy Prophet (SAW)─the most distinguished home in the history of Islam─acquired its image, because the sacred Zahra (SA) was considered to have the most distinguished origin, being the pious offspring of the Holy Prophet (SAW) and the abundance (Kouther) bestowed by God upon him.

Zahra (SA) presented the most supreme model of womanhood and most outstanding example of motherhood during the most difficult period of the Islamic History. The history that was supposed to establish the path to eternity and superiority through deletion of an illiterate environment and old tribal traditions. The customs of the time had destroyed all genuine behaviors of treating the women as human beings, and instead considered them to be a shameful and disgusting existence. Therefore, it was essential that a personality like Zahra (SA)─the Holy Prophet’s (SAW) daughter and the outcome of an unmatched divine movement─in both her individual and family conduct, should present a realistic and practical model of a woman who displayed the total manifestation of all contexts and values of the prophet hood. In reality, Zahra (SA) proved to all the mankind that she is a perfect human being who presented the most supreme model of a decent and dignified woman. In this manner, one of the great signs of God’s power was that He bestowed upon Zahra (SA) an exaltedness equipped with His unique magnificence and grandeur.

Zahra (SA) had two sons from the Commander of the Faithful Imam Ali (AS) Chiefs of the Youth of Paradise─Imam al-Hasan (AS) and Imam al-Husain (AS)─and two daughters─patient and self-sacrificing by the names of Zainab (SA) and Kulthum (SA) and after her father’s demise, the Holy Prophet (SAW), she lost her son Mohsin before his birth in a tragic incident of the attack upon her home─the house of revelation. This son was the prime sacrifice and martyr of this devoted mother, who after the demise of her father, offered him to God in the path of safe-guarding the prophetic mission from any sort of deviations and crookedness.

Zahra (SA) participated with her beloved, exalted father and husband in various difficult moments and crises. This highly respected lady, with her endeavors, confrontations, sermons, and with her nourishment of the Holy Prophet’s (SAW) Ahl al-Bayt (AS)─who were treasured by him for helping the God’s religion after him, helped and supported the Code of Islam. After her continuous and painful confrontation and crusade as a prime person from the Holy Prophet’s (SAW) Ahl al-Bayt (AS), she was the first person to join him after his death. While she confronted the Polytheists, destroyed the plans and plots of the hypocrites, and stood up against the deviators, she also shined in the arena of bestowing enlightenment upon the Muslim women. In reality Zahra (SA), was the symbol of bravery, self-sacrifice, forbearance, martyrdom, forgiveness, excessive generosity, and she achieved these distinctions in the shortest span of time possible for a human being to climb to the peak of perfection, thus acquiring the most eminent position among the women. Salutations and greetings be upon her, the day she opened her eyes upon this earth, the day she drank the sherbet of martyrdom, the day when she will be raised possessing the symbols of pride, distinction, majesty in her hand, and the dress of dignity and nobility upon her body.

***

Chapter-2: Aspects of Zahra’s (SA) Personality

Z ahra (SA) is the most distinguished daughter of the Holy Prophet (SAW)─the wife of the first Imam (AS) and the most heroic personality of Islam─the most refreshing blossom of history, shining and illuminated face of the last divine prophet hood mission, and the First Lady of the World’s Women. This highly respected Lady is considered as the pious and pure offspring and distinguished origin of the Holy Prophet’s (SAW) Holy Progeny. Her life history is strongly connected with the history of prophet hood mission, because she opened her eyes to this world eight years before the migration and said farewell to this world only a few month after the Holy Prophet’s (SAW) sad demise. The Holy Prophet (SAW) has praised the outstanding position and rank of the sacred Zahra (SA), and the leading effect of that Great Lady upon the line of prophethood and following the guidance of the Holy Qur’an. And this heavenly scripture has described the distinguished position and rank of the Ahl al-Bayt (AS) in general and Zahra (SA) in particular.

2.1. Zahra (SA) in the Holy Qur’an’s Verses

The Holy Qur’an, in its verses which are recited fortnightly, has praised the human beings in order to emphasize their distinguished position and self sacrificing in the path of truth, and thus has made their memory eternal. The Holy Prophet’s (SAW) Ahl al-Bayt (AS) are included in those that God has remembered explicitly and described their special distinguished rank and privileges. The historians and commentators of the Holy Qur’an have narrated the revelations of numerous verses in the praise of Ahl al-Bayt (AS) in which God has praised them in order to establish the correctness, authenticity of stand taken by them, and to call the people to follow them.

2.2. Heavenly Stream (Kauther) of the Prophet hood

Abundance (Kouther) means plenty of goodness and includes all bounties that were bestowed by God upon the Holy Prophet (SAW). The contexts regarding revelation of this Surah in addition to its last verses, has clearly and explicitly reminded that the relevant goodness here belongs to abundance and establishment of his genealogy. The people of the world are very well aware that the pure genealogy of the Holy Prophet (SAW) has continued through the means of children of his honorable daughter, Zahra (SA), and some of the narrations quoted by the Holy Prophet (SAW) have clearly explained this matter.

A majority of the commentators, ⁵ including Ibn Abbas, while debating about the Verse of the Abundance (Kouther) has noted that A’as bin W’ail repeatedly said to the Qureshite chiefs: Muhammad doesn’t have a son through whom he would be replaced, ⁶ and due to this reason if he left the world, his genealogy would end, and they would be thus rescued from his existence. But Fakhr Radhi, in spite of his explanation of the differences of opinions among the commentators regarding the meaning of abundance, has said explicitly: Third Quotation: ‘Abundance has meant the sons of the Holy Prophet (SAW)….’ Because this blessed Surah has been revealed in the condemnation of those who had criticized him for not having the sons. Therefore, in accordance with the meaning of this verse that God would bestow upon him, a generation that would remain abundant after the passage of time. Fakhr Radhi adds: In spite of the fact that we witness how significant number of the prophet’s Ahl al-Bayt (AS) were martyred?! But the world still is full of their existence while no one has remained from the Banu Umayyad. Further we see that from the Holy Prophet’s (SAW) Ahl al-Bayt (AS) what kind of elders and intellectuals─like Imam al-Baqir (AS), Imam al-Sadiq (AS), Imam al-Rida (AS), Nafse Zakiyeh, and the alikes have remained. ⁷

The Verse of the Cursing (Mub’ahileh) argues that Imam al-Hasan (AS) and Imam al-Husain (AS) are considered as the Holy Prophet’s (SAW) sons, and plenty of narrations quoted from him prove that the God has kept the genealogy of each messenger from the loins of that messenger except that the genealogy of the Seal of the Prophets (AS) would continue from the loins of Ali ibn Abi Talib (AS).⁸ In an authentic narration quoted by the Holy Prophet (SAW), he said to Imam al-Hasan (AS) as follows:

My son al-Hasan is a great personality that God through him would establish peace and comfort between the two huge opposite groups.⁹

2.3. Zahra (SA) in the Surah of Time or Man (al-Dahr)

One day Imam al-Hasan and Imam al-Husain (AS) were sick, and the Holy Prophet (SAW) accompanied by a group of the people went to see them. The visitors said to Imam Ali (AS): "O Abu al-Hasan! Take a solemn vow for the curing of your sons; therefore Imam Ali (AS), Fatimeh (SA), and her maid Fizzeh vowed to fast for three days if they recovered their soundness of health. It was not very long that those two exalted ones become healthy, and they in accordance with their vow observed the fasts, but unfortunately there was nothing to eat in their home. Therefore, Imam Ali (AS) borrowed 9 kg of barley from Sham’oon the Jew. Fatimeh (SA) grounded it and cooked the five loaves, one for each family member, and placed it before them to break their fast when a destitute person came to the door of their home and said: ‘Salutations and greetings be upon the Holy Progeny of Muhammad (SAW)! I am a poor destitute and hungry Muslim, give me the food so that God may bless you with the food of paradise in compensation. Ahl al-Bayt (AS) gave their food to him, broke their fast with water