Funeral and burial of Lady Fatima al-Zahra (a): Difference between revisions

Funeral and burial of Lady Fatima al-Zahra (a) refers to the night and her secret burial in the year 11 AH. Lady Fatima (a), the daughter of the Prophet (a) and the wife of Imam Ali (a), had willed that she be buried secretly at night so that Abu Bakr b. Abi Quhafa and ‘Umar b. al-Khattab would not be present at her funeral. This will is considered a sign of Lady Fatima’s (a) protest against the caliph and her dissatisfaction with the events after the death of the Prophet (a).

Lady Fatimah’s body was buried in the presence of a small number of people such as Imam Ali (a), Imam al-Hasan (a) and Imam al-Husayn (a), ‘Aqil b. Abi Talib, ‘Abbas b. ‘Abd al-Muttalib, ‘Ammar Yasir, Miqdad b. Aswad, Zubayr b. ‘Awam, Abu Dharr Ghifari and Salman al-Farsi and without the presence of Abu Bakr and ‘Umar. The burial place of Lady Fatima (a) is unknown.

After the people knew about the burial of Lady Fatima (a) at night, ‘Umar b. al-Khattab demanded the exhumation and performing prayer upon her body again, but after Imam Ali’s (a) warning, he ignored his demand.

Lady Fatimah (a), the daughter of the Prophet (a), died in 11 AH after a period of illness and as a result of physical injuries caused to her after the demise of the Prophet (a). There is a disagreement about the date of her martyrdom between forty days and eight months after the demise of the Prophet (a). 95 days after the demise of the Prophet (a), i.e. the third of Jumadi al-Thani, is considered to be the most famous account among the Shiites; and 75 days after the demise of the Prophet (a), i.e. the 13th of Jumadi al-Awal, is another account.

Lady Fatima (a) passed away after the sunset. According to the narration of Fattal Neyshaburi in the book Rawdat al-wa’izin, the people of Medina cried and went to the house of Imam Ali (a) and waited to pray upon the body; but, Abu Dharr went to them and said that the funeral of the Prophet’s daughter (a) was delayed and the people dispersed.

Abbas, the uncle of the Prophet (a), asked Imam Ali (a) to gather the Emigrants and Ansar for funerals and prayer upon the body, which is a beauty for religion. Imam Ali (a) replied that he (a) could not follow his advice, because Lady Fatima (a) had willed that the prayer upon her and her funeral should be secret. According to the narration of Sulaym b. Qeys, on the night of Lady Fatima’s (a) demise, Abu Bakr and ‘Umar asked Imam Ali (a) not to surpass them in praying upon the body of Lady Fatima (a).

Lady Fatima (a) made a will that her husband, Imam Ali (a) should wash her body. She (a) also asked Asma’ bt. ‘Umays to help Imam Ali (a) in washing her body. According to the will of Lady Fatima (a), Imam Ali (a) and Asma’ washed and shrouded her. Husayn b. ‘Abd al-Wahhab in ‘Uyun al-mu’jizat and Muhammad b. Jarir Tabari, the Shiite scholars in the 5th century AH, in the book Dala’il al-Imamah reported that only Imam Ali (a) along with Imam al-Hasan (a) and Imam al-Husayn (a) prayed upon the body of Lady Fatima (a). In some sources, the number of participants is mentioned more, as Fattal Neyshaburi, the 5th and 6th century Shiite scholar in Rawdat al-wa’izin, and Fadl b. Hasan Tabrisi, the 6th century scholar in the book A’lam al-wura, reported that in addition to Imam Ali (a) and Imam al-Hasan (a) and Imam al-Husayn (a), ‘Aqil, brother of Imam Ali (a), ‘Ammar, Miqdad, Zubayr, Abu Dharr, Salman, Burayda b. Hasib and a number of Bani Hashim also prayed upon the body of Lady Fatima (a) and buried her. ‘Allama Majlisi in Bihar al-anwar narrated a hadith that the people present at the burial of Lady Fatima (a) were Salman al-Farsi, Miqdad, Abu Dharr Ghifari, Abdullah b. Mas’ud, ‘Abbas b. ‘Abd al-Muttalib and Zubayr b. ‘Awam.

The reason for the secrecy of the burial ceremony and prayer was the will of Lady Fatima (a). According to the narration of Fattal Neyshaburi, Lady Fatima (a) made a will to Imam Ali (a) that none of the people who had oppressed her and usurped her right should pray upon her body or attend her funeral.

Shaykh Saduq also narrated that when Imam Ali (a) was asked about the reason of the secret burial of Lady Fatima (a) at night, replied, “Fatima (a) was angry with a group and did not want them to attend her funeral. Ibn Qutayba Dinwari, a Sunni scholar and narrator in the 3rd century AH, also narrated that Lady Fatima (a) made a will to be buried at night so that Abu Bakr would not attend her burial.

 

In Tarikh of Yaqubi, among the historical sources in the 3rd century AH, it is stated that the body of Lady Fatima (a) was buried at night and only Salman, Abu Dharr and Miqdad were present at the funeral. Fattal Neyshaburi considered the number of attendees to be a little more than this.

Rawdat al-Nabi (a)

The house of Lady Fatima (a) and Imam Ali (a). This place became a part of Masjid al-Nabi (a) with the expansion of the mosque during the time of Umayyads.

Some sources have mentioned Baqi’ cemetery as the general burial place of Lady Fatima (a).

Aqil b. Abi Talib’s house: Aqil’s house was a large house next to Baqi’ cemetery, which was changed from a residential area to a shrine after the burial of Fatima bt. Asad, ‘Abbas b. ‘Abd al-Muttalib and some of the Imams (a).

==Events after the Burial==

Imam Ali (a) in order to hide the grave of Lady Fatima (a) and prevent it from being found, in addition to destroying the signs of the grave, built seven graves, or based on another report, forty graves.

Upon learning about the burial of Lady Fatima (a), the people were upset and blamed each other for not being able to attend the funeral and the prayer upon the only child of the Prophet (a).

According to Sulaym b. Qeys, after learning about the prayer and secret burial, ‘Umar b. al-Khattab said to Abu Bakr: “I told you that they would do so.” ‘Umar also had an argument with ‘Abbas b. ‘Abd al-Muttalib and accused Bani Hashim of jealousy. ‘Abbas considered it a will of Lady Fatima (a) and said that “she (a) made a will that you two should not pray upon her.”

According to Bihar al-anwar, ‘Umar b. al-Khattab said, “Bring some Muslim women to dig these graves and find the body of Fatima (a), so that we can pray upon it and bury it again and visit her grave.” When Imam Ali (a) heard about that, he (a) became very angry and went to Baqi’, and after an argument that broke out between him and ‘Umar, ‘Umar and his companions, who faced the anger and threats of Ali (a), gave up their decision.