Incident of the attack on the house of Lady Fatima (a): Difference between revisions

In the sources, the names of some of those who accompanied ‘Umar in this attack are mentioned, including [[Usayd b. Hudayr]], Salama b. Salama b. Waqsh,<ref>In another narration, Salma b. Aslam b. Juraysh is mentioned.</ref> Thabit b. Qays b. Shammas Khazraji, [['Abd al-Rahman b. 'Awf]], Muhammad b. Muslima and Zayd b. Aslam.

[[Sayyid Ja'far Shahidi]] believes that ‘Umar’s threat to burn down Fatima’s (a) house, quoted in ''Ansab al-ashraf'' and ''al-‘Aqd al-farid'' among [[Sunni]] sources, could not be fabricated by Shiite sympathizers or their friends’ political factions because Shiites had no power in the first/seventh centuries and were a minority. Moreover, the report is recorded in western Islamic sources where Shiites were not present. Shahidi believes that those present in Saqifa were more concerned with the government than with religion.

In some early Shiite sources, it is narrated that in the incident of attacking Fatima’s (a) house, they set fire to the door of the house and Fatima (a) was injured and her unborn child was aborted. In the ''book of Sulaym b. Qays'', it is said that ‘Umar b. Khattab carried out his threat, set fire to the door of Fatima’s (a) house, entered the house and when he faced the resistance of Fatima (a), he struck her side of abdomen with a sword sheath. It is also mentioned in the book of ''[[Ithbat al-wasiyya]]'' attributed to [[Ali b. Husayn al-Mas'udi]], a historian of the fourth/tenth century: “They stormed the house and set fire to its door, and forced Ali (a) out and pressed the Master of All Women (a) behind the door, so that [[Al-Muhsin b. al-Imam Ali (a)|Muhsin (a)]] was aborted.” In the report of ''[[Dala'il al-Imama]]'', it is mentioned that [[Umar]] ordered [[Qunfudh]] to beat Fatima (a).

[[Al-Ayashi]], a Shiite narrator in the [[Minor Occultation]] period, also said that ‘Umar kicked at the door of the house, which was made of palm branches, broke it and entered the house and took Ali (a) out with his shoulders tied.

Muhammad Hadi Yusufi Gharawi, a researcher in the history of [[Islam]] and [[Shiism]], based on some evidences, believes that the time of the attack on Lady Fatima’s (a) house was not immediately after the [[incident of Saqifa]] and allegiance to Abu Bakr, but about fifty days or more after the [[demise of the Prophet (s)]]. The first evidence is that a person named [[Burayda b. al-Husayb al-Aslami]], who had gone to [[Muta]] with [[Usama b. Zayd's Army|Usama’s army]], after returning to [[Medina]] and learning about the Saqifa incident, along with some members of his tribe, supported Imam Ali (a) and said that “if Ali (a) does not pledge allegiance, we will not pledge allegiance either.” It was after this incident that the caliph and his entourage thought of taking Imam Ali’s (a) allegiance. According to Yusufi Gharawi, considering the time of the army’s return and the events before and after it, the incident of the invasion occurred about fifty days after the demise of the Prophet (s). Another evidence is that after the [[usurpation of Fadak]], which occurred ten days after the demise of the Prophet (s), Fatima (a) went to the mosque and recited a sermon which became known as the [[sermon of Fadak]]. Yusufi Gharawi, from the descriptions of how Fatima (a) walked on the way to the mosque (including that her walk was no different from the walk of the Prophet (s)) concluded that the attack did not take place before the time of Fatima’s (a) sermon, because with the injuries she (a) had received from the attack, Fatima (a) could not walk like that. The third evidence is that after the incident of Saqifa and the confiscation of Fadak, Imam Ali (a), along with Fatima (a) and [[Imam al-Hasan (a)]] and [[Imam al-Husayn (a)]], went to the house of the [[Emigrants]] and the [[Helpers]] at night to ask them for help to take their rights. If the attack had taken place before this date, Fatima (a) would not have been able to accompany them with the injuries she (a) had received.

In the ''[[book of Sulaym b. Qays]]'', ''[[al-Imama wa al-siyasa]]'', and the book ''[[Dala'il al-Imama]]'', it is mentioned that after the incident of the attack on Fatima’s (a) house, Abu Bakr and ‘Umar tried to apologize and satisfy Fatima (a) and went to visit her. Fatima (a) did not accept to see them, but the two asked Imam Ali (a) to mediate and they met with Fatima (a). In this meeting, Fatima (a) turned away from them and reminded them of the words of the [[Prophet (s)]] that “Fatima (a) is part of my body, whoever hurts her, has hurt me” and then said, “I take God as witness that you two annoyed me and made me angry.”

According to a narration from [[Imam al-Sadiq (a)]], the cause of Fatima’s (a) martyrdom was injuries she (a) received during the attack on the house.

Some Sunni sources such as ''Tarikh Madinat al-Dimashq'' by Ibn ‘Asaker, ''al-Mu'jam al-kabir'' by al-Tabarani and ''Tarikh al-Islam'' by al-Dhahabi state that in the last hours of his life, Abu Bakr regretted doing three things and as one of them, said that he wished he had not ordered to enter the house of Fatima (a).

Reports of [[Umar b. Khattab]] threatening to set fire to Fatima’s (a) house are mentioned in Sunni sources such as ''Ansab al-ashraf'', ''Tarikh al-Tabari'', ''al-'Aqd al-farid'', ''al-Musannaf'', and ''al-Imama wa al-siyasa'', but they have denied actually setting fire to the house and injuring Fatima (a) by pressure of the door and the abortion of Muhsin (a), and accused the narrators of such reports of being [[Rafidi]] [“dissenter”].

Muhammad b. 'Abd al-Karim al-Shahristani, the [[Ash'arite]] writer of denominations of different nations (d. 548/1153-4), in his introduction to al-Hudhayliyyah, a [[Mu'tazilite]] sect, says that they believe that ‘Umar harmed Fatima (a) on the day of taking allegiance and caused her unborn child to be aborted. Shahristani calls this report a lie.

Khalil b. Ibak al-Safdi (d. 746/1345-6) in ''al-Wafi bil-wafayat'', in introducing Ibrahim b. Sayyar known as Nazzam, one of the great Mu’tazilites, considers him inclined to Rafida and quotes him as saying that ‘Umar harmed Fatima (a) and caused the abortion of Muhsin (a).