Umm Kulthum bt. al-Imam Ali (a): Difference between revisions

According to the history, Umm Kulthum first married 'Umar b. Khattab. After his death, she married 'Un b. Ja'far b. Abi Talib, her cousin. When he passed away, she married his brother, Muhammad. After Muhammad's death, she married another brother of them, 'Abd al-Allah. Mas'udi believes that she had no children. Some others mention Zayd and Ruqayyah as her children whose father was 'Umar. Ibn 'Anbah counts Hamidah as the daughter of Muslim b. 'Aqil whose mother was Umm Kulthum, the daughter of Ali b. Abi Talib (a). Sayyid Muhsin Amin says, "It means that Muslim b. 'Aqil married his cousin, Umm Kulthum. But there is no evidence that he married Umm Kulthum Kubra, so he might has married Umm Kulthum Wusta."

According to historical and hadith references and Shi'a and Sunnite translations, Umm Kulthum, the daughter of Ali b. Abi Talib, married 'Umar, the second Caliph. They married in Dhu al-Qa'da, 17 AH.

Some Maqtal books (narrative accounts of the Event of Karbala) have reported the attendance of Umm Kulthum in the Event of Karbala. In these books, she has been frequently mentioned beside Zaynab (a) and her sufferings have been quoted. Majlisi says, "After Imam's martyrdom, when the tents were burned, the earrings of Umm Kulthum, Husayn's (a) sister, were taken out forcibly". She was a narrator of the Event of 'Ashura and preached a sermon in the meeting held by Ibn Ziyad in Kufa.  In his book, Ibn Tayfur has quoted a sermon from Umm Kulthum which was delivered in Kufa when the Ahl al-Bayt of the Prophet (s) were held captive. Also 'Allamah Majlisi has quoted poems and speeches of Umm Kulthum in the meeting held by Ibn Ziyad.

On the contrary, some other sources indicate that Umm Kulthum who attended the Event of Karbala was not the daughter of Lady Fatimah (a). Sayyid Muhsin Amin says, "Imam Ali (a) had two daughters called Umm Kulthum, one of them was Umm Kulthum Kubra, the daughter of Lady Fatimah (a), who passed away before the Event of Karbala, and the other one, whose mother was a handmaiden, attended the Event of Karbala and delivered a sermon in Kufa. She was the wife of Muslim b. 'Aqil".

Some hadiths have been quoted from Umm Kulthum in Shi'a sources. Mamaqani has counted her as a narrator of hadiths and says:

Most of hadiths narrated by Umm Kulthum are about the sufferings of the Ahl al-Bayt of the Prophet (s).

When Lady Fatimah (a) passed away, Umm Kulthum, wearing a veil and shedding tears, told the Prophet (s), "O father! O the Messenger of Allah! Indeed, the time now is like when you passed away! We will have no chance to visit our mother again".

===Martyrdom of Imam Ali (a)===

'Allamah Majlisi writes:

:::Umm Kulthum said, "At the night of 19 Ramadan, I prepared two loafs of barley bread, some milk, and some salt for my father to break the fasting. After saying prayers, he (a) attended the food spread. He (a) took one look at his food and cried loudly. He (a) then said, "… O my dear daughter! If you do not take one of these two foods, swear by God, I will eat nothing …." And he (a) ate a loaf of bread and some salt".

Shaykh Mufid writes:

:::'Ali (a) stayed awake all the night before the day he (a) was martyred. Umm Kulthum asked him the reason. He (a) said, "I will be killed in the morning". Umm Kulthum prevented him from going to Masjid. But Imam (a) said, "Death is inevitable" and left home.

When Imam Ali (a) was martyred, she told Ibn Muljam while she was crying,

Sayyid b. Tawus has quoted a hadith from Shaykh Saduq in which Umm Kultum talks about Imam Ali's (a) advice to his children and his funeral and burial ceremony. In one part of this hadith we read:

"When Hussayn (a) bade his family a final farewell, Umm Kulthum cried out, "O Aba 'Abd Allah! Woe on us after you!" Then, Imam (a) consoled her, Zaynab (a), and Rubab."

# When the Ahl al-Bayt were held captive and the people of Kufa brought food for children, Umm Kulthum cried out, "O people of Kufa! It is forbidden to give alms to the Ahl al-Bayt of the Prophet (s)".

# There is a tradition according to which when the caravan of captives entered Sham, Umm Kulthum wanted Shimr to move the heads of martyrs away so that people would be attracted to them and would look at the captives less.

# According to many sources, her son, Zayd, and she passed away simultaneously and one prayer was recited on their bodies.

# Some scholars believe that they passed away about 50 AH at the time of Mu'awiyah and government of Sa'id b. 'As.

# Some others believe that they passed away at the time of 'Abd al-Malik b. Marwan (73-86 AH).

# Miqrizi writes that she passed away when she was the wife of 'Un b. Ja'far.

# Ibn 'Abd al-Birr believes that she passed away at the time of Imam Hassan (a).

# Ibn Tayfur believes that she passed away after 61 AH and the Event of Karbala.

:::"It has been narrated that Umm Kulthum, Imam Husayn's (a) sister, passed away in Sham.

In his travel book, Ibn Battuta has written,

:::"About one parasang  to Sham, there is the tomb of Umm Kulthum, the daughter of Ali b. Abi Talib (a) and Lady Fatimah (a)."

:::"Umm Kulthum's tomb is in Rawiya (Damascus)."

:::"The tomb which is in Rawiya (Damascus) is not Umm Kulthum's, the daughter of Lady Fatimah (a) … she passed away in Medina and was buried in Baqi' graveyard".

Also some others believe that this tomb belongs to Zaynab (a), the daughter of Ali (a) and Fatima (a), whose kunya was Umm Kulthum.