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

| Well Known As = Umm Kulthum Kubra, Zaynab Sughra

'''Umm Kulthūm Kubrā bt. ʿAlī b. Abī Ṭālib b. ʿAbd al-Muṭṭalib''' (Arabic: {{iarabic|اُمّ کُلثُوم کُبری بنت عَليّ بن اَبيطالِب بن عَبدالمُطَّلِب}}) is the fourth child of [[Imam 'Ali (a)]] and [[Lady Fatima (a)]], after [[Imam al-Hasan (a)]], [[Imam al-Husayn (a)]] and [[Zaynab al-Kubra]]. According to historical sources, she married [['Umar b. al-Khattab]], the second [[Caliph]]. Some scholars believe that she attended in the [[Battle of Karbala]] and her sermons have been quoted in [[Maqtal books]]. The ambiguity surrounding her character and denial or approval of some events happening to her is mostly because there were three or four women with the same name and [[kunya]] in the family of Imam 'Ali (a); Umm Kulthum Kubra who was the daughter of Lady Fatima (a), Umm Kulthum Wusta who was the wife of [[Muslim b. 'Aqil]], Umm Kulthum Sughra (Nafisa), and Zaynab Sughra whose Kunya was Umm Kulthum.

==Kunyas and Titles==

[[Al-Shaykh al-Mufid]] has mentioned the names of Imam Ali's (a) children and introduced her as Zaynab Sughra whose kunya was Umm Kulthum.<ref>Mufīd, ''al-Irshād'', vol. 1, p. 354.</ref> This Kunya was given to her by the Prophet (s) because of her similarity to her aunt, [[Umm Kulthum bt. Muhammad b. 'Abd Allah (s)|Umm Kulthum]] (the Prophet's (s) daughter).<ref>Qummī, ''al-Kunā wa l-alqāb'', vol. 1, p. 228.</ref> In many [[Shi'a]] and [[Sunni]] sources, she is called Umm Kulthum Kubra.

[[Sayyid Muhsin al-Amin]] says, "The daughters of [[Imam 'Ali (a)]] whose names or Kunyas are Umm Kulthum have been three or four".

# Umm Kulthum Kubra, the daughter of [[Lady Fatima (a)]]

# Umm Kulthum Wusta, the wife of [[Muslim b. 'Aqil]]

# Umm Kulthum Sughra

# Zaynab Sughra whose kunya is Umm Kulthum

He continues that if two last ones be the same, so there were three Umm Kulthum, otherwise there were four.<ref>Amīn, ''Aʿyān al-Shīʿa'', vol. 3, p. 484.</ref> In some other sources, the name of Umm Kulthum, the daughter of 'Ali (a) and Fatima (a) is mentioned as "Ruqayya Kubra" and the name of Umm Kulthum Sughra is mentioned as "Nafisa".<ref>ʿAlawī, ''al-Mujdī'', p. 17-18; Zubaydī, ''Tāj al-ʿarūs'', vol. 15, p. 813.</ref>

According to the history, Umm Kulthum first married [['Umar b. al-Khattab]]. After his death, she married 'Uwn 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.<ref>Ibn Saʿd, ''al-Ṭabaqāt al-kubrā'', vol. 8, p. 462.</ref> [[Al-Mas'udi]] believes that she had no children.<ref>Masʿūdī, ''Murūj al-dhahab'', vol. 1, p. 299.</ref> Some others mention Zayd and Ruqayya as her children whose father was 'Umar.<ref>Bilādhurī, ''Ansāb al-ashrāf'', p. 190; Ibn ʿAsākir, ''Tārīkh madīna-yi Dimashq'', vol. 19, p. 482.</ref> [[Ibn 'Inaba]] counts Hamida as the daughter of [[Muslim b. 'Aqil]] whose mother was Umm Kulthum, the daughter of [['Ali b. Abi Talib (a)]].<ref>Ibn ʿInaba, ''Umdat al-ṭālib'', p. 32.</ref> [[Sayyid Muhsin al-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."<ref>Amīn, ''Aʿyān al-Shīʿa'', vol. 3, p. 484.</ref>

Some [[Maqtal books]] (narrative accounts of the [[Battle of Karbala]]) have reported the attendance of Umm Kulthum in the Battle of Karbala. In these books, she has been frequently mentioned beside [[Lady Zaynab (a)|Zaynab (a)]] and her sufferings have been quoted. [[Muhammad Baqir Majlisi|Majlisi]] says, "After Imam's martyrdom, when the tents were burned, the earrings of Umm Kulthum, [[Imam al-Husayn (a)|Husayn]]'s (a) sister, were taken out forcibly".<ref>Majlisī, ''Biḥar al-anwār'', vol. 45, p. 60.</ref> She was a narrator of the Event of [['Ashura]] and preached a sermon in the meeting held by [['Ubayd Allah b. Ziyad|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.<ref>Ibn Ṭayfūr, ''Balāghāt al-nisāʾ'', p. 23.</ref> Also 'Allama Majlisi has quoted poems and speeches of Umm Kulthum in the meeting held by Ibn Ziyad.<ref>Majlisī, ''Biḥar al-anwār'', vol. 45, p. 112-115.</ref>

On the contrary, some other sources indicate that Umm Kulthum who attended the Battle of Karbala was not the daughter of [[Lady Fatima (a)]].<ref>Birrī, ''al-Jawhara fī nisab al-imām ʿAlī'', p. 45.</ref> [[Sayyid Muhsin al-Amin]] says, "[[Imam 'Ali (a)]] had two daughters called Umm Kulthum, one of them was Umm Kulthum Kubra, the daughter of Lady Fatima (a), who passed away before the Battle of Karbala, and the other one, whose mother was a handmaiden, attended the Battle of Karbala and delivered a sermon in Kufa. She was the wife of [[Muslim b. 'Aqil]]".<ref>Amīn, ''Aʿyān al-Shīʿa'', vol. 1, p. 327; vol. 3, p. 484.</ref>

:::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"<ref>Majlisī, ''Biḥar al-anwār'', vol. 42, p. 276-278.</ref>.

"When [[Imam al-Husayn (a)|Husayn (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 Rabab".<ref>Ibn Ṭāwūs, ''Luhūf'', p. 82.</ref>

[[File:The tomb of Umm Kulthum.jpg|thumbnail|the tomb of Umm Kulthum, Damascus, Syria]]

:::"About one parasang  to Syria, there is the tomb of Umm Kulthum, the daughter of [['Ali b. Abi Talib (a)]] and [[Lady Fatima (a)]]"<ref>Ibn Baṭṭūṭa, ''al-Riḥla'', vol. 1, p. 113.</ref>.

Also some others believe that this tomb belongs to Zaynab (a), the daughter of 'Ali (a) and Fatima (a), whose [[kunya]] was Umm Kulthum<ref>Bīṭār, Ḥilyat al-Bashar. Vol. 3, p. 1283.</ref>.