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1. Birth to Hijra

1. Birth to Hijra

 Fātimatu ’z-Zahrā’ was born in the fifth year of the bi’that and she was the only child who survived from among the children of Khadija. Fātima’s birth and the fact that only she gave the Prophet grandchildren is itself a revolutionary statement: in the pre-Islamic society, the birth of a baby girl was considered a disgrace for the family; and lineage was only recognized through male children. When the male children of the Prophet and Khadija died in infancy, some of the unbelievers of Mecca taunted the Prophet saying that he is an “abtar — a person who is cut off, that is, he has no progeny.” In response to this taunting, Allāh revealed chapter 108 of the Qur’ān: “We have verily given to you (O Muhammad) plentiful [i.e., in the form of Fātima and her progeny]; therefore, pray to your Lord and offer sacrifice. Surely the one who taunts you is an abtar.”

 Fātima’s life is intertwined with the emergence and growth of the Islamic movement. She was just three years old when her parents —the Prophet and Khadija— had to go with other family members to Abu Talib’s castle outside Mecca when the Quraysh imposed an economic and social boycott against them. Soon after the boycott ended, at the age of five, Fātima lost her mother. She was thereafter brought up by the Prophet himself.

 A famous incident from the Meccan period shows that Fātima, even in childhood, was part of her father’s struggle. Once the Prophet was praying near the Ka’bah while a group of Qurayshi unbelievers were sitting and watching him. Abu Jahl, their leader, said, “Who amongst you can go and bring the intestine of a slaughtered camel and put it on Muhammad when he is in prostration?” ‘Uqba bin Abi Mu’Ä«t complied with the suggestion of Abu Jahl and placed the filthy intestine of a camel on the Prophet’s shoulder when he was in the state of sajdah. The Prophet remained in that position while the unbelievers laughed so much so that they fell on each other. A passerby went to the Prophet’s home and informed Fātima. Fātima, though still in her childhood, came running to the Ka’bah and removed the filth from the Prophet and cursed the unbelievers on their faces.

 After the death of Khadija and Abu Tālib, life became most constrained and difficult for the Prophet and his followers in Mecca. When the Quraysh planned to kill the Prophet, he left Mecca and migrated to Medina, and thus began a new era in the history of Islam.

 ‘AlÄ« bin Abi Tālib had been left behind by the Prophet to mislead the enemies, to return the property of others entrusted to the Prophet, and also to bring the remaining members of the Prophet’s immediate family to Medina. After accomplishing the tasks given to him, ‘AlÄ« started the journey towards Medina with three Fātimas: Fātima bint Asad (‘AlÄ«’s mother), Fātima bint Zubayr ibn ‘Abdul Muttalib (aunt of ‘AlÄ« and the Prophet), and Fātimatu ‘z-Zahrā’.

 The Prophet, who had left Mecca earlier, waited for ‘AlÄ« and his family at Quba on the outskirts of Medina. When Abu Bakr suggested that they enter the city of Medina, the Prophet refused to do so until his cousin and his beloved daughter reached him in Quba. And, indeed, the Prophet entered Medina only after those closest to him in family ties as well as in spiritual affiliation had joined him from Mecca!

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