One of the titles borne by Sayyidah Fatimah az-Zahra as is Al-Mubaroqah, which means “the blessed one”. What is meant by “blessed”? To answer that, let us look at the following verse:

QS Dukhan (44):1 – 3
حم

وَالْكِتَابِ الْمُبِينِ

إِنَّا أَنْزَلْنَاهُ فِي لَيْلَةٍ مُبَارَكَةٍ ۚ إِنَّا كُنَّا مُنْذِرِينَ

“Haa Miim. By the Book that makes clear. Indeed We sent it down on a blessed night, and indeed We are ever warning.”

The verse above speaks of the blessed night known as the night of Lailatul Qadr. A hadith of Imam Ja’far Shadiq a.s. states that “Fathimah az-Zahra is Shiddiqatul Qubra; whoever acknowledges the rights of Fathimah (that is, wilayah) and acknowledges the qualities of Sayyidah Zahra will CERTAINLY attain Lailatul Qadr.”

Most Muslims know Fathimah az-Zahra only as the daughter of the Messenger of Allah SAAW, or as the wife of Amirul Mukminin Ali bin Abi Thalib — only that, and nothing more. Yet one of the things mentioned in the hadith above is acknowledging the rights of Sayyidah Fatimah as. What is meant by right here? The right here is wilayah. Fathimah az-Zahra is the mother of the Imams, the holders of wilayah, so the right of Fathimah is the right of the Imams. As Imam Ja’far as stated, for those who do not acknowledge the right of Fathimah, their love for Fathimah comes to nothing.

In the call to prayer, after the words “Hayya alal Falah”, the next words are “Hayya ala Khairil Amal.” (come to the best of deeds). Let us consider what that Khairil Amal is. Is it the prayer? That does not seem right, because the call to prayer has already been given before it (Hayya alal Sholah). Imam Ja’far Shadiq a.s. said, “Khairul amal bir Fathimah wa wuldiha (the best of deeds is devotion to Fathimah and her pure descendants).”

The excellence of Sayyidah Fatimah Zahra as is mentioned in the Qur’an in surah Al-Kautsar as follows:

QS Al-Kautsar (108): 1

إِنَّا أَعْطَيْنَاكَ الْكَوْثَرَ

“Indeed We have given you abundance.”

In Arabic grammar the verse above uses the past tense. Even so, the past tense in the Qur’an does not always indicate something “already done”. The abundance mentioned in the verse above did not yet exist when the verse came down, yet the word used is in the past tense.

The word Al-Kautsar is rendered as abundant favour. Kautsar, on the Arabic rendering, is in fact goodness, so the real sense of the verse above is abundant goodness.

QS Al-Kautsar (108):2-3

فَصَلِّ لِرَبِّكَ وَانْحَرْ

إِنَّ شَانِئَكَ هُوَ الْأَبْتَرُ

“So pray to your Lord and sacrifice. Indeed the one who hates you — he is the one cut off.”

Most commentators agree that this verse came down concerning Ash bin Wa’il, one of the disbelieving Quraysh notables who hated the Messenger of Allah SAAW.

According to history the children of the Messenger of Allah SAAW were Qosim, Thohir, Abdullah, Ibrahim and Fathimah az-Zahra. Many say that Ummu Kultsum, Ruqaiyah and Zainab were daughters of the Messenger of Allah SAAW. In fact the three of them were nieces of Sayyidah Khadijah as, not children of the Messenger of Allah SAAW. Sayyidah Khadijah had an elder sister named Hallah; when Hallah died, her children were raised from orphanhood by Sayyidah Khadijah. There are several events in history that prove the three of them were not daughters of the Messenger of Allah. First, if they were the Messenger of Allah’s daughters, could the Messenger of Allah have let them marry disbelievers? Ruqaiyah’s husband was Munabba, while Ummu Kultsum’s husband was Munabbi, both sons of Abu Jahal. Zainab’s husband was Ash (not Ash bin Wa’il), a disbelieving Qurayshi. The Prophet allowed it because it was not the Prophet’s right to forbid it, since they were not his daughters. Second, when the land of Fadak came to the Messenger of Allah as fai (a gift, not ghanimah/spoils of war) from the Jews to the Messenger of Allah personally, Allah said, “O Muhammad, give this right to Fathimah.” If Zainab, Ummu Kultsum and Ruqaiyah were the Messenger of Allah’s children, then the Messenger of Allah would have been unjust.

When Qosim son of the Messenger of Allah died at the age of two, Sayyidah Khadijah wept very often after Qosim’s death, until the Messenger of Allah would often say to Sayyidah Khadijah, “O Khadijah, he has a foster mother in paradise; if you wish, I will let you hear his weeping.”

When Qosim died, Ash bin Wa’il came up to the Messenger of Allah. He said, “O Muhammad, I see your face is not very bright — has something befallen you?” The Messenger of Allah said, “My son Qosim has died.” When Abu Jahal’s group saw Ash sitting and talking with the Messenger of Allah they said, “O Ash, who are you talking to?” Ash answered, “I am talking to the abtar (the one cut off, who has no descendants).” And so when the Messenger of Allah was labelled abtar, Allah at once answered with a verse of the Qur’an that it was Ash who was the abtar(1).

Returning to the commentary: what is meant by “abundant goodness (Al-Kautsar)”? Many call it intercession, some say a miracle, and some say a pool. But the Al-Kautsar meant in this verse is “abundant descendants”. Why so? Because the subject accords with the final verse. The one who said the Messenger of Allah’s line was cut off is himself the abtar (cut off). Reports say Ash bin Wa’il married dozens of times and had no child. This is Allah’s curse, that he would have no descendants. Then who was Amr bin Ash? Ash bin Wa’il cannot have had descendants, because Allah cannot be wrong. The mother of this Amr bin Ash was a woman who went from man to man; when Amr was born he was ascribed to ‘Ash because ‘Ash was the wealthiest.

On the basis of the discussion above, that Al-Kautsar is the abundant or good progeny of the Messenger of Allah SAAW, the question arises: through whom does that line descend? The only child of the Messenger of Allah who lived to adulthood was Fathimah az-Zahra as. So it is Fathimah az-Zahra through whom abundant descendants came for the Messenger of Allah SAAW. For this reason one of the titles of Fathimah az-Zahra is al-Kautsar. This is the figure of al-Kautsar in this world; as we know, there is also an al-Kautsar in the hereafter, namely the river that flows to the pool of the Messenger of Allah. It is impossible for one who does not know Kautsar in this world to attain Kautsar in the hereafter. This is what is meant by the hadith of Imam Shadiq as that we mentioned at the beginning of the discussion above.

After the treaty of Hudaibiyah, after a ten-year truce, the Messenger of Allah used those ten years for preaching to every corner. Only after those ten years did Allah command the Messenger of Allah to set out for Makkah. By then the polytheists had no strength left, and the Messenger of Allah entered the holy city of Makkah in absolute victory. That event is recorded in the following verses:

QS An-Nasr (110):1 – 3
إِذَا جَاءَ نَصْرُ اللَّهِ وَالْفَتْحُ

وَرَأَيْتَ النَّاسَ يَدْخُلُونَ فِي دِينِ اللَّهِ أَفْوَاجًا

فَسَبِّحْ بِحَمْدِ رَبِّكَ وَاسْتَغْفِرْهُ ۚ إِنَّهُ كَانَ تَوَّابًا

“When the help of Allah has come, and the victory (Fath). And you see people entering the religion of Allah in throngs, then glorify your Lord with praise and ask His forgiveness. Indeed He is ever Accepting of repentance.”

Where did the Messenger of Allah see people entering the religion of Allah in throngs? The verse above came down after many people had entered Islam. When the verse says that you see people in throngs, what is Allah’s command? Glorify. The tasbih runs Subhanallah, whose sense is to seek forgiveness. Did the Prophet have sins, that he should be told to seek forgiveness? The Prophet was told to make istighfar here in order to set an example, not because the Prophet had sins. In Sahih Bukhari, in the chapter on istighfar, the Prophet sought forgiveness seventy times each day. Umar asked the Messenger of Allah, “O Messenger of Allah, have you not been guaranteed paradise?” The Prophet said, “Am I wrong to be a grateful servant?” So the companions at that time (the conquest of Makkah) said Subhanallah and Astaghfirullah. What is the importance of istighfar? By way of example: we have a shop in the market and our shop does not burn down; word comes that the market has burned and our shop has not. What do we say by reflex? Certainly Alhamdulillah. This is the level of ordinary people. Allah teaches something higher, namely Astaghfirullah. Why should one say istighfar? Because there may be evil behind the very event we are thankful for, and so we are being given rope by Allah SWT. Someone else’s shop is burnt out while ours is not. Alhamdulillah shows our selfishness. We do not care that others burned, so long as our shop did not. It is not wrong as such, but Allah does not want it that way. With the victory of the Muslims and the fall of the city of Makkah, then istighfar. Remember that the fall of the city of Makkah was something very great, which is why the verse came down. Allah’s only command to the Prophet was to give thanks for that victory, by tasbih and istighfar.

Back to Al-Kautsar. “I have given you Fathimah az-Zahra.” A gift of Allah to the Prophet must be met with thanks. With what? Tasbih is not enough, because it is far greater than the conquest of the city of Makkah. For from her womb would be born a principle of religion, a doctrine, namely imamah. So far, in our discussions of the Isra Mi’raj, we have spoken only of the Messenger of Allah bringing back the command of prayer. That is true, because all other acts of worship came through Jibril, while the prayer came at the Sidrathul Muntaha, which is why the prayer is called umul furu’ (the mother of the branches of the law).

When Fathimah az-Zahra as was born into the world, there was no one to help Sayyidah Khadijah other than Ummu Aiman and Fathimah binti Assad. Ummu Aiman was the servant of Abdul Muthalib — how old was Ummu Aiman then? Hence the report in the book Yanabi’ul Mawaddah by Al-Qundusi al-Hanafi, that four women were sent down by Allah. They were Maryam binti Imran, Asiah binti Muzahim, Hawa, and Kaltsan (the sister of the Prophet Musa). They came down to help at Sayyidah Khadijah’s delivery. When Hawa saw the baby born she said, “How abundant is the goodness of this child.” Maryam said, “How abundant is the blessing of this child.” Asiah said, “How abundant is the light of this child.” Kaltsan said, “How short is her life.”

At the age of five Sayyidah Zahra lost her mother. Whenever the Messenger of Allah returned from a battle he would not go to the houses of his wives, but would see how his daughter Fathimah was. At Fathimah’s wedding — never in history had the Messenger of Allah entered a kitchen and cooked — he rolled up his sleeves and butchered a camel, then cooked it in the kitchen, for his daughter’s wedding feast. So great was the Messenger of Allah’s love for Sayyidah Fathimah.

The Messenger of Allah’s supplication at the marriage of Sayyidah Zahra to Imam Ali was, “O Allah, bring forth from these two an abundant and good progeny (Al-Kautsar)”

On this Alusi, in Ruhul Ma’ani, comments on the comparison between Aisyah and Sayyidah Zahra. Alusi said, “I regret that these brothers of mine hold a view far different from mine. They say that Aisyah is more noble than Fathimah, on the grounds of the Prophet’s hadith, ‘Take a third of your religion from Humairah (Aisyah).’” Alusi said this was because the Prophet knew Fathimah would not live long. Had Fathimah lived as long as Aisyah, the Prophet would have said, “Take all of your religion from Fathimah.”

Those companions of the Messenger of Allah of high station, whose faith was extraordinary, whenever they came to the Messenger of Allah wishing to show their readiness to sacrifice for the Prophet, the phrase we often hear in books is “May my soul be your ransom, O Messenger of Allah.” Not every companion said that phrase — only those ready to die for the Messenger of Allah. Once while the Messenger of Allah was sitting with his companions, Fathimah Zahra came with a sorrowful face. Rising from his seat, the Messenger of Allah went to his beloved daughter, saying, “Welcome, O mother of her father. What has made you sorrowful, O Fathimah? Your ransom is your father, O Fathimah!”

So great was the honour the Messenger of Allah showed his daughter, while his community neglected Fathimah.

The Messenger of Allah said to Salman al-Farisi, “O Salman, loving Fathimah will benefit you at a hundred stopping places on the Day of Resurrection. The least of those places is the agony of death.”

Such is our discussion of the title Al-Mubarokah for Sayyidah Fatimah az-Zahra as; may it bring blessing to us all.

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(1) Often when the Messenger of Allah was mocked, it was Allah who answered directly with a verse in the Qur’an. Such as the verse of Al-Lahab, which came down when the Messenger of Allah gathered the Bani Hasyim to call them to tawhid and Abu Lahab commented, “Is it only for this that you gathered us, Muhammad? Woe to you!” At that moment the verse condemning Abu Lahab came down.