Zainab:
While Sunnis and some Shi'a view
Zainab as the daughter of
Muhammad and
Khadijah bint Khuwaylid, some Shia and non-Muslim argue she is the daughter of Khadijah's assumed previous husband, see
Genealogy of Khadijas daughters.
Married to
Abu al-Aas ibn al-Rabiah prior to his accepting Islam, she became the mother of
Ali ibn Zainab and
Umamah bint Zainab.
Her other sisters were
Ruqayah bint Muhammad,
Umm Kulthum bint Muhammad and
Fatima bint Muhammad.
When the Prophet abandoned Mecca for Medina, his daughter Zaynab could not bear to leave her non-Muslim husband Abu al-'Aas, and was not required to do so until years later under other circumstances. The Prophet did not automatically divorce them.
[1] One source states:
Zainab, the eldest of the three, was married to one Abul-'As ibn er-Rabi' of Makkah. This man fought against the Prophet in the battle of Badr, and was captured by the Muslims. To ransom his freedom, his wife sent to the Prophet, a necklace which at one time had belonged to Khadija, and she had given it to her as a present on her marriage. Abul-'As was set free; he returned to Makkah, and sent Zainab to Medina as he had promised to do. Zainab, however, died soon after her arrival in Medina. Later, Abul-'As also went to Medina, accepted Islam, and lived with the Muslims. [1]Ruqayyah is viewed as the daughter of
Muhammad and
Khadijah bint Khuwaylid by some
Sunnis and some
Shia but some Shia and non-Muslim argue she is the daughter of Khadijah's assumed previous husband (see
Genealogy of Khadijas daughters). She died in 2 AH (624 CE).
She was first married to
Utbah ibn Abu Lahab and then to
Uthman ibn Affan. Her son was
Abd-Allah ibn Uthman, who died when he was 2 years old.
There are contradictory beliefs about her.
- Sunnis believe she is Muhammad's daughter, while Shias believe she is Muhammad's stepdaughter, since Khadija was either younger or could not have all five children with Muhammad Shia Ref.
- She was born three years after the birth of Zainab when Muhammad was 33.(ref)
- It was only through Fatimah that the progeny of the Prophet was perpetuated. All of Muhammad's male children died in their infancy and the two children of Zaynab, named Ali and Umamah, died young. Ruqayyah's child Abdullah died prior to his second birthday. This is also a reason for the reverence of Fatimah.
In the eighth year after the
Hijra, Fatimah gave birth to a third child, a girl she named after her eldest sister Zaynab, who had died shortly before her birth. Fatima's daughter Zaynab was to grow up and become famous as the "Heroine of Karbala." Fatima had a fourth child, a girl, named Umm Kulthum after her sister who had died the year before after an illness. (
ref) - This was the time, before the Bithah, when her eldest sister Zaynab was married to her cousin, Abu al-Aas ibn al-Rabiah. Then followed the marriage of her two other sisters, Ruqayyah and Umm Kulthum, to the sons of Abu Lahab, a paternal uncle of the Prophet. Both Abu Lahab and his wife Umm Jamil turned out to be enemies of the Prophet from the very beginning of his public mission. (ref)
Umm Kulthum bint Muhammad (
Arabic: Ãã ßáËæã ÈäÊãÃÂÂãÃÂÂý) is viewed by
Sunnis and some
Shi'a as the daughter of
Muhammad and
Khadijah bint Khuwaylid. However, some Shi'a and non-Muslims that argue she was the daughter of Khadijah's assumed previous husband (see
Genealogy of Khadijas daughters).
Her first husband was
Utaybah bin Abu Lahab and her second was
Uthman ibn Affan.
Her other sisters were
Ruqayah bint Muhammad,
Zainab bint Muhammad and
Fatima bint Muhammad.
She died either in 9 AH (
630 AD) or around the time of the
battle of Badr (
624 AD).
Fatimah bint Muhammad or popularly
Fatimah Zahra (
Arabic:
ÃÂÂÇØãÉ ÇáÒåÑÇÃÂÂý "Fatimah the Radiant") (c. 614-632) was the daughter of the
Islamic prophet Muhammad and his first wife
Khadijah bint Khuwaylid Al-Kubra. Modern descendants of Muhammad trace their lineage exclusively through Fatimah, because she was the only child of Muhammad who had children that survived. Muhammad had no boys who reached adulthood.
Born Friday 20th of
Jumada al-akhir 2 AH (614 CE) in
Mecca or 14th
Jumada al-awwal 606 CE - 3th
Jumada al-thani 11 AH (632 CE) at Medina
She was born in
Mecca around 614 (Shi`a tradition) or 606 CE (Sunni tradition).
In 624, she was married to her father's cousin,
Ali She was buried privately in a secret and still unknown grave at
Jannat al-Baqi.
She was survived by two sons and two daughters:
After Khadijah, Muhammad's first wife, Muslims regard Fatima Zahra as the greatest woman that has lived, the leader of all women in Paradise, and a paragon of female virtue. She was the first wife of the first Shi'a Imam, the mother of the second and third, and the ancestor of all the succeeding Imams; indeed, the
Fatimid dynasty is named after her
[1] They also call her Al-Zahra, the Lady of Light. The
khamsa, an amulet popularly believed to ward off evil and widely used in the Maghreb, represents the hand of Fatima.
Muslims regard her as a loving and devoted daughter, mother, and wife, a sincere Muslim, and an exemplar for Muslim women. It is believed that she was very close to Muhammad and her distinction from other women is mentioned in many of his Hadiths:
"Fatima is a part of my flesh: whoever causes her to be upset, upsets me." [2] Her children, his grandsons the second Shi’a Imam
Hassan ibn Ali and third Shi’a Imam
Husayn ibn Ali were very dear to him. Shi'a and Sunni Muslims generally agree on these basic facts, but give very different detailed accounts of her life.
Both Shi'a and Sunnah honour her as a part of the
Ahl al-Bayt, and agree on the
Hadith of Fatimah's status.
According to Sunni historians, Fatima Zahra was the youngest of four daughters whom Khadijah bore to Muhammad. She died of natural causes, at the age of twenty-three or twenty-four, surviving her father by only a few months. Sunni historians do not accept the accounts of her injuries and miscarriage at the hands of Umar and his men. In the Sunni view, Fatimah shares the position of primary example to all women with A'isha and Khadija. She was relegated as a lesser figure in terms of history and the
hadith, as her position aligned her with Ali and she was considered too sectarian.
[3] According to Shi'a scholars, Fatima Zahra was <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Muhammad" title="Muhammad">Muhammad's only daughter.
[4]. The Sunni belief that he had other daughters by Khadijah denies
Ali ibn Abu Talib the distinction of being Muhammad's only son-in-law. She is held in highest of esteem, as being the single most ideal example for all women; in terms of her purity and the eventual martyrdom of her son, she is considered to be the Muslim counterpart to the Christian Mary, mother of Jesus; indeed, one of her names is
Maryam al-Kubrá, or "the greater Mary".
[5]