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Lady Fatima Zahra (A) opened her eyes to the world
to enjoy prophetic fatherly love and to suckle Khadija's milk, which was
mixed with excellent morals and perfection.
Growing in the house of revelation, gave her the chance
to achieve the highest degree of perfection and excellence. The Prophet
(S) taught her divine knowledge and endowed her with special intelligence,
so that she realized the true meaning of faith, piety, and the reality
of Islam.
The virtuous upbringing of Fatima by Allah's Messenger
as accompanied by her capability to perceive divine facts and her spiritual
brilliance and preparedness to ascend to the highest levels of perfection.
Parallel to this, was Allah's will that Fatima Zahra
should face many sorrows and live in anguish from the very beginning of
her life. She opened her eyes to see her father being fought by his relatives
and strangers and treated with hostility by the infidels and polytheists.
For instance, Fatima might have entered the Sacred Mosque and seen her
father reading Quran in the private chamber of Ismael (around Kaaba), while
polytheists were harming him and waging a psychological war against him.
One day, Fatima saw the infidels pour camel placenta on her father while
he was prostrating to Allah; so she cleaned his back and while bitterly
crying, cursed he unbelievers and supplicated to Allah to punish them.
But the infidels were sarcastic, in the same respect as any lowly people
and rubble would be.
Ibn Abbas reported that the Quraishians once held
a meeting in the Sacred Mosque and vowed by their Idols that as soon as
they saw Muhammad, they would all participate in killing him; upon hearing
this, Fatima (A) went crying to her father and informed him of their conspiracy.
The crisis became more intense when the Messenger
of Allah was forcefully confined to Abu Talib's trail (valley) along with
his family and all the members of Abu Talib's family. They lived in an
atmosphere overtaken by fear and anxiety of the constantly expected attack
by the infidels at night. The situation grew even worse when the polytheists
drew up a treaty to besiege Bani Hashim and impose economic sanctions against
them; this treaty allowed no one to sell or buy anything from them, including
food supplies.
Therefore, the cries of starving children reached
the ears of all Meccan inhabitants. The people of Mecca were divided into
two groups: One who was enjoying the misfortunes of the Bani Hashim and
the other was deeply affected with their misery.
This situation continued for more than three years.
Fatima was one of those who suffered from this siege, which resulted in
awakening the spirit of struggle, honesty and endurance in her; it was
as if she was spending a period of training and exercise for the near future.
Nevertheless, the predicament was made easier when
Fatima saw the courageous hero, Abu Talib, aided by Hamza keeping steadfast
and helping her father in every way against the infidels' aggression. Abu
Talib declared his adherence to Islam through uttering poetry. Once, the
Quraishan heads objected to Abu Talib's support of the Prophet; they said
to him: "We will give you a handsome, generous, and courageous Quraishan
youth (Amarh Ibn al-Walid) to become your son, if you give us your nephew
-Muhammad - who disunites us and humiliates our idols, so that we may kill
him!"
Abu Talib said: "This is an unfair offer!
Do you mean to give me your son, so I can feed him for you and I give you
my nephew to kill? (If this is your way of dealing) then each one of you
should give me his son to kill if you want me to give you Muhammad to kill."
Abu Talib's honorable stands in protecting the Prophet
were numerous. Had it not been for his faith and strong adherence to Islam,
he would not have been steadfast in defending the Messenger and his divine
faith. Contrary to Abu Talib, another uncle of the Prophet (S), Abu Lahab-fought
fiercely and opposed the Prophet. His shameful conduct was recorded in
various history books and in the Holy Quran.