Generosity of the
Commander of the Faithful Imam Ali (a.s.) and the Lady of Paradise Sayyidah
Fatima Zahra is proverbial. The
poor and needy of Madinah were thoroughly familiar with the House of Panjetan.
No one had ever returned from their house without being granted their wishes.
Whatever money was received by the Imam Ali (a.s.) would distribute it to the
poor and needy right away.
Jabir ibn Abdullah
Ansari, a prominent companion of the Noble Prophet (s.a.w.s.) narrates:
One day we were in the presence of the Noble Prophet
(s.a.w.s.) in the mosque when an old man came wearing worn out clothes and was
barely able to walk because of weakness and age. The Noble Prophet (s.a.w.s.)
enquired about his welfare. The man said: “O
Prophet of Allah, I am starving, so feed me; I am naked so clothe me; and I am
poor so help me.” The Noble
Prophet (s.a.w.s.) replied: “I have nothing to give you, yet, go to the house
of one (she), who loves Allah and His Messenger, and Allah and His
Messenger love her. The one who
prefers Allah over herself; I mean Fatima” Fatima (s.a.)’s house was nearby.
He asked Bilal to lead the old man to her house. As soon as they reached her
house, the old man cried out: “Peace be
upon you O People of the House, where the angels frequent their visits; where
Rooh-ul-Ameen descends bringing in what
the Lord of the world reveals. Sayyidah Fatima responded to his greetings
and asked who he was to which he replied: “I am an old Arab man. I have emigrated
to your father from a distant land. O Daughter of Muhammad, I am hungry and in
need of clothing-so console me and May Allah bless you.”
This incident occurred
at a time when the Noble Prophet (s.a.w.s.), Imam Ali (a.s.) and Sayyidah
Fatima (s.a.) had not eaten anything
for the last three days. Sayyidah Fatima (s.a.) gave the old man a ram skin
which was used as a bed by her two children; Imam Hasan (a.s.) and Imam Hussayn
(a.s.). The old man said: “O Daughter of Muhammad, I complain to you of hunger
and you gave me ram skin? How can I eat this? Fatima took out her necklace
which was given to her by Fatima binte Hamza ibn Abdul Mutallib and handed over
to the old man saying: “Sell this and Allah will grant you with a solution to
your problems.” The old man took the necklace, brought it and showed it to the
Noble Prophet (s.a.w.s.). He said: “Indeed, Allah will grant you the solution, for Fatima, the Mistress of all the women
has given to you this necklace.”
Ammar ibn Yasser, who was present, said, “O Messenger of
Allah, do you allow me to buy this necklace?” The Noble Prophet (s.a.w.s.) said: “Buy it Ammar, surely if all men and
women participate in its purchase, Allah will protect them from Hellfire.” Ammar asked the old man
for its price and the old man replied: “A meal of bread and meat, a Yemini
shirt to cover myself and a Dinar to return to my family.” Ammar gave him 20
Dinar and 200 Dirham, A Yemini shirt, wheat bread and meat, and a horse to take
him back to his home. The Noble Prophet (s.a.w.s.) asked him if he was
satisfied with all that and he replied in affirmative. “So reward Fatima for
her kindness.” said the Noble Prophet (s.a.w.s.). The old man prayed: “O Allah, Give Fatima that which no eye has seen
and no ear has heard.”
Ammar perfumed the necklace with musk and sent it to the
Noble Prophet (s.a.w.s.) with a slave, whom he had purchased with the booty he had
received from Khyber, saying: “Give this necklace to the Messenger of Allah and
tell him that I gift you to him.” When the slave delivered the necklace and the
message, the Noble Prophet said to him: “Take this necklace to Fatima and I
gift you to her.” When the slave came to Sayyidah Fatima, she took the necklace
back and set the slave free. When the slave was set free he laughed loudly. Fatima
asked for the reason of laughing and he said: “I laughed when I thought of the abundance of goodness in this
necklace. It fed a hungry man; it clothed a naked man; satisfied a poor man;
freed a slave; and came back to its original owner.
On her wedding day, a poor lady came to ask for some
clothes. Sayyidah Fatima had two dresses, one was old and the other was the
wedding dress which is very dear to any girl. Sayyidah Fatima gave the wedding
dress to the needy. Surah Al-Imran Ayah 92 says: “You can never have
extended virtue and righteousness unless you spend part of what you dearly love
for the cause of Allah. Allah knows very well whatever you spend for His cause.”
Sources used:
The Glorious Qur’an
Generosity of Fatima Zahra (s.a.) Imamreza.net
Charity of wedding dress by Fatima Zahra (s.a.) HolyKarbala.net
No comments:
Post a Comment