Hazrat Fizzah was the maidservant
of The Chief of The Women of the Universe, Sayyidah Fatimah Zahra (s.a.). She
was the Queen of Ethiopia, was enslaved, purchased then freed by the Noble Messenger
(s.a.w.a.s.). She was given the title of “Amma” due to her dedication and
loyalty to the Ahlul Bayt (a.s.). She lived in the house of Sayyidah Fatimah Zahra
(s.a.).
The Prophet (s.a.w.a.s.)’s
daughter set an example of humanity and equality by the working arrangement
that she will work one day, while Hazrat Fizzah will rest and the next day she
will work, and the Lady of Paradise will rest.
Can it be imagined that the house
where Glorious Qur’an was revealed, and the company of the Lady of Paradise
influenced Hazrat Fizza to such an extent that for twenty years she would quote
an Ayah of the Holy Qur’an in response to any question.
Abul Qasim Al-Qashiri narrates a
story from Abdullah Bin Mubarak and his encounter with Hazrat Fizzah. He
noticed she was behind a caravan in the desert. He wanted to help her rejoin the
caravan. So, he approached her and asked her: “Who are you?” She replied, “And
when those who believe in Our revelation come unto thee, say: “Peace be unto
thee!” (6:54) She wanted to correct Abdullah Bin Mubarak reminding him of the
proper ethics before opening conversation. He then offered his salutations and
asked: “What are you doing here?” She replied: “And one who Allah guides none
can mislead” (39:37) Abdullah understood from this Ayah that she was not lost
in the desert. He then inquired: “Are you a human being or jinn?” She replied:
“O Children of Adam! Adorn yourself at every place of worship” (7:31) He then
asked: “Where are you coming from?” She replied: “They are being from a place
far distant!” (41:44) He continued to inquire: “Where do you want to go?” She
informed him: “And Pilgrimage to the House is a duty unto Allah for mankind.”
(3:97) She was informing him that she was going to perform Hajj. He then asked:
“When did you leave for Makkah?” She replied: “And verily We created the
heavens and the earth, and all that is between them in six days.” (50:38) He
asked: “Are you hungry?” She replied in affirmative: “And We did not make for
them a body that can live without eating.” (21:8) He waited at a distance on
his horse while she ate the food, he offered to her. When she finished her
meal, he called out to her: “Come running, hurry up!” She told him: “Allah
burdens not a soul beyond its scope.” (2:286) He said: “Sit behind my horse”
Once again she had to remind him of Islamic etiquette. She refused and recited:
“If there were therein gods beside Allah there would have been disorder.”
(21:22) It can be seen how she glorifies oneness of Allah while reminding to
guard his faith (Taqwa). He took heed to the Ayah and dismounted from the
horse. After she was comfortably seated on the horse, she recited the words of
praise: “Glory is to Allah who has subdued these (animals) unto us.” (43:13)
When they caught up with the caravan she was traveling with, He asked: “Do you
have anyone in this caravan? “O David, We have made you a khalifa in the
earth.” (38:26) “Muhammad was but a Messenger” (3:144) “O John, holdfast to the
Scripture” “O Musa, I am Allah, Lord of the worlds” (28:30) By reciting these
Ayahs, she named four people in the caravan. When David, Muhammad, Yahya, and
Musa saw her they ran towards her. He asked: “Who are they?” She answered:
“Wealth and children are the ornaments of this life.” (18:46) These were the
sons of Hazrat Fizzah. Seeing that Abdullah had assisted their mother with
kindness, they treated him with due respect. She ordered her children: “Hire
him. The best person you should hire is the one who is strong and trustworthy.”
(28:26)
Hazrat Fizza served the Ahlul Bayt
(a.s.) for 58 years. She was the symbol of deed and commitment and by
confronting the problems and difficulties along with Sharikatul Hussain,
Sayyada Zaynab (s.a.) with courage, bravery, and firmness; she forever became
the symbol courage and sincerity for women.
Hazrat Fizzah was part of the
incident when Imam Hasan and Imam Hussain fell sick and the Noble Messenger
(s.a.w.a.s.) suggested to Imam Ali (a.s.) to make a “Nazr” – vow, to keep three
fasts when the Hasnain (a.s.) recover from sickness. When they recovered from
sickness, everyone kept the fast for three days, including Hazrat Fizzah. Each
day, at the time of “Iftaar” someone knocked at the door to solicit food and
they all gave their share of food to him and kept the second day fast without
eating anything. After third day, the following Ayah of the Holy Qur’an was
revealed: “They who fulfill their vows, and fear the Day, the woe of which
stretches far and wide. And they give away food, out of love for Him, to the
poor and the orphan, and the captive, (saying) we feed you only for the sake of
Allah, we do not want anything from you, not even thanks. Verily we fear from
our Lord a stern day of distress.” So, Allah will guard them from the evil of
that Day and give them freshness and pleasures.” (76:7-11)
It is reported that once she
invited the Noble Messenger (s.a.w.a.s.) for meals in the house of Imam Ali
(a.s.) and Sayyida Fatima. Because she had trust in Allah in spite the fact
that there was nothing in the house. When the Prophet arrived, she went and offered
two rakat prayers and solicit help from Almighty. Allah accepted her prayers
and sent food from Paradise for the Ahlul Bayt (a.s.)
She knew the art of making gold
from other metals. Once, she converted copper into gold and presented it to
Imam Ali (a.s.). Imam Ali (a.s.) said: “If you would have melted pewter and
make gold, the color of the gold would have been sharper and more valuable.”
She inquired if the Imam was
familiar with the process to which Imam replied that even his son, (Imam)
Hussain, knows it. Then, the Imam told her to look towards a direction and she
saw that a golden piece of about the size of a camel’s neck was there. She was
surprised at the Imam’s contentment. The Imam mentioned the short life of this
world and the everlasting life of Hereafter. Afterwards, she adopted patience,
contentment, and piety. The Imam prayed: “O Allah! Make Fizzah a source of
blessings for us”
During a period when Ahlul Bayt
(a.s.) were passing through a tough time and were starving for three days, then
Fizza took permission from the Lady of Paradise, Sayyidah Fatimah Zahra (s.a.)
and went out to collect some wood, grass and a special leaf called “Gule Khairi”
She put her bangle (from Paradise) in a pot and put it on fire. After some
time, she hammered it up and put the special grass in it, sealed it and put-on
fire for few hours. When it cooled off, it became silver. When she brought the
price of selling it, Bibi Fatima asked her to distribute it to poor. She was
surprised about it. Next day, Bibi Fatima asked Fizza to bring some special
grass and heated the pot for some time. Then she took the metallic portion of a
spear and put it in the pot. After few hours, it turned into gold. Like
yesterday, she asked Fizza to sell the gold and distributed the money to the
needy and poor. Fizza asked as to why she did not retain a portion of money for
the house. Bibi replied: “If I do this then I would be deprived of the bounties
from Allah”
When the Noble Prophet (s.a.w.s.) was on the death bed, he asked Fizza if she had any wish. Fizza replied: “Please pray to Allah to grant me long life so that I may live till the tragedy of Karbala and share the pains and afflictions with Ahlul Bayt (a.s.)” The Prophet confirmed the acceptance of her wish. Hence, Fizza remained loyal to Ahlul Bayt (a.s.) and she served Sayyidah Fatima, remained with Sayyidah Zaynab (s.a.) in Karbala, Kufa and Syria. In the court of Yazid (l.a.), she stood like rock in front of Sayyidah Zaynab (s.a.) and refused to move away. Yazid (l.a) ordered to whip her. She asked for help from the black bodyguards of Yazid, seeing the signs of revolt, he abandoned the whipping. As reported in some narrations that she was with Sayyidah Zaynab (s.a.) till her martyrdom and was buried in her tomb.
Source: Bibi Fizzah by Maqbool Ahmad
(Urdu)
No comments:
Post a Comment