Burial place of Fatimah

The burial place of Fatimah is a disputed issue among different sects of Muslims. Fatimah was a daughter of the Islamic prophet Muhammad and Khadijah, wife of Ali and mother of Hasan and Hussein,^[1] and one of the members of Ahl al-Bayt.^[2] It is said that Ali ibn Abi Taleb buried his wife in an unknown location, according to Fatimah's decision with the aim of expressing her anger towards the caliph of the time.^[3] Different locations have been mentioned as the possible burial place of Fatimah. Some of them are said to be nearer to fact: Al-Baqi', her house and between the Muhammad's tomb and his minbar.

Arabic calligraphy reading Fatimah az-Zahra

Secret burial

Shi'a tradition states that, after the death of Muhammad and the Saqifah incident,^[4] the home of the household of the prophet was crowded with material to set fire for taking allegiance by force from Ali.^[5][6] Defending Ali's Divine successorship^[7] Fatimah was injured ^[8] and desired no one attend her burial .^{[lower-alpha 1]} Fatimah's burial place remained secret.^[9][10][11] Also according to some references, Fatima asked Ali ibn Abi Talib no one attend her funeral except Umm Salimah, Umm Ayman, Fidha, Hassan, Hussain, Salman, Ammar, Miqdad, Abu Dhar and Hudhayfah.^[12] According to Madelung (The Succession to Muhammad), the secret burial was done with the aim of avoiding the presence of caliph (Abu Bakr).^[3]

The next day; people, while blaming each other, gathered and proposed bringing a group of women for exhumation of Zahra's grave.^[11]

Grave

The exact place of her tomb is unknown,^[3][13] for she had asked Ali to hide it as a proof of her anger against the people who bothered her.^[13] Also, other Imams and those who participated in her funeral never revealed the place of her grave.^[14] Three places has been specified as her grave;^[3] Al-Baqi', her house and between Muhammad's tomb and his minbar.^[13]

Shia view

According to Shaykh Tusi:

You may visit her in shrine of prophet Muhammad, because there is her burial place.

Then continues:

regarding this matter, there are different ideas ; some of them say that she was buried in Al-Baqi', some others say that she was buried in Muhammad's tomb while some others mention her house as her burial place and say that her grave fell in the mosque when Umayyads extended the mosque.

Based on the prophetic narration, Some scholars believe that she is buried in Muhammad's shrine: "What is between my house and my minbar is a meadow of the meadows of Jannah" ^[15]

Based on Allamah Askari, the last possibility about Fatimah's burial place is her house. This possibility is backed by several authentic documents. The main documents are those received from the Ahl al-Bayt, the main members of the prophetic house who know about the incident better than others. An authentic tradition by Ali ibn mousa al-Ridha narrated in Kitab al-Kafi, Tahdhib al-Ahkam, Man la yahduruhu al-Faqih, Oyoun Akhbar Al-Ridha and Al-Ma'ani al-Akhbar reports:

"She was buried in her house and when Umayyads extended the mosque, the burial place fell in the mosque."^{[lower-alpha 2] [16]}

Sunni view

It is narrated in Sahih al-Bukhari,^{[lower-alpha 3]} Muwatta of Malik,^{[lower-alpha 4]} Hilyat al-Awliya of Abu Nu`aym,^{[lower-alpha 5]} Sunan of Tirmidhi,^{[lower-alpha 6]} Musnad of Ahmad ibn Hanbal^{[lower-alpha 7]} that Fatimah is buried between Muhammad's house and his minbar, based on a prophetic narration which says: "What is between my house and my minbar is a meadow of the meadows of Jannah."^[15]

See also

• Al-Baqi'
• Fadak
• Umar at Fatimah's house
• Sermon of Fadak

Notes

1. On the night of the third (3rd) of Jamadi al-Thani (the second), 11 A.H .
2. دُفِنَتْ فِي بَيْتِهَا فَلَمَّا زَادَتْ بَنُو أُمَيَّةَ فِي الْمَسْجِدِ صَارَتْ فِي الْمَسْجِدِ
3. Vol. 3, P. 29
4. Vol. 1, P. 197
5. Vol. 6, P. 347
6. Vol. 5, P. 718
7. Vol. 2, P. 401

References

Notes

1. Chittick 1980, p. 136
2. Calmard 1999
3. Madelung 1998, p. 52
4. Nahim 2012, p. 198
5. Dungersi, p. 36
6. Nahim 2012, p. 173
7. Nahim 2012, p. 25
8. Morrow 2013, p. 104
9. Dungersi, p. 43
10. Nahim 2012, p. 39
11. Alamdar 2014
12. Al-Jibouri 2013, p. 303
13. Qurashi 2006, p. 248
14. Al-Jibouri 2013, p. 300
15. Mousavi Zanjanrudi 2012
16. Javdan 2013

Bibliography

• Dungersi, Mohammed Raza. A Brief Biography of Hazrat Fatima (s.a.). Bilal Muslim Mission of Tanzania. GGKEY:JL74BWK0FH3.
• Chittick, William C. (1980). A Shi'ite Anthology. SUNY Press. ISBN 978-0-87395-510-2.
• Alamdar, Sayyid Hussein (28 July 2014). FATIMEH AL-ZAHRA. AuthorHouse. ISBN 978-1-4969-2695-1.
• Calmard, Jean (1999). "FĀṬEMA". Encyclopaedia Iranica.
• Ordoni, Abu Muhammad (2012). Fatima (S.A.) The Gracious. Ansariyan Publications.
• Nahim, Hassan A. (28 August 2012). The Division After Prophet Muhammad. Xlibris Corporation. ISBN 978-1-4771-4800-6.
• Morrow, John Andrew (11 November 2013). Islamic Images and Ideas: Essays on Sacred Symbolism. McFarland. ISBN 978-0-7864-5848-6.
• Qurashi, Baqir Shareef (2006). THE LIFE OF FATIMA AZ-ZAHRA'. Ansariyan Publications. ISBN 964-438-817-8.
• Madelung, Wilferd (15 October 1998). The Succession to Muhammad: A Study of the Early Caliphate. Cambridge University Press. ISBN 978-0-521-64696-3.
• Calmard, Jean (1999). "FĀṬEMA". Encyclopaedia Iranica.
• Al-Jibouri, Yasin T. (24 October 2013). TRAGEDY OF FATIMA DAUGHTER OF PROPHET MUHAMMED: Doubts Cast And Rebuttals. AuthorHouse. ISBN 978-1-4918-2693-5.
• Javdan, Mohammad Ali (2013). Daughter of prophet: An overview on the situations of Fatimah (a.s) after the prophet (in Persian). Allamah Askari.
• Mousavi Zanjanrudi, Seyyed Mojtaba (2012). The missing grave (in Persian).