Fatima

Fatima bint Muhammad (Arabic: فَاطِمَة بِنْت مُحَمَّد, romanized: Fāṭima bint Muḥammad; 605/15–632 CE), known as Fatima al-Zahra (Arabic: فَاطِمَة ٱلزَّهْرَاء, romanized: Fāṭima al-Zahrāʾ), was the daughter of the Islamic prophet Muhammad and his first wife Khadija. She was the wife of Ali, Muhammad's cousin, the first Shia Imam and the fourth Rashidun caliph. She was the mother of Hasan and Husayn, the second and third Shia Imams. Via Fatima and Ali, Muhammad's lineage continued through the Twelve Imams and, through them, to numerous Sayyids who live around the world today. Muhammad is said to have regarded Fatima as the best of women and the dearest person to him. She is a prominent member of the Ahl al-Bayt and Ahl al-Kisa, and a participant in the Event of the mubahala. Hadith compare her exceptional status in Islam to that of Mary in Christianity, while some hadiths explicitly name both Fatima and Mary as the greatest women. Fatima is regarded as an exemplary model of faith and character for all Muslim women. Her name remains a very popular choice for Muslim girls to this day. In both Sunni and Shia traditions, she is deeply revered for her piety, devotion, compassion, generosity, and perseverance in the face of hardship. She holds a particularly exalted status in Shia Islam. Accounts of Fatima's death are highly controversial because Shia and Sunni sources differ significantly over its circumstances. According to Shia Islam, following Muhammad's death, Umar and his supporters went to Fatima's house to demand Ali's allegiance to Abu Bakr. An altercation followed, during which Fatima was injured and suffered a miscarriage, and these injuries ultimately led to her death. Sunni Islam categorically reject this and do not attribute Fatima's death to an assault by Umar. It instead holds that Fatima died from deep grief following...