By: Seyyed Ali Shahbaz

 

Heartiest congratulations on a very blessed day that heralds the start of celebrations of another Ten Days of Spiritual Munificence in the Islamic Republic of Iran known as “Dah-e Karamat”. 

Today, the 1st of the sacred month of Zi’l-Qa’dah, is the birthday of a very virtuous lady, whose munificence continues to benefit all visitors to her shrine even after the passing of over a million and two centuries. 

For the information of our readers she is none other than Hazrat Ma’soumah (SA), who reposes in eternal peace in the magnificent mausoleum in the city of Qom, which is a 2-hour drive from Tehran, and is the second most important holy site of pilgrimage in Iran. The most blessed place in Iran is, of course, the grand holy shrine in Mashhad, Khorasan, of her illustrious brother, Imam Reza (AS), the Prophet’s 8th Infallible Heir who was born on the 11th of Zi’l-Qa’dah that marks the end of the “Dah-e Karamat”. 

“O Fatema! Intercede for me for (the reward of) paradise, for indeed you have with Allah a lofty status.” 

This is a translation of the famous Arabic phrase of the “Ziyaratnamah” or standard form of salutation that is being recited today in holy Qom (at the end of two years of the Coronavirus pandemic that restricted gatherings) by devotees running into hundreds of thousands, perhaps millions, if we take into account those reciting it from their homes all over the world, while saluting this impeccable lady.

Born in holy Medina in 173 AH (789 AD), she was named Fatema (SA), in honour of her great ancestress, the Noblest Lady of all times, Hazrat Fatema az-Zahra (SA), the Infallible Daughter of Prophet Muhammad (SAWA).

She was ten years old when her loving father, Imam Musa al-Kazem (AS), was martyred through poisoning in the dungeon of Baghdad on the orders of the tyrant Haroun ar-Rasheed, the self-styled caliph of the usurper Abbasid regime. 

She was renowned for her piety as well as for her knowledge and wisdom, to the extent many people, especially women would approach her threshold to seek solutions to many a legal, religious, or social problem. She did not marry, since like the Virgin Mary (SA), the mother of Prophet Jesus (AS), no person of her times was deemed worthy of her hand. No wonder, her birthday is celebrated in the Islamic Republic of Iran as “Day of Virtuous Daughters”

She grew into an impeccably virtuous lady, whose prodigious thirst for knowledge enabled her to answer questions posed by even grey-bearded scholars, while still a child of less than seven years.

It would be repetitive to recount the incident of a group of Iranians who after performing the Hajj pilgrimage in Mecca had come to Medina to pay respects at the Prophet’s shrine and also to visit the 7th Imam for clearing doubts regarding some jurisprudential matters. The Imam happened to be out of the city, and they had no time to wait for his return. To their surprise, however, a series of satisfactory answers was provided to them by a little girl from behind the curtain. When they chanced to meet the Imam on their way back to Iran, and for further satisfaction showed him the answers they had received from his house, he exclaimed with a smile: “Fidaha Abuha” (may her father be her sacrifice)!

Without the least doubt, the group of Iranians, on reaching their homeland, may have briefed their friends and families on the virtues of the little girl of the Prophet’s Household, who unknown to them was destined to find her permanent resting place, over twenty years later at the age of 29, in an obscure desert city in Iran, which would one day achieve global fame with scholars coming from all over the globe to acquire genuine knowledge about Islam.

At the age of 28, along with several of her brothers, she left Medina for distant Khorasan, so as to reside near her eldest brother, Imam Reza (AS), who had been forcibly taken to northeastern Iran by agents of the crafty caliph, Mamoun. During her long and arduous journey, her caravan was attacked by Abbasid agents near the city of Saveh (128 km west of Tehran). As a result many of her fellow travelers were martyred, and she turned towards Qom, where on hearing the news of her arrival, the city elders came out in large numbers to greet her, and escort her in respect.

Some 17 days later, tired from the journey and shaken because of the attack on her caravan, the noble lady left for her heavenly abode, plunging the followers of the Ahl al-Bayt in profound grief. They laid her to rest in an orchard that soon turned into a site of pilgrimage, and today her grand mausoleum attracts pilgrims from all over the world to the city which has turned into the leading centre for diffusion of the genuine teachings of Islam throughout the globe.

Many of the foreigners visiting her shrine in Qom, have embraced the truth of Islam, and after acquiring Islamic sciences have gone back to their countries as missionaries spreading the dynamic message of the School of the Prophet’s Ahl al-Bayt. 

It is interesting to note that in 2010, a women celebrity of the West who experienced enlightenment and became Muslim while sitting and contemplating in the holy mausoleum of Hazrat Ma’sumah (peace upon her), was Lauren Booth, the sister-in-law of former British Prime Minister, Tony Blair. A broadcaster, journalist and activist, Lauren Booth, fully observes the Hijab, while working as a freelance writer and media consultant in Britain. In 2012, she co-founded the UK charity Peace Trail.

It was indeed Divine Providence at work, especially in view of the famous hadith of the Prophet that of the 8 Gateways to Paradise, one opens through Qom. Without the least doubt this particular gateway is none other than the sprawling golden-domed shrine of Fatema al-Ma’soumah (SA), at whose doorstep, in accordance with the “Ayat al-Wasila” in the holy Qur’an, true believers seek intercession with God Almighty – as is evident by the phrase mentioned at the beginning of this brief radio programme. It also becomes clear to us why her grandfather, Imam Ja’far as-Sadeq (AS) had, over half-a-century before her birth, said in explicit words that Qom is the “Haram (Sanctuary) of us the Ahl al-Bayt.” 

Her prime position in the stairway that leads to heaven could be gauged by the fact that of all the venerable ladies of the Prophet’s progeny, named Fatema, it is only Ma’soumah (SA) who has such a grand mausoleum and whose intercession with God is so frequently sought day and night throughout the year. 

Of course, there is no lady superior to the noblest lady of all times, the Lady of Paradise, Hazrat Fatema Zahra (SA), but since it was God’s Will that the Prophet’s Infallible Daughter should be laid to rest in an unmarked grave at an unknown spot in Medina – where one day the Godless Wahhabis would desecrate the graves of all Godly persons – it is the shrine of Fatema al-Ma’soumah (SA) that provides solace to the hearts of the true believers as the worthy substitute for her illustrious ancestress.

No doubt her brother, Imam Reza (AS) and her nephew, Imam Jawad (AS), had said: “Whoever visits her (tomb) – aware of her exalted status – paradise is the reward.”