By: Seyyed Ali Shahbaz

“And those who say, ‘Our Lord! Grant us comfort in our spouses and offspring, and make us Imams (Leaders) of the “muttaqeen” (God-conscious).” – Holy Qur’an 25:74)
Today, the 1st of the sacred month of Dhu’l-Hijjah is the anniversary of a very auspicious day in history. It is the day on which the most blessed marriage took place and that too in the full limelight of history of two of the most foremost Leaders of the “muttaqeen” or God-conscious persons – universal Leaders, whose pristine purity the Almighty Himself as vouchsafed in the Holy Qur’an (33:33).
The wedding of this pair of the noblest souls was solemnized on Planet Earth as God ordered angels in the Celestial Heavens to celebrate the nuptials of the finest-ever-couple, whose offspring would be the most excellent exemplars for the children of Adam and Eve in every age and place.
Was it the anniversary of the marriage of the “Best of creation” Prophet Muhammad (SAWA) with the First Lady of Islam, Hazrat Khadija (SA) – the “Tahera” (Purified Lady) whom the Exalted Creator has glorified in the Holy Qur’an?
No, the “Mercy unto the creation” had entered into wedlock with the One and Only Mother of True Believers (Omm al-Momineen) in the month of Rabi al-Awwal and not Dhu’l-Hijjah.
Moreover, at the time of his marriage, the 25-year old orphaned son of the Abrahamic monotheists Abdullah (AS) and Amena (SA) had not yet announced his universal mission to mankind as the Last and Greatest of the Messengers of God.
This means his matrimonial ceremony did not feature the claimants to be Sahaba or his companions, who in the future would hover around him for various reasons and after his passing away narrate to posterity accounts of happenings (hadith) – either honestly or twisted and distorted, as per the inclination of the particular Sahabi and his degree of faith (or perhaps lack of it in Islam and the Prophet).
Of course, this does not mean that Prophet Muhammad’s (SAWA) union with Hazrat Khadija (SA) was an obscure, uncelebrated, unrecorded, and insignificant event of the pre-Islamic days.
Such a thought is sheer ignorance of the realities of Islam, and puts a big question mark on the mindset and belief of anyone claiming to be a Muslim.
The marriage of the Prophet with the “Maleekat-al-Arab” (Richest Lady of Arabia), solemnized in the most monotheistic manner by his uncle and guardian Abu Taleb (the Primordial Muslim), was a landmark in the history of Mecca and Arabia. It was the talk-of-the-town. Elaborate preparations were made by the bride; complete with curtains and draperies to match the furniture of the bridal chamber, and for days the people of Mecca were fed and the poor clothed.
This was not any extravaganza, nor ostentatious display of wealth, and neither the squandering of hard-earned riches, because the Prophet of God, whether or not he has publicly declared his mission, never indulges in negative characteristics and vainglories. As a matter of fact, this was God’s Will to preserve for posterity memories of that greatly blessed occasion, since over a quarter century later, the widower Prophet would never attach any undue significance, while taking as spouses any of the nine women in his middle age, as social necessity or to break the taboos of the days of Jahiliyyah.
Needless to say, with the Prophet’s proclamation of his universal mission fifteen years after his marriage the vast wealth of his loyal wife, of a blissful 25-year long matrimonial life, were spent to the last penny on feeding, clothing and sheltering the persecuted neo-Muslim community of Mecca – the Sahaba or Salaf of the future, of whom some would remain loyal and some would turn traitors.
Thus, nothing remained of Hazrat Khadija’s (SA) property, when on the 1st of Dhu’l-Hijjah in the year 2 AH, some four years after her passing away, the Prophet solemnized the nuptial of his only surviving offspring, the “Seyyedat-an-Nisa al-Alemeen” (Noblest Lady of all times) Fatemat-az-Zahra (SA) with his dear cousin, “Imam al-Muttaqeen” Ali ibn Abi Taleb (AS), as the union of the most blessed God-conscious couple.
Now we better understand the meaning and purpose of the words of the Heavenly Scripture (25:74) stated at the beginning of this column as supplication in the Divine Court of the Imams of the God-conscious for the grant of sincere spouses and upright offspring.
In other words, this was manifestation of Divine Authority. The blessed union of the most-infallible-ever couple gave to the world the concept of the “Ahl al-Bayt” and their spotless purity – as indicated by Ayah 33 of Surah Ahzaab:
“Allah desires to keep away uncleanness from you Ahl al-Bayt, and preserve you thoroughly purified.”
It was indeed a marriage-made-in-heaven, since no man was worthy of the hand of the Prophet’s Immaculate Daughter, other than his Impeccable Cousin.
No wonder, a famous hadith says: “if there was no Ali; Fatema would have remained unmarried” (similar to the Virgin Mary), since no man was equal to her.
Following their marriage, these two Exemplary Figures started a simple life filled with kindness and spirituality. The fruit of this blessed union that guaranteed continuation of the Prophet’s progeny were two noble sons, Imam Hasan (AS) and Imam Husain (AS), and two virtuous daughters, Hazrat Zainab (SA) and Hazrat Omm Kulthoum (SA).
The nuptials this day that were celebrated in the most modest manner with praises of God Almighty and without any extravagant dowry or bridal-money, serves as the all-time universal model for any Muslim couple anywhere in the world.
Thus was planted the felicitous tree of perpetual munificence, whose branches in the form of the Saadaat or honoured descendants of Imam Ali (AS) and Hazrat Fatema (SA), have spread today all over the world.
This made-for-each-other pair are ancestors of the Infallible Imams (the Leaders of the “muttaqeen” or God-conscious), the last of whom is the Awaited Redeemer of Mankind, Imam Mahdi (may God hasten his reappearance to cleanse the world of all vestiges of corruption and oppression, and to fill it with the global government of peace, prosperity, and justice).
Since Islam, unlike other creeds and cultures, regards men and women as equal and attaches paramount importance to the building of the family unit on a sound and healthy basis as the firm foundation of a progressive society, the Islamic Republic of Iran has designated the blessed 1st of Dhu’l-Hijja as the “Day of Marriage and Family” in view of the fact that there is no better example of a blissful husband-and-wife pair than Imam Ali (AS) and Hazrat Fatema Zahra (SA).