Bismillah.
This topic is really dear to me as I have always been a fan of love story happening during the days of prophet-hood especially when it involves the love of srikandi (heroines) of Islam. To me, it was far perfect than any love novels/dramas/movies that seem perfect on the exterior, but covered layer by layer with false hope and lies which result to high expectation of love a.ka. total disappointment in a relationship. yea.
Long before I knew about ikhtilat (connection) in Islam, I thought love is all about being in love with one another and that you must be in a relationship first in regard of knowing each other better before you move to the next big step – a marriage. I must say I have only 0.1% understanding about love in Islam. I didn’t know much but I thought I have it all figured out after spending lots of time completing those K-dramas over the years. And, without me knowing I have too wanted to be in love in rush. Talking about the disappointment I just mentioned before… lol
You see, love is such a sacred and pure thing in the world. It is so precious and secretive that different people have different wonderful ideas of it. But one thing that I know about love is that, it is always about sacrifice. And, Sayidatina Fatimah r.a made it all clear.
Fatimah r.a has always loved this man ever since they were both kids. They grew up together and she has seen that man flourished to be a very powerful and inspiring young man. That man has participated in lots of jihad war together with her own father, Rasulullah s.a.w and the other sahabah. He has all of what it takes to be somewhat we call now, our future zauj (lol) and that man was Sayidina Ali r.a.
Before I continue their beautiful love story, I wanted to explain the distinction of qualities between these two beautiful souls. Sayidina Ali r.a was someone who was quite tough and very masculine. He was also very matured compared to his young age as he has always been interacting with people who were older than him. Thus, he was wise, straightforward and might sound a bit rough when speaking to him. He was gallant too. Allah s.w.t didn’t bestow him a sword of his own without any reason, you know. But anyway, he was very brave, kind and respectful. Rasulullah s.a.w acknowledged that Sayidina Ali r.a was the most knowledgeable, the most prudent and the first child to embrace Islam.
In contrast, Sayidatina Fatimah r.a was very motherly, soft-hearted and gentle. She has been taking care of our prophet Muhammad s.a.w with full responsibility and devotion ever since she was young. Do you remember the touching story of Sayidatina Fatimah r.a with Rasulullah s.a.w when she was only a kid? There was one time Rasulullah s.a.w was doing a sajdah at the Kaabah and upon seeing that, Uqbah bin Abi Muit splashed camel’s wastes on Rasulullah s.a.w’s noble body. This news reached Fatimah r.a and she hastily left her house and went for Rasulullah s.a.w. When she saw what had happened to her own father, she was really upset and mad. She glared, sharply, to the arrogant musyrik people there who laughed at Rasulullah’s condition. She cleaned Rasulullah s.a.w from the mess and courageously yelled at them for why do they did that nasty thing to her father. She has no fear for them at all. It was also narrated that her nickname was Ummu Abiha, which means ‘the mother of her father’. This was because she have been diligently taking care of our prophet Muhammad s.a.w, her loving father all her life until the passing of Rasulullah s.a.w.
Little did they know Allah has fated them to be each other’s spouse in the highest Heaven and they really had jodoh with each other in this dunya.
As we know, Sayidina Ali r.a has not many savings or property compared with the other companions. He has devoted his life to Islam ever since he was young and being occupied with series of dakwah and also with quite number of jihad wars he engaged in, he has almost nothing for saving. At the same time, two of Rasulullah s.a.w’s great companions, Sayidina Abu Bakar r.a and Sayidina Umar al-Khattab r.a who has more possessions compared to Sayidina Ali r.a, they also have asked Rasulullah s.a.w for a marriage with his daughter, Fatima r.h. However, unexpectedly Rasulullah s.a.w declined the offer. At last, it was destined that Sayidina Ali r.a who was pretty much like a poor man at hand but so rich in heart got to get married with Sayidatina Fatimah r.a, Rasulullah s.a.w’s most beloved woman in history.
The dowry of Fatimah r.a was incredibly simple. There was a story behind her dowry. When Sayidina Ali r.a was asked by Rasulullah s.a.w whether he had anything to give to Fatimah r.a, he said he only got these three things; a sword, an armor, and a horse. Rasulullah s.a.w suggested to Ali to sell his armor and with that he got 480 dirhams to put it before Rasulullah s.a.w. That was the dowry he gave to Fatimah r.a and it was even less than a poor might pay for their wives. (i think this part is so sweet i tell ya)
Alhamdulillah, with that they were married. Tabarakallah. Just like that, they tied the knot. The wedding was simple but blessed with immense of barakah from Allah s.w.t to the newly-wed couple.
So… you see, Fatimah r.a has liked or these days we called having ‘crush’ to Ali r.a since they were young but let us contemplate carefully how she carried her feeling all the way around before her marriage. First and foremost, she didn’t let her emotion control her. She chose to divert her focus on Allah s.w.t instead. She continued to worship Allah, strengthen her ties with Him and tried to assist our prophet s.a.w the best she could. Next, she didn’t peek on Ali r.a but instead, she lowered down her gaze and always preserved her modesty victoriously. She sacrificed, in the name of love. The question was to whom?
First, to Allah s.w.t by not putting her emotion and nafs first but rather to always put Allah as number one in her heart. That was not easy. That action needs a sacrifice. Second, to her own father Rasulullah s.a.w. Fatimah r.a could easily open up to Rasulullah s.a.w about her feelings towards Ali r.a and asked him s.a.w about it but she chose to not to. She sacrificed her feeling for Ali r.a by giving her full attention in helping to provide Rasulullah s.a.w instead. She combated her own yearning for something even greater, the love of both Rasulullah s.a.w and her Creator, Allah s.w.t.
I hope all of us, girs, can emulate Sayidatina Fatimah r.a’s modesty trait that kept her from any slander or deceit for as long as she lived. I hope if we ever fall in love, we would call Allah s.w.t first rather than calling that some random man’s number for help to calm our unstable emotions. I hope whenever we have realized our focus has shifted to a man we barely knew, we would immediately raised our hands to ask Allah for His guidance and strength to combat all these dreadful devil’s whisper and nafs. I hope whenever we missed for someone whom we shouldn’t, we are wise enough to realize this is all a test, a test which will make us stronger believer.
I pray that may we always put Allah and Rasulullah s.a.w first in our hearts and that we never turn our way back from our Creator, Al-Khaaliq and our beloved prophet s.a.w just like Sayidatina Fatimah r.a did. Aamiin ya Rabb.
Before I end this entry, I just could not leave without telling you guys about this one ruminating story of Sayidatina Fatimah r.a’s level of hayaa (modesty/shyness). Her hayaa was out of this world. I still remember about her asking Asmaa binti Umays to bury her dead body during the night as a reason to forbid any eyes to witness the shape of her body. Can you imagine that? I mean, you were already passed away hence there were no more sins to be accounted yet our Fatimah r.a still asserted Asmaa to bury her body at night to prevent people from noticing her dead body because of her extreme shyness. SubhanAllah. May we achieve that level of hayaa too. Aamiiin.
Nur
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