23. What was the position of the daughter of the Prophet about his succession?

Answer:

Fatimah condemned those who removed the structures of the Caliphate from its original foundation to a wrong place.

The Messenger of Allah (S) said, "Fatimah is part of me, so whoever makes her angry makes me angry."1 He also said, "Oh Fatimah, verily God is angry when you are angry."2 This is Bukahri who says, "Fatimah was angry with Abu-Bakr until the end of her life."3

On the other hand, the Prophet said, "The one, who die and there is no allegiance in his neck, died of ignorance (as a nonbeliever)."4 The question is: who was the Imam and guardian of Lady Fatimah (peace be upon her) after the demise of the Messenger of Allah?

Fatimah (peace be upon her) delivered very wise arguments about Caliphate. She condemned those who removed the structures of the Caliphate from its original foundation to a wrong place. She said, "Woe to them! Where have they moved it [Caliphate] to, building it somewhere else other than at the haven of the Message, the foundations of Prophethood, the place where the faithful spirit [Gabriel] descends, the one who is the authority about secular as well as religious matters? This, indeed, is the manifest loss. Why do they hate Hasan's father (Ali) so much? By Allah, they hate the strength of his sword, his might and astounding deeds, and his extraordinary effort in supporting the religion of Allah. By Allah, had they all yielded to his leadership, he would have taken them to the easy path, without harming anyone. He would have brought them to an overflowing fountain of goodness, advised them in secrecy and in public, neither filling his belly with their own sustenance, nor satisfying his thirst nor hunger out of their own toil. The gates of mercy of the heavens and the earth would have been widely opened for them. Allah will punish them for the sins they were committing; so, come and listen to the story, and so long as you live, be amazed, and when you are amazed, the incident bemuses you... Where have they gone, and which bunch have they clung to? What an evil guardian they have taken, and what an evil bunch! How evil is the end of the oppressors who traded the tails for the hoofs, and the rumps for the chests! So, dusted are the noses of those who think that they have done well; they are the ones who fill the world with corruption without knowing it. Woe to them! Is not that who guides to the truth more worthy of being followed than the one who does not guide? What is the matter with you? How do you judge?'"5

• 1. . Bukhari, vol. 3, p. 1374, Kitab Al-Fadha’il & Muslim, vol. 4, p. 1903, no. 2449.
• 2. . Sawaiq al-Muhariqa, p. 175 & Mustadrak Al-Hakim, Chapter on the Virtues of Fatimah.
• 3. . Bukhari, vol. 4, p. 79, no. 3093.
• 4. . Muslim, vol. 3, p. 1478, no. 1851.
• 5. . This is quoted by Abu Bakr Ahmad ibn ‘Abdul-’Aziz al-Jawhari in his book Al-Saqifa and Fadak from a chain of narrators.