1614 — Abū Bakr Abd Allah ibn Muhammad ibn Abd al-Hamīd al-Wāsitī narrated to us: Muhammad ibn Rizq Allah al-Kalwadhānī narrated to us: Muhammad ibn Humayd al-Rāzī narrated to us: Hārūn ibn al-Mughīra narrated to us: Amr ibn Abī Qays narrated to me, from Shuayb ibn Khālid al-Bajalī, from Hanzala ibn Sabra ibn al-Musayyib ibn Najaba, from his father, from his grandfather, from Abd Allah ibn Abbās, who said:
People were discussing marriage to Fātima, the daughter of the Messenger of Allah—may Allah bless him and grant him peace; may Allah be pleased with her—but whenever anyone mentioned her to the Messenger of Allah—may Allah bless him and grant him peace—he turned away from him. Sa‘d ibn Muādh al-Ansārī said to Alī ibn Abī Tālib—may Allah be pleased with him—“By Allah, I do not believe that the Prophet—may Allah bless him and grant him peace—intends anyone for her but you.”
Alī—may Allah be pleased with him—said, “Do you really think so? I am not one of those two men, nor am I a man of wealth whose possessions might be sought. He—may Allah bless him and grant him peace—knows that I possess neither gold nor silver.”
Sa‘d said to him, “You must put my mind at ease about this. I adjure you to do it!”
Alī—may Allah be pleased with him—asked, “What should I say?”
He replied, “Say to him, ‘I have come to seek from Allah and His Messenger the hand of Fātima, daughter of Muhammad—may Allah bless him and grant him peace—for this would bring me great joy.’”
Alī—may Allah be pleased with him—departed and came before the Messenger of Allah—may Allah bless him and grant him peace. The Messenger of Allah—may Allah bless him and grant him peace—said to him, “It seems that you have some need.”
He replied, “Yes.”
He said, “Tell me.” ⦗2126⦘
Alī said to him, “I have come to seek from Allah and His Messenger the hand of Fātima, daughter of Muhammad.”
The Messenger of Allah—may Allah bless him and grant him peace—said, “Welcome, welcome,” and said nothing more. They then parted. Alī—may Allah be pleased with him—met Sa‘d ibn Muādh, who asked him, “What did you do?”
He replied, “I did as you instructed me, but he said nothing more than to welcome me.”
Sa‘d said to him, “May it be with honor and blessing! By the One Who sent him with the truth, he has married her to you. The Prophet—may Allah bless him and grant him peace—neither breaks his word nor lies. I adjure you to meet him tomorrow and say, ‘O Messenger of Allah, when will you bring my bride to me?’”
Alī said to him, “This is harder than the first! The first time, I merely stated my request.”
He replied, “No.”
Alī therefore went and met the Messenger of Allah—may Allah bless him and grant him peace—and said, “O Messenger of Allah, when will you bring my bride to me?”
He replied, “Tonight, if Allah wills.”
He then departed, and the Messenger of Allah—may Allah bless him and grant him peace—summoned Bilāl and said to him, “I have married my daughter Fātima to my cousin, and I wish serving food at a marriage to become part of my nation’s customary conduct. Go, Bilāl, to the sheep, take one sheep and five mudds of grain, and prepare a large dish for me so that I may gather the Emigrants and the Helpers around it.” ⦗2127⦘
Bilāl did so. When he had finished preparing it, he brought the dish and set it before him. The Prophet thrust his hand into its upper portion, spat lightly into it, and invoked a blessing. He then said, “Invite the people to the mosque, and do not leave one group for another.”
They came to the dish group after group. Whenever one group rose, another arrived, and they continued in succession until it had sufficed them. He then spat lightly upon it and invoked a blessing. He said, “Bilāl, take it to your mothers and tell them, ‘Eat and feed anyone who comes to you.’” Bilāl did so.
The Messenger of Allah—may Allah bless him and grant him peace—then entered upon the women and said to them, “I have married my daughter to my cousin. You know the place she holds with me, and I am now going to deliver her to him. Here, then, is your daughter.”
The women arose to attend to the young bride. They adorned her with some of their jewelry, perfumed her, and placed in her home a mattress stuffed with palm fiber, a pillow, a Khaybarī cloak, and a washbasin. They stationed Umm Ayman at the door.
The Messenger of Allah—may Allah bless him and grant him peace—and Alī ibn Abī Tālib—may Allah be pleased with him—then came and took their seats. Fātima—may Allah be pleased with her—was with the women, with a curtain separating them from the Messenger of Allah—may Allah bless him and grant him peace. He called out, “Fātima!”—may Allah be pleased with her—while she was in one of his rooms, and she came forward. When she saw her husband with the Messenger of Allah—may Allah bless him and grant him peace—she was overcome with shyness and wept.
The Messenger of Allah—may Allah bless him and grant him peace—said to her, “Come near me.” She drew near, and he took her hand and Alī’s hand. When he sought to place her palm in his, she was again overcome with shyness and her eyes filled with tears. The Messenger of Allah—may Allah bless him and grant him peace—raised his head toward Alī, fearing that she was weeping because he owned nothing. He said to her, “I have spared no effort on your behalf or my own. I have married you to the best of my family. By Allah, I have married you to a master in this world, and in the Hereafter he will be among the righteous.”
At this, she relaxed and allowed him to take her palm. He said to them both, “Go to your home. May Allah unite you, set your affairs aright, and do not initiate anything until I come to you.”
They went and took their places. The Mothers of the Believers and the other women were with them, with a curtain separating the women from Alī, while Fātima remained among them. The Prophet—may Allah bless him and grant him peace—then came and knocked at the door.
Umm Ayman asked, “Who is it?”
He replied, “I am the Messenger of Allah,” and she opened the door for him, saying, “May my father and mother be sacrificed for you!”
The Messenger of Allah—may Allah bless him and grant him peace—asked her, “Is my brother there, Umm Ayman?”
She asked, “Who is your brother?”
He replied, “Alī ibn Abī Tālib”—may Allah be pleased with him.
She said, “O Messenger of Allah, is he your brother, yet you marry your daughter to him?”
He replied, “Yes.”
She said, “It is only through you that we know what is lawful and what is forbidden.”
He entered, and the women hurried out, while Asmā bint Umays remained. When she saw the Messenger of Allah—may Allah bless him and grant him peace—approaching, she hastened to leave. The Messenger of Allah—may Allah bless him and grant him peace—said to her, “Take your time. Who are you?”
She replied, “I am Asmā bint Umays—may my father and mother be sacrificed for you! On the night when a bride is brought to her husband, she can hardly do without a woman to whom she may confide any need that arises.”
The Messenger of Allah—may Allah bless him and grant him peace—asked her, “Is that alone what brought you out?”
She replied, “Yes, by the One Who sent you with the truth. I do not lie while the Trustworthy Spirit—peace be upon him—comes to you.”
The Messenger of Allah—may Allah bless him and grant him peace—said to her, “I therefore ask my God to guard you—from above you, beneath you, before you, behind you, to your right, and to your left—from the accursed Satan. Hand me the washbasin and fill it with water.”
Asmā bint Umays arose, filled the washbasin with water, and brought it to him. He filled his mouth with water and then expelled it into the basin. He then said, “O Allah, they are of me and I am of them. O Allah, just as You have removed defilement from me and purified me, purify them both.”
He then summoned Fātima. She came to him wearing a sewn lower garment and her waist-wrapper. He splashed one handful of water onto her chest between her breasts, another between her shoulder blades, and another over the crown of her head. He then sprinkled her body and his, embraced them both, and said, “O Allah, they are of me and I am of them. O Allah, just as You have removed defilement from me and purified me, purify them both.”
He then instructed him to have her use the remaining water to drink, rinse her mouth, draw water into her nose, and perform ablution. He next called for another washbasin and did with it the same as he had done with the first, supplicating for him just as he had supplicated for her. He then closed their door upon them and departed. ⦗2129⦘
Abd Allah ibn Abbās related from Asmā bint Umays that he continued supplicating exclusively for the two of them until his chamber concealed him from sight, without including anyone else with them in his supplication.