Fatima
Brief History where the Name came from:
(Mecca c.605-
Madina 633) Daughter of the messenger of Islam, Muhammad, and Khadija, and
married to Ali, and mother of Hassan and Husayn (according to Shi'i traditions,
a third son, Muhassin, died as a child), and two daughters.
Fatima
is, therefore, the ancestral mother of the Imams of the Shi'i Muslims, as well
the ancestral mother of all claiming to be descended from Muhammad, as none of
Muhammad's other children had progeny.
Little
is reported of Fatima's life, but she appears to have had poor health throughout
her life. Her relationship with Muhammad's wife, A'isha, involved strong
hostility.
When Abu Bakr became the first Caliph, her relations with him also became
difficult, probably because she had expected her husband to take over after
Muhammad, and because Abu Bakr denied her the inheritance of the oasis of Fadak
from her father.
Most
of the other Shi'i stories about her are strongly religious.
All
Muslims have great respect for her, but it is in Shi'i Islam that she plays the
most important role, ascribed there with superhuman qualities, and being the
"noblest ideal of human conception." She is called "the virgin" and "the mother
of the two Jesuses", reflecting an important influence from Christianity.
In
Shi'i Islam, her birthday and her marriage are two dates that are celebrated
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