There is a significant disagreement among Shias and other Muslims regarding how Fatimah al-Zahra passed away. Shias claim that she was martyred, and the cause of her martyrdom was that Umar ibn al-Khattab, when he forcefully entered her house to obtain the pledge of allegiance, struck her, resulting in her death and the miscarriage of her unborn child, Muhsin. However, others reject this claim and say that Umar only threatened to set the house on fire and did nothing more. Please clarify whose view is correct.
The Ahl al-Bayt did not speak about the killing of Fatimah
by Umar, even during the time of Ali and Hasan
when they came to power and had authority. The evidence that they did not speak about it is that not even a single well-known or authentic narration has been transmitted from them about it. Also, no narration has been transmitted from any of the Sahabah about it, even though some of them, such as Abu Dharr, Salman, Ammar, and Miqdad, were Shias of Ali
and spoke about matters less important than that. In addition, in historical or hadith books, there is no account of Ali
demanding retribution or blood money from Umar for Fatimah
or her unborn child, while there are well-known accounts of him demanding it from Umar for a woman of ill repute. This incident happened when Umar sent someone to bring the woman to him. She became frightened and miscarried. Ali
then said to Umar: «إِنَّ دِيَتَهُ عَلَيْكَ لِأَنَّكَ أَفْزَعْتَهَا فَأَلْقَتْهُ»; “You should pay the blood money for the unborn child; because you frightened her and then she miscarried her unborn child.” Umar accepted this and said: «أَقْسَمْتُ عَلَيْكَ أَنْ لَا تَبْرَحَ حَتَّى تَقْسِمَهَا عَلَى قَوْمِكَ»; “I swear to Allah that you should not go home until you distribute the blood money among your people (meaning Umar’s family and relatives from the Quraysh).”[1] Also, Ali
demanded retribution for Hormuzan when he was killed by Ubaidullah ibn Umar; Ali
said to Uthman: «أَقِدِ الْفاسِقَ، فَإِنَّهُ أَتَى عَظِيماً، قَتَلَ مُسْلِماً بِلا ذَنْبٍ»[2]; “punish this sinner, for he has committed a great sin by killing an innocent Muslim.” Rather, he demanded the caliphate, while it was more important and more deserving of being concealed by those who wanted to conceal something. Also, there are well-known accounts of Umar’s mistakes, such as his words in Hudaybiyyah, on the last Thursday of the life of the Prophet
and the day of his demise, and in Saqifah, all of which indicate that there were some among the Sahabah and the Tabi‘un who did not conceal such reports; as ibn Abi al-Hadid has alluded to this point and said: «أَمَّا امْتِنَاعُ عَلِيٍّ عَلَيْهِ السَّلَامُ مِنَ الْبَيْعَةِ حَتَّى أُخْرِجَ عَلَى الْوَجْهِ الَّذِي أُخْرِجَ عَلَيْهِ، فَقَدْ ذَكَرَهُ الْمُحَدِّثُونَ وَرَوَاهُ أَهْلُ السِّيَرِ وَقَدْ ذَكَرْنَا مَا قَالَهُ الْجَوْهَرِيُّ فِي هَذَا الْبَابِ وَهُوَ مِنْ رِجَالِ الْحَدِيثِ وَمِنَ الثِّقَاتِ الْمَأْمُونِينَ وَقَدْ ذَكَرَ غَيْرُهُ مِنْ هَذَا النَّحْوِ مَا لَا يُحْصَى كَثْرَةً، فَأَمَّا الْأُمُورُ الشَّنِيعَةُ الْمُسْتَهْجَنَةُ الَّتِي تَذْكُرُهَا الشِّيعَةُ مِنْ إِرْسَالِ قُنْفُذَ إِلَى بَيْتِ فَاطِمَةَ عَلَيْهَا السَّلَامُ وَأَنَّهُ ضَرَبَهَا بِالسُّوطِ فَصَارَ فِي عَضُدِهَا كَالدُّمْلُجِ وَبَقِيَ أَثَرُهُ إِلَى أَنْ مَاتَتْ وَأَنَّ عُمَرَ أَضْغَطَهَا بَيْنَ الْبَابِ وَالْجِدَارِ، فَصَاحَتْ: يَا أَبَتَاهُ يَا رَسُولَ اللَّهِ وَأَلْقَتْ جَنِينًا مَيِّتًا...، فَكُلُّهُ لَا أَصْلَ لَهُ عِنْدَ أَصْحَابِنَا وَلَا يُثْبِتُهُ أَحَدٌ مِنْهُمْ وَلَا رَوَاهُ أَهْلُ الْحَدِيثِ وَلَا يَعْرِفُونَهُ»[3]; “The refusal of Ali
to pledge allegiance until he was taken out in that manner is something that narrators and biographers have mentioned, and we have mentioned what al-Jawhari has said about it, and he is one of the scholars of Hadith and reliable, trustworthy ones. Others have also narrated it abundantly. But the heinous and disgusting things that Shias mention, such as sending Qunfudh to the house of Fatimah
, and that he beat her with a whip, to the point that her arm became bruised like a bracelet, leaving its mark until the time of her demise, and that Umar put her between the door and the wall and squeezed her and she cried out: ‘O father, O Messenger of Allah,’ and her unborn child was miscarried... none of this has any basis among our companions, and none of them consider it authentic, and the Ahl al-Hadith have not narrated it and do not know it.”
All of these and other rational attestations, which only careless fanatics ignore, are clear evidence of one of two things: either the matter did not happen in the way that Shias claim, or it happened, but the Ahl al-Bayt remained silent about it due to some interests, and all the Sahabah and the Tabi‘un followed suit, except for one person called Sulaym ibn Qays al-Hilali that there is doubt and disagreement about the authenticity of the book attributed to him, and assuming its authenticity, it is not clear how he heard something from Ali
and his companions that no one else heard![4] Either way, the result is the same; because if the matter did not happen in the way that Shias claim, then they must stop lying and slandering; considering that love for the Ahl al-Bayt
does not make lying and slandering lawful, nor does hatred for Umar; because Allah Almighty has said: ﴿يَا أَيُّهَا الَّذِينَ آمَنُوا كُونُوا قَوَّامِينَ لِلَّهِ شُهَدَاءَ بِالْقِسْطِ ۖ وَلَا يَجْرِمَنَّكُمْ شَنَآنُ قَوْمٍ عَلَى أَلَّا تَعْدِلُوا ۚ اعْدِلُوا هُوَ أَقْرَبُ لِلتَّقْوَى ۖ وَاتَّقُوا اللَّهَ ۚ إِنَّ اللَّهَ خَبِيرٌ بِمَا تَعْمَلُونَ﴾[5]; “O you who believed! Be maintainers for Allah and bearers of witness with justice, and do not let hatred of some people force you to not act justly. Act justly, for it is nearer to piety, and fear Allah. Indeed, Allah is Aware of what you do,” and if the matter did happen, then they must follow the Ahl al-Bayt
and stop delving into it and stirring up discord and enmity among Muslims; as the Ahl al-Bayt
have commanded them to do so, and said: «أَقْسَمْتُ عَلَيْكَ أَنْ لَا تَبْرَحَ حَتَّى تَقْسِمَهَا عَلَى قَوْمِكَ»[6]; “It is enough for you to say what we say, and remain silent about what we remain silent about,” and said: «وَاللَّهِ لَنُحِبُّكُمْ أَنْ تَقُولُوا إِذَا قُلْنَا وَتَصْمُتُوا إِذَا صَمَتْنَا»[7]; “By Allah, we love that you speak when we speak, and remain silent when we remain silent.”
This is quite clear, but they claim to be Shias while they go against the Ahl al-Bayt in many of their beliefs and deeds. They are so caught up in fanaticism, stubbornness, and inflamed emotions that if Ali
himself were to return to them and prevent them from some of their beliefs and deeds, they would charge him with disbelief and rebel against him, just as the Khawarij did in Siffin!