صراط عشق صراط عشق
Before we start we recite to you ayahs 1 and 3 of Surah Kowthar of the holy Qur’an, the Lord Most High says to His Last and Greatest Messenger, Prophet Mohammad (blessings of God upon him and his progeny):
“Indeed, We have granted you Kowthar…Indeed, it is your enemy who is without posterity.”
Today, the 20th of Jamadi al-Akher, is the day when God granted Kowthar or Perpetual Abundance to His Last and Greatest Prophet, in the form of a blessed daughter, whose offspring that have multiplied and spread all over the globe, ensures the continuity of the progeny of the Seal of Divine Messengers.
She is Fatema az-Zahra (peace upon her), who was conceived of the Fruit of Paradise that God gave Prophet Muhammad (SAWA) to eat during his Me’raj or ascension to the highest points in the ethereal heavens and back again to Planet Earth in the part of a single night.
It is thus clear that the Me’raj was a physical journey transcending time and space, and certainly not a dream or spiritual ecstasy experienced by the Prophet, as the weak of faith conjecture.
Unfortunately, there are some sceptics who also try to cast doubts on the reference to Hazrat Fatema (peace upon her) in the opening Ayah of the above-mentioned Surah of the holy Qur’an, and instead like to restrict Kowthar to the spring in afterlife from which the faithful will quench their thirst. It again shows the fickleness of faith of such persons, if not outright hypocrisy or disbelief. In view of wordings of the last Ayah of Surah al-Kowthar, the reference is clearly to the birth of the propitious daughter and continuation of abundance of progeny to keep alive forever the lineal descent of the Prophet of Islam, while persons like Aas bin Wa’el who prided on male issue and mocked at God’s Messenger for absence of any son, would be long cut off from any issue.
No wonder, the Islamic Republic of Iran and the faithful throughout the world, mark the 20th of Jamadi al-Akher as Mother’s Day and Women’s Week in honour of the lady, who as the wife of the
Commander of the Faithful, Imam Ali ibn Abi Taleb (AS), the person whose merits are second only to the Prophet, gave birth to such exemplary sons as Imam Hasan and Imam Husain (AS) equally virtuous daughters as Hazrat Zainab (SA) and Omm Kulthoum (peace upon them), who played immortal roles in the history of humanity.
In other words, the Almighty has blessed Prophet Mohammad (SAWA) with infinite favours, both in this transient world where he was sent to salvage mankind, and in the Hereafter where his intercession guarantees a drink of the limpid waters of Kowthar and entry into the blissful peace of Paradise.
For his part, the “Mercy unto to the creation”, as God calls His Last and Greatest Prophet, made clear at every step that the virtues of his daughter, the Lady of Paradise – as Muslims unanimously hail her – are not restricted to the Day of Resurrection, but as the pivotal figure of the blessed group called Ahl al-Bayt by God in the holy Qur’an, cover all aspects of our life and faith.
Hazrat Fatema Zahra (peace upon her), was not an ordinary lady, nor was her birth an ordinary occurrence, and neither was her mother an ordinary woman. As a matter of fact, her mother Hazrat Khadija (peace upon her), who was a monotheistic lady in the days before the advent of Islam, was famous for her chastity and thus known as “Tahera”. For over 25 long years, Khadija and the Prophet lived a blissful life, and as long as the First Lady of Islam was alive, the Prophet never took another spouse. This is indicative of the arrangements Divine Providence had made for the birth of Hazrat Fatema (SA), who was born five years after the Prophet had publicly proclaimed his universal mission.
In ayah 33 of Surah Ahzaab, God Himself vouchsafes the pristine purity of the Prophet’s Ahl al-Bayt or Blessed Household with the words:
“Indeed, Allah desires to keep away uncleanness from you Ahl al-Bayt, and preserve you thoroughly purified.”
Time does not permit us to go into details of this Ayah at whose revelation the Prophet assembled under his cloak Hazrat Fatema, Imam Ali, Imam Hasan and Imam Husain (peace upon them). The subsequent entry of this specific group on the field of the historic Mubahela with the Christians of Najran, confirm the fact that no other woman except the Prophet’s daughter is mentioned in this particular Ayah.
To be more precise, it is Fatema (peace upon her), the Perennial Kowthar that cleanses the faithful of any worldly blemishes and keeps alive their faith for the eventual journey to the Spring of Kowthar and to Paradise.
Fatema (peace upon her) is not just the mother of two spotlessly pure sons, Imam Hasan and Imam Husain (peace upon them), but through her younger son, she is the ancestress of Nine Infallible Imams, the Last of whom is her father’s 12th Divinely-Decreed Heir, the Lord of our Age, who will reappear in the end times as Mahdi al-Qa’em to establish the global government of peace, prosperity and justice by ridding Planet Earth of all vestiges of oppression and corruption. Now we understand the meaning of Kowthar.
In view of these undeniable facts regarding the paragon-par-excellence of all feminine virtues, isn’t it a blasphemous idea, if out of the lingering tribal prejudices of the Days of Jahiliyya, one were to associate with the Ahl al-Bayt, the Prophet’s wives, who were neither born pure and clean of any worldly impurity, nor many of them remained unpolluted from the political crimes that plagued the ummah after the passing away of the Prophet?
Definitely, since God Almighty has used unambiguous words in Surah Tahrim to openly censure two of the Prophet’s wives for their intrigues.
So, instead of depriving ourselves of the blessings of God by blindly following lies and conjecture, let us sincerely stick to the brilliant path of guidance blazed for mankind by Fatema (peace upon her), her husband, her sons, and the Infallible Imams of her progeny, to ensure a virtuous life in this world and the blissful bounties of Kowthar in afterlife.
Thanks to Islam, all negative notions regarding daughters were changed for good. For the first time in history, women found themselves placed on the pedestal of dignity and honour, since the laws of God neither allow the abuse and commercialization of women as objects of carnal desire, nor do they impose excessive burden on the parents regarding dowry. At the same time, women have the right to education, own property, and chose the spouse. The Hijab grants women freedom and liberty in the real sense of these terms, and with it dignity and respect in society that gives meaning to life. As the other half of the mankind, it is the woman who, in addition to providing peace and solace to the husband, plays the fundamental role in building a sound and healthy society by bringing up children in the proper manner, on the basis of faith and moral values – factors that rule out immorality and with it any agonizing thoughts for parents. That is the reason Prophet Mohammad (SAWA) told one of the neo Muslim Arabs who frowned on receiving news of the birth of a daughter to him:
“The earth bears her, the heavens shade her and the Almighty gives her food. For you, she is like a flower, smell her fragrance”.
In order to remove misconceptions from the society, on another occasion, he said: “Twelve graces descend over the person’s house where there are daughters. Heavenly blessings are showered on that house and angels visit that house for a glimpse”.
Thus, it is only Fatema (SA), who as the Perennial Kowthar cleanses the faithful of any worldly blemishes and keeps alive their faith for the eventual journey to the Spring of Kowthar and to Paradise
