Fatimah
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Fātima bint Muhammad (Arabic فَاطِمَة بِنْت مُحَمَّد, DMG Fāṭima bint Muḥammad, born 606; died 632), also Fātemeh in Persian, with the epithets Arabic ٱلزَّهْرَاء, DMG az-Zahrāʾ 'the Radiant One' and سَيِّدَة نِسَاء ٱلَعَالَمِين, DMG Sayyida Nisāʾ al-ʿĀlamīn 'Lady of the Women of the Worlds', was the youngest daughter and, according to the Shi'ite view, the only daughter of Muhammad, the founder of the Islamic religion, by his first and for a long time only wife Chadījah bint Chuwailid and the wife of ʿAlī ibn Abī Tālibs; This marriage produced the sons Hasan ibn ʿAlī and al-Husain ibn ʿAlī.
Fatima belongs to the Ahl al-bait / أهل البيت / 'Family of the (Prophet's) House'. Shiites count her as the only woman together with Muhammad and the twelve Imams to the "Fourteen Infallibles".
The Prophet Muhammad gives his daughter Fatima in marriage to his cousin ʿAlī ibn Abī Tālib (from the Ottoman miniature Siyer-i Nebi).
Birth
Fatima was born in Mecca. Her mother Chadījah bint Chuwailid was the first of Muhammad's wives. There are differing opinions on her exact birthday. The majority of Sunni scholars place Fatima's birth at five years before the first Qur'anic revelation (605 CE); the majority of Shi'a scholars at five years after the first Qur'anic revelation on 20 Jumādā l-ūlā (30 March 615 CE). Other Shi'i scholars, such as Shaykh al-Mufīd or Ibrahim b. 'Ali al-Kaf'ami, think that Fatima was born two years after the first Qur'anic revelation (612 CE).
Fatima had three older sisters named Zainab bint Mohammad, Umm Kulthum bint Muhammad, and Ruqaya bint Muhammad. She also had three brothers named Qasim ibn Mohammad, Abdallah ibn Mohammad, and Ibrahim ibn Mohammad, but they died as infants. While most Sunnis believe that Zainab, Umm Kulthum and Ruqayah were actually the daughters of Mohammad, most Shias believe that these were the daughters of Hala, the sister of Khadijah, and they were adopted by Mohammad and Khadijah after her death. Shia scholars give as another reason for this belief the event of Mubahala mentioned in the Quran, where Fatima was chosen as the only wife of Mohammad. Nevertheless, Sunnis accept that Mohammad had four daughters with Khadijah.
Marriage
Fatima married Ali ibn Abi Talib. After Muhammad migrated to Medina, and because he was the leader of the Islamic community, Fatima was held in high esteem by Muslims because she was Muhammad's daughter. Supposedly because of her qualities over the other women of her time and because of the great love Muhammad showed her, some Muslims were prompted to ask her to marry them.
Even some dignitaries of the tribe of Quraysh had asked for Fatima's hand in marriage, including Abū Bakr, ʿUmar ibn al-Chattāb, ʿAbd ar-Rahmān ibn ʿAuf, but Muhammad rejected them all on the grounds that Allah determined the husband of his daughter. These claimed that only Ali was eligible as a husband and went to him and asked him about this. As a result, Ali went to Muhammad and asked him for Fatima's hand in marriage. Muhammad is said to have asked his daughter if she agreed and she replied in the affirmative. Ali did not possess a stable financial position and ran into difficulties in paying the bridal gift to Fatima. Muhammad, according to tradition, advised him to sell his chain mail and with the proceeds some of Muhammad's companions bought the most necessary household items. The wedding ceremony of Ali and Fatima took place in the mosque on the 1st Dhul-Hijrah 2 years after the Hijra (623 AD).
