@Ma'asumah Nigerian News Update.
When Fatemah (S.A) was ill with the final sickness which
caused her death, the wives of the Emigrants and
Companions of the Prophet went to visit her to ask how
she was feeling. Abu Bakr had been elected Caliph and
Ali was put aside. In reply to them, after asking for the
blessings of God for her father, Mohammad, she said:
"By God I am alive while I have nothing but contempt
for this world. I detest your men. After I tried to show
them who their real enemy was and they did not listen, I
put them aside. "How ugly are the sharp edges of swords when they
are broken and then play with people's efforts and
struggles which so many have undertaken, destroying
the fortifications, breaking spears, making devious
decisions and standing on the precipice of material and
personal self-desires. What a terrible future they are
preparing for by causing the wrath of God and thereby
bringing about permanent torment for themselves.
"I tried to awaken them to their acts and show them
the burden they had placed upon their own shoulders.
They deserve to be slaughtered, to be wounded-by
swords. Those who act oppressively are far from -the
blessings and mercy of God. Woe be to those people.
They brought down a leader (Ali) who was at the peak of
the mission. Mountains form upon the unconquerable
pillars of prophecy, the place of inspiration, the wise and
expert dominated by both routine and spiritual affairs.
Beware! This is an obvious loss.
"By God, why did they dislike Ali? Were they afraid of
the sharpness of his sword in supporting right and truth,
his braveness in fighting and martyrdom, his killing of
oppressors, his effective blows in words and his anger
for the sake of God?
"By God, if they had followed the selection of the
Prophet, Hazrat Ali, he would have guided anyone who
had gone astray and if one rejected the right reasoning
Ali would have shown the error in a way that neither
would the rider be hurt nor the horse he is riding upon,
wounded. "If Ali had been leader, he would guide them to a
clear, sweet spring of water. The watering spring would
be full, its shores clean and sound and he would return
them safely to the edge after they had drank from the
water. "He would advise them in things both manifest and
hidden without any benefit to himself from their needs
and without taking more than a small share for himself -
just enough so that he would not go thirsty or hungry. In
such a case, worshippers of this world (materialists)
would be distinguished from the ascetics and the right
ones from the antagonists. "God says, 'if citizens are faithful and avoid wrong
deeds, We will give blessings from heaven and earth to
them. But they deny the truths so we captivated them for
their deeds. From those who oppressed, the results of
their actions will be returned to themselves: They cannot
change the traditions of history.' "Arise! Arise! If you stay a while you will see the
wonders of nature, but more wonderful than these is speech. What is their argument? What pillars do they support? What rope do they hold onto? What family do
they admire and dominate over? "What a terrible leader they have elected (Abu Bakr).
What a terrible helper they have appointed (Omar). What
a wrong and oppressive exchange they have made! By
God, they gave superiority to those who deferred their
decision to become Moslems rather than to those who
were the pioneers. They elected weak ones instead of
strong ones. They destroyed those who believe they are
performing good affairs. They are corrupters who do not
understand. "Woe be to them! Is it not more worthy to follow the
one who guides rather than the one who cannot find his
way if he is not guided? What has happened to you?
What kind of a judgment is this? You have impregnated
the earth with your act. Just wait until the time when it
gives birth. I swear to you,
instead of milk, you will have
buckets full of blood and poison will flow from the
breasts of the newborn.
"It is then that the destroyers of rights will lose and
those who will come in the future will find and realize the
terrible results of what the ancestors have done. So you
should be satisfied with your daily affairs and live in
peace prior to the storm and terrible revolts .
"For then, the sharp swords of the dominations of the
oppressors, anarchy and the rule of tyrants will overcome you.
The oppressors will enslave you.
public assets except a small quantity will remain.
They will cultivate with force what you have planted with love.
At that time you will only sigh for there will be nothing
that you can do because you were blind and could not
see the truth. They will oblige you because you have
turned your faces from the right way and you did not
accept it." Why has Fatemeh been misunderstood? Why have
our women been lost to either outdated forms or new imports? W
has she been exploited? Shariati tells us in the words of Hazrat Ali,
"two parties are required in order to bring about oppression.
One is the oppressor and the other is the one who accepts oppression.
Oppression cannot be one sided. An oppressor cannot
perform oppression in the air. Oppression is like a piece
of iron which is formed by the striking of the hammer of
the oppressor upon the anvil of the oppressed." Thus,
women themselves participated in the attack upon their
values by allowing themselves to be oppressed and by
not searching out their roots.
With the awareness which Shariati brings to us, our
coming to know Fatemeh brings about a responsibility
and a commitment to those who first ask, "Who am I"
and then search out the answer in the authenticity and genuineness of their own culture. The responsibility and commitment grows through love and faith. Our knowledge becomes illuminated because Shariati has aawakened this responsibility within us. With Fatemeh as our model, we learn to fight injustice and oppression. We
turn from yourself to others. We become actively involved in society's ills because she as she really was, is our symbol, our model, our heroine.
This is not to deny the spiritual presence and
essence of Fatemeh who has inspired thousands of
artists, poets, writers and artisans. At one point we learn
that the Prophet gave her a prayer instead of the
domestic help that she had asked for. She grew from
this for this nourished her spirit and strengthened her commitment to God and His people. But it is rather to complement it for as Jalal al-din Rumi tells us, "The
physical form is of great importance; nothing can be
done without the consociation of the form and the
essence. However often-you may sow a seed stripped of
its pod, it will not grow; sow it with the pod, it will become a great tree." (Fihi ma fi, p. 19-21). And as every artisan knows, it is the clay itself which determines the forms that can be created. Having awoken and become aware to the real Fatemeh presented by Shariati, Iranian women were able to arise and play a major role in the Islamic Revolution of Iran. They fought against oppression and injustice side by side with the men. Clothed in the
modest dress of what Fatemeh might have worn, they found no impediments to their freedom to act, to fight, to resist. After the Revolution, Iranian women who had asked themselves Shariati's question, "Who am I?," are trying to come to know themselves as being `like Fatemeh' for one must remember that only Fatemeh is Fatemeh.
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Filin Sayyadah Ma'asumah