Story No. 288 – Fatima bint Muhammad (sa): Teaching Knowledge to others
With regard to teaching others, Fatimah bint Muhammad (sa) had a role too in teaching the society. She used to find time, despite all her duties, to gather all the wives of the believers and teach them the principles of their religion, and she used to narrate the sayings and traditions of her father. One of these traditions is “A believer is not a believer, if his neighbors do not feel assured that he will no hurt them. He who believes in Allah (SWT) and the Day of Judgment does not hurt his neighbor. He would either say what is good or remain silent. Allah (SWT) is good and loves those who are good, chaste and tolerant. Allah (SWT) hates the backbiter and those who say obscene words.”
Allama Muhammad Baqir al-Majlisi (ar) has narrated in Bihar Al-Anwar that: One day, a lady came to Fatimah bint Muhammad (sa) and said, “I have an old weak mother who has some problems related to her Salaat (prayers). She has sent me to ask you some questions about them.”
Fatimah bint Muhammad (sa) asked her to put the questions to her. The number of questions, one after another, reached ten and Fatimah bint Muhammad (sa) answered all of them patiently.
Eventually, the lady said, “O Daughter of the Prophet! I do not wish to trouble you and put you to further inconvenience.”
Thereupon, Fatimah bint Muhammad (sa) said, “Come to me and ask me what you know not? Does a person who has been hired on wages of 1000 dinars to carry a heavy thing from ground to roof-top ever feel tired?”
The woman said, “No!”
In other words, however tiring a work may be, if the reward is very good, one may not feel tedious and continue to work harder.
Fatimah bint Muhammad (sa) said, “Well! Allah (SWT) has hired me and my wage for answering each question is equal to pearls filled between the earth and the sky – therefore, it does not befit me to exhibit any exhaustion.”
From this above incident, we learn three things:
- Allah (SWT) has charged Fatimah bint Muhammad (sa) by virtue of being ‘Bidhatur Rasool’ [part of Prophet Muhammad (saw)] with the responsibility of guiding Muslim women and solving their problems.
- Muslim women have been encouraged to ask and learn what they know not of the Shariah (Islamic Laws).
- Those women who have been blessed with knowledge must put efforts in imparting the same to other women.