Preparations for the Wedding
Ali AlaihisSalam gave the money from the sale of the armour to the Holy Prophet ﷺ, who instructed Abu Bakr to purchase with it, on his behalf, the articles necessary for Fatima’s AlaihisSalam dowry. Abu Bakr, accompanied by Ummar Yasir and Bilal, the famous Muezzin of Islam, went shopping. They purchased bed-clothes, a mattress, two pillows having leather covers, a cloth sheet, a bed, two earthen bowls, two earthen pitchers, a hand mill, a sieve, a leather bag, a mat for offering prayers, a leather bucket for drawing water and dress. Such money as remained was returned to the Holy Prophet, ﷺ who spent it on perfumes for the ceremony.
The Khutba and the Marriage
Then the Holy Prophet, ﷺ accompanied by his com- panions, went to the Mosque, and, in the presence of all the Muslims who had assembled there delivered the following Khutba:-
“All praise is due to God, who should be extolled for his various bounties (on us), worshipped for His power and Majesty, and obeyed for his omnipotence, and (it behoves) people to seek refuge in Him for fear of His wrath. His are the ordinances which prevail in Heaven and earth. He is the one Who by His might ordained the existence of all creation through His command- ments, gave (us) the power of discrimination, honoured (us) by giving His religion which he magnified through His Prophet Muhammad ﷺ. Undoubtedly the Almighty Lord made matrimonial alliances as the means of a fresh relationship which is a fundamental necessity, a just affair, and through it linked the creation and made it incumbent upon all and sundry. Verily Allah is He, who has created human beings from a drop of blood. For this end He created the relations with his people- in-law. Surely God is Omnipotent. His decrees are enforced according to His decisions and His judgments. determine the fate and every fate is governed by an appointed time and every appointed time has been pre- determined. Over and above this, God can obliterate or keep intact whatever He likes. The original record of all this is with Him. Now in obedience to the will of God, I perform the marriage ceremony of Fatima with Ali and ask you to bear witness that I have given Fatima’s hand in marriage to Ali for 400 pieces of silver coins. Should Ali give his assent to it, the same is deemed to have been executed and confirmed. May God create love between the pair, bless them, purify their off spring, make their progeny a mine of wisdom and a source of God’s blessing and be a source of solace to the believers in faith. After this, I ask the forgiveness of God, for you and myself.”
Having delivered the Khutba the Holy Prophet ﷺ smiled and, turning towards Ali, AlaihisSalam said, “God has ordered me that I should give Fatima in marriage to you and thus do I lawfully wed her to you for 400 pieces of silver coins. Do you consent to it. ?” Ali AlaihisSalam said, “Verily I do”. Then Ali AlaihisSalam prostrated himself before God. After a service of thanksgiving in which the Holy Prophet asked God for His blessing on the pair, praying, “O Almighty Lord! Bless them both and better their endea- vours and give them noble children” the marriage was performed and Ali AlaihisSalam and Fatima AlaihisSalam were proclaimed man and wife. Addressing Ali, AlaihisSalam the Holy Prophet ﷺ then said, “O Ali, lucky art thou indeed! Of all the virtuous women of the world, your wife is the queen.” Then turning towards Fatima AlaihisSalam the Holy Prophet ﷺ said,” Of all the virtuous men of the world your husband is the king. May God keep you pious and chaste and bless your children. Verily I am a friend to him who befriends
you both and an enemy to him who is your enemy.” After the marriage, Ali AlaihisSalam gave the customary “Walima” or the Wedding Banquet to his friends and here the newly married pair received the congratulations of the wives of the Holy Prophet ﷺ From amongst the many poems written for the occasion some verses by the Holy Prophet ﷺ wife Hafsa (daughter of Umar, the Great) became popular. She wrote:-
Fatima AlaihisSalam is superior to the womankind in the world, The lady whose face shines like the full moon, The bride whose groom is that gem in scholarship, that he excels all those who are present.
According to some authors, Ali AlaihisSalam at the time of marri-age was twenty years and five months while Fatima was fifteen years and five and half months old; others insist that Fatima had attained the age of eighteen. All are agreed, however, that the marriage was an ideally happy one.
Aal-e-Qutub Aal-e-Syed Abdullah Shah Ghazi 