Day: March 24, 2024

The tenth year after the Migration 

The chief of Bujaylah [a tribe] from Yemen, Jarir ibn ‘Abd- Allāh al-Bajalī, accepted Islam; [it is related] in the two Ṣaḥīḥs that he said, ‘Since the time I accepted Islam, the Messenger of Allah ﷺ has never barred me [from visiting], and he has never seen me except he would laugh.’ ‘Umar used to call him the Yusuf of this Nation because of his immense handsomeness. In spite of accepting Islam late in his life, he contributed immensely in supporting Islam.

He ﷺ sent Jarir ibn ‘Abd-Allāh to destroy Dhī al-Khalsah, the name of an idol [or the house in which it was] that belonged to Khatham and to which they used to make the pilgrimage,circumambulate and offer sacrifices before it, comparing it to the Kaaba; due to this, they used to call it the Yemeni Kaaba. So he [Jarir] set out and [upon reaching it] burnt it.

He ﷺ sent Jarir, also, to Yemen to invite them to Islam, and there he met Dhā Kilā’ and Dhā ‘Amr, who were among the kings of Yemen.

The delegation of Banī al-Harith ibn Ka’b from the people of Najran were brought to the Prophet ﷺ by Khalid ibn al-Walīd. His Most High’s words, ‘O believers, the testimony between yourselves… [Qur’an 5: 106] were revealed.

Farwah ibn ‘Amr al-Judhāmī sent a messenger to the Messenger of Allah ﷺ [informing him] of his acceptance of Islam, along with a horse and a mare as gifts. Farwah used to be a governor for the Byzantines over the neighbouring Arab regions, and his place of residence was Ma’an [in Jordan]. When the Byzantines heard that he had accepted Islam, they imprisoned him; they then smote his neck. When they brought him forth for execution, he began to sing:

Convey to the Muslim nobles that I have  Surrendered to my Lord my bones [i.e. my self] and my status

He sent ‘Ali ibn Abi Talib AlaihisSalam to Yemen after Khalid ibn al-Walīd. Ali’s AlaihisSalam return was in the month of Dhu al-Hijjah, whilst in a state of iḥrām. The Prophet ﷺ was in Mecca at the time during his Farewell Pilgrimage, and [when ‘Ali arrived] he said to him, ‘For which [type of pilgrimage] have you initiated ihrām?’ He replied, ‘That for which the Prophet ﷺ initiated it.’

The Prophet ﷺ sent Mu’adh ibn Jabal and Abū Musā [al-Ash’arī] to Yemen.

Al-Aswad al-‘Ansī, who was a soothsayer, appeared and claimed to be a prophet and the king of Yemen. The situation got out of control, so Mu’ādh ibn Jabal left and passed by Abū Musā in Maʼrib [Yemen], and they fled to Ḥaḍramawt for safety. He ﷺ  sent a message to whoever remained a believer in Yemen to endeavour to kill him; he was eventually killed by Buhmah Fayruz, one of the Yemeni kings. The period between al-Aswad’s emergence and assassination was approximately four months, as mentioned by Ibn al-‘Imād in his Shadharāt.

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.