QUESTION:
I have read many times that Prophet Mohammad had four daughters. But Shias say that only Fatima was the daughter of the Prophet. How can you prove this? Please give me a satisfactory answer.
Sani Al Hussaini
ANSWER:
In the Name of Allah, the All-Beneficent, the All-Merciful.
May Allah bless Muhammad and his Family and damn their enemies.
Lady Fatima al-Zahra (peace be upon her) was not the only daughter of Prophet Muhammad (peace be upon him and his pure family), as misconceived by many believers today. She was one of the four daughters of the Holy Prophet (peace be upon him and his pure family); the other three were Zainab, Ruqayyah and Umm Kulthum (peace be upon them all).
A detailed Arabic lecture entitled “Bal Hunna Banatu Rasoulillah” was delivered by His Eminence, Sheikh al-Habib, on this topic; in which he stated that we do not have any, not even one single proof from either the Qur’an or Sunnah to negate the existence of other biological daughters of the Holy Prophet (peace be upon him and his pure family).
On the contrary, there are numerous traditions and Qur’anic pieces of evidence that support the fact that Zainab, Ruqayyah and Umm Kulthum (peace be upon them) were truly the biological daughters of the Holy Prophet (peace be upon him and his pure family). The following are some of these evidences:
O Prophet, tell your wives and daughters and the believing women to draw their outer garments around them.
The Qur’an 33:60
Despite the fact that the use of the plural word “daughters” in the above verse clearly supports the fact that the Holy Prophet (peace be upon him and his pure family) had more than one daughter, some argue that this word has been used in an honorific sense, in similarity to the plural word ‘women’ used in verse 3:62. As all interpreters have agreed that the Holy Prophet (peace be upon him and his pure family), at the event of Mubahala, did not accompany any other woman other than Fatima (peace be upon her), the plural word ‘women’ was used to exalt the status of Fatima (peace be upon her), and thus they claim that the word ‘daughters’ was used in the same sense in the above-mentioned verse.
One reply to this objection is that the narrations that support the fact that the Holy Prophet (peace be upon him and his pure family) took Lady Fatima al-Zahra (peace be upon her) to represent the ‘women’ at the event of Mubahala are numerous, whereas there is not even one tradition in the Sunnah which negates the existence of any other biological daughters of the Holy Prophet.
Call them by (the names of) their fathers; this is more equitable with Allah.
The Qur’an 33:6
In the days before the revelations of the Quran had begun, Prophet Muhammad (peace be upon him and his pure family) adopted Zaid, son of Haritha, as his son. Zaid was then called and known as Zaid, son of Muhammad. However, when the above-mentioned Qur’anic verse was revealed, the Holy Prophet (peace be upon him and his pure family) ordered to change Zaid’s name back to Zaid, son of Haritha.
All Muslims then started to call Zaid with his real father’s name. Accordingly, if these three daughters were not the biological daughters of the Prophet (peace be upon him and his pure family), but were rather adopted, then we would have found narrations stating that the Holy Prophet along with the Muslims had stopped calling these three daughters after his name, at the point when this verse was revealed, and that they would rather have called them after their real fathers’ names.
These three daughters have been called after the name of the Prophet (peace be upon him and his pure family) until the last moment of their life. In fact, even after the martyrdom of the Prophet (peace be upon him and his pure family); none of the Imams (peace be upon them) or their companions, historians or narrators referred to any of these three daughters as ‘Zainab-, Ruqayya-, or Umm Kulthum-, daughter of such-and-such’.
Sheikh Saduq in al-Khisal reported that Abu Baseer (a trustworthy narrator) narrated on the authority of Abu Abdullah al-Sadiq (peace be upon him):
The Prophet (peace be upon him and his pure family) had the following progeny from Khadija: al-Qasim; al-Tahir, and he was Abdullah; Umm Kulthum; Ruqayyah; Zainab; and Fatima (peace be upon them). Fatima was married to Ali, son of Abi Talib; Zainab was married to an Umawi man, Abul Aas, son of al-Rabi; and Umm Kulthum was married to Uthman, but she died before consummation. When they marched to the Battle of Badr, Allah’s Messenger married him (Uthman) to Ruqayyah. The Prophet had Ibrahim from Maria the Coptic, who was a maid.
al-Khisal, by Sheikh Seduq, page 404
When Muslims were weary of the oppression from the government of Uthman and its officials, they went to the Commander of the Believers (peace be upon him) and requested him to advise Uthman (may the curse of Allah be upon him) to not trample on the Muslims’ rights. The Commander of the Believers (peace be upon him) thereupon said to Uthman:
You have seen as we have seen, and you have heard as we have heard. You sat in the company of the Prophet of Allah as we did. (Abu Bakr) The son of Abi Quhafah and (Umar) the son of al-Khattab were no more responsible for acting righteously than you, since you are nearer than both of them to the Prophet of Allah through kinship, and you also held relationship to him by marriage, which they did not hold.
Nahjul Balagha, sermon 163
If Ruqayyah and Umm Kulthum (peace be upon them) were not the biological daughters of the Holy Prophet (peace be upon him and his pure family), then Uthman would not be nearer to the Prophet (peace be upon him and his pure family) through kinship than Abu Bakr and Umar, would he?
Allamah al-Majlisi reported that Hudhayfah, son of al-Yaman narrated:
The Prophet came out to us – as if I am seeing him right now – carrying al-Hussain, son of Ali, on his shoulder and putting his hand on his foot and clinging it to his chest, and said: ‘This is al-Hussain, son of Ali; he has the best grandfather and grandmother; his grandfather, the Messenger of Allah, is the master of all Prophets; his grandmother is Khadija daughter of Khowaylid, the first of all women to believe in Allah and His Messenger. This, al-Hussain, son of Ali, has the best father amongst all people, the best mother amongst all people; his father is Ali, son of Abi-Talib, the Messenger’s brother, vice and cousin, the first of all men to believe in Allah and His Messenger; his mother is Fatima, daughter of Muhammad, the Mistress of all women. This, al-Hussain son of Ali has the best paternal uncle and the best paternal aunt; his uncle is Ja’far, son of Abi-Talib, who is adorned with two wings with which he flies to wherever he wants in Paradise, and his aunt is Um-Hany’, daughter of Abi-Talib. This, al-Hussain, son of Ali, has the best maternal uncle and the best maternal aunt; his uncle is al-Qasim, son of Muhammad, the Messenger of Allah, and his aunt is Zainab, daughter of Muhammad, the Messenger of Allah’. He then put him on his shoulder, separated his arms then knelt and said: ‘O people, this is al-Hussain, son of Ali; his grandfather and grandmother are in Paradise; his paternal uncle and aunt are in Paradise; his maternal uncle and aunt are in Paradise; he and his brother are in Paradise.
Biharul Anwar, by al-Majlisi
Lady Fatima al-Zahra confirmed that she had other biological sisters when she asked the Commander of the Believers (peace be upon them both) to marry her niece, Umamah, before her martyrdom: “I ask you to marry my niece Umamah; surely she will be to my children as I was.” The word ‘niece’ clearly indicates that the Prophet (peace be upon him and his pure family) had other biological daughters.
Sheikh al-Tusi in al-Tahdheeb, al-Kulaini and many others reported on the authority of Imam Musa al-Kadhim (peace be upon him) the following portion of a supplication:
O Allah, send blessings upon Ruqayyah, the daughter of Your Prophet, and curse those who injured Your Prophet through wronging her. O Allah, send blessings upon Umm-Kulthum, the daughter of Your Prophet, and curse those who injured Your Prophet through wronging her.
Mafatih al-Jinan, the section of Supplications for the Month of Ramadhan
The Office of Sheikh al-Habib
