 As-salamu alaikum warahmatullahi wa barakatuh. Welcome to Live in London. I'm your host, Mohsin Shah, filling in for Mohamed Ali, who has been granted the opportunity to go perform Hajj. Our prayers are with him. We wish him a safe journey and a most blessed experience in Mecca, inshallah. Please remember us in your da'az and also all the viewers, inshallah. I would also like to take this opportunity to send our condolences to the ummah and also to the imam of our time, may Allah hasten his great appearance, as we were commemorating the death of imam in Jawad a couple of days ago. But tonight is the night that we celebrate the anniversary of Imam Ali with Sayyid al-Fatima. Insha'Allah we'll go through our discussion and insha'Allah I'd like to introduce Dr. Sayyid al-Aman al-Akshwan. As-salamu alaikum doctor. Wa alaikum as-salam warahmatullahi wa barakatuh. Nice to see you again. It's a pleasure to see you again. Looking good. Thank you. Thank you. Thank you. Sayyidna, let's begin before the marriage. Let's begin in the early stages of Islam. It was very, very difficult. So Islam at the beginning, trying to establish itself was very, very hard. Did this affect Sayyid al-Fatima and Imam Ali in any way? Well, their earliest or their earlier years are extremely difficult years. If you're looking at that first period in Mecca, both of them grow up in extremely difficult circumstances. Fatima al-Zahra, alayhi salam, grows up in a period where there are economic sanctions imposed on her father because of his spread of the religion of Islam. And so what you have is at the age of a few years she has to witness these sanctions where they are all made to stay in the valley of Abu Talib, alayhi salam. And so those early years become even more difficult for her because of the fact that she has to witness her mother, Sayyid al-Khadeej, alayhi salam, die and pass away. I think many people don't realize that Fatima al-Zahra, alayhi salam, like her father, grew up an orphan. Her mother passed away when she was only five years of age. Now if we look in the world today, there are certain countries where economic sanctions are placed. In those countries where economic sanctions are placed, in some cases the children have to face the most turbulent times. So anyone who thinks that Fatima al-Zahra, alayhi salam's early years were easy, far from it. She's got a really, really difficult early period of her life, but she remains supportive of her father and has to witness some of the most insulting moments that anyone can ever face with their father. For example, she has to witness the likes of Abu Jahl throwing feces on the head of her father. Abu Jahl would throw feces on the head of the Prophet, peace be upon him and his family. And many of us have read the famous ayah of the Quran. Have you seen the one who shows or insults our servant when he is in his prayer? Then you had, for example, the likes of Al-Aas bin Wa'il constantly calling the Holy Prophet, peace be upon him and his family, until Allah swt blessed him. There are others calling him Shah, there are others calling him Kahin, there are others calling him Majnun. And then a pivotal moment where she has to stand up for her father from his own family, Abu Lahab and his wife from Jameel, they form a partnership which seeks to hurt the Holy Prophet, peace be upon him and his family. And with this partnership what we find is that they want to try their hardest to destroy his message. And part of destroying his message was for them to prepare firewood in his way. And you've read the famous surah which talks about Abu Lahab by name and mentions his wife as the one who gathers the firewood. And she, of course, the wife of Jameel would never call the Prophet Muhammad, she would call him Muthammam. It was an insult towards him. And if he never received any revelation, she would say, Muhammad Shaytan is not sending him any messages anymore. And they'd throw stones at him. And who would be there to look after her father in her earliest years? None other than her, she's standing up for her father against all the insults. So for her it's a very difficult period, the earliest years of her life. And for Imam Ali bin Abi Talib, peace be upon him, the moment the religion of Islam is announced, nobody stood as the protector of the religion alongside the Holy Prophet, peace be upon him and his family. Imam Ali bin Abi Talib, peace be upon him and his family. Imam Ali bin Abi Talib, peace be upon him, if someone wanted to come towards the religion, he's the one who would take them in those dark streets in the night or on a hot day in Mecca, he would be the one who would take them to the Prophet like Abu Dharr Al-Ghafari when he was lost in Mecca and he was wondering, who do I go to? Imam Ali bin Abi Talib, peace be upon him, is the one who takes them to the Prophet and knowing that these aren't the easiest times. The same Imam Ali bin Abi Talib, peace be upon him, is the one who is there in the economic sanctions with his father Abu Talib telling him that I want to see you sleep in the bed of the Prophet. I'd rather see you dead and see the Prophet Muhammad, peace be upon him and his family alive. And this culminates in Imam Ali bin Abi Talib, peace be upon him, in his early 20s, ready to sleep in the bed of the Prophet, peace be upon him and his family on the night of Hijra. On that night, the night of Hijra, you find that he finds it an honour to sacrifice his life for God's messenger. There is no state of fear in him, there's no state of grief in him because anyone who has conviction that they are doing something for the messenger of God, in turn doing something for God, will never be in a state of grief. That huzun, that fear, that grief will not affect him. Someone who, there's a doubt about their iman, will have to be told, listen, don't grief. God's with us. But Imam Ali bin Abi Talib, peace be upon him, on the night of Hijra, there's not even a water of doubt. And like he says most famously later on, if the veils are removed between me and Allah SWT, my certainty in Allah will not increase or decrease. So both of them tried their hardest in those early years to protect God's message on her, to protect the life of the Holy Prophet Muhammad, peace be upon his family. Excellent, thank you. Just a quick reminder that this is a live show and you can call in on 0203 515 0199. Would you have questions? Alternatively, you can get us on WhatsApp at the bottom, it should be on the lower third, there should be the numbers there, or on Facebook as well. And in sha Allah, the doctor will be able to answer your question. Sayyidina, come on mate, spill the beans. Was it love at first sight? Or when would you say Imam Ali first ever met Sayyidina Fatima? When exactly they first met, I think obviously it's in Mecca. In terms of, you know, in terms of the building of, I would say a spiritual attraction with each other, it would have to be when Imam Ali bin Abi Talib, peace be upon him, escorts the Fawaban, the ladies who are known as, who are known by the name of Fatima, and she wasn't the only one because his mother is of course Fatima bin Tasad. So he has a role of escorting them from Mecca to Medina. Because, you know, when he sleeps on the bed of the Prophet that night, the Prophet has also given him other duties. One of those other duties was make sure you return the trusts that have been deposited with me by my enemies. This sounds paradoxical. Who would keep their trusts with you? Say for example, you have a gold necklace and you give it to your worst enemy. Or you have jewelry, you give it to your worst enemy. But the Arabs used to know him as the trustworthy one. We don't like you because you're claiming to be a prophet but you're really trustworthy. Now, hold on. If he's trustworthy, why the doubts? If he's truthful and trustworthy, when have you known him to lie? When have you known him to break a vow or a covenant that he's made with you? You all knew him as sadaq and they knew him as amin. So when they knew him with these two titles, they used to leave their trusts. He told Imam Ali to return the trusts back towards the people who have kept them with me all this time in Mecca. Of course, some people try to scam it by the way. Some try to come to Imam Ali and say, you know what, by the way, I had left some stuff with him and now he's gone. So give me a couple of gold necklaces and give me some. So Imam Ali will be like, can you verify it for me? And they'll be like, yeah, yeah, yeah, we left it. And he's like, when did you leave it, for example? And they'll be like, in the afternoon. And then he'll check it up. No, it wasn't the night that they had left it. Or one would say in the morning and be like, no. And what color was your necklace? One would say, for example, it was white pearls turned out to be silver. So there were people who were trying to even scam it with Imam Ali. The second duty, and this is where I think, in my humble opinion, there is a moment of a spark between Imam Ali and Fatima al-Zahra. And that is when he's taking her from Mecca to Medina with his mom. And what better situation for you to have your future wife with your mom on a journey? And so she's with his mom, but she witnesses not just that he's been willing to sleep on the bed of the Prophet, but she sees that he's willing to give everything even for her as the daughter of the Prophet. He valiantly gets through those rocky roads and mountains from Mecca to Medina. And so when he's getting through these mountains, I think at this moment when Fatima al-Zahra realizes that, you know what, this Ali of Nabi Talim, alaihi salam, is a special personality. And so if anyone really asks me when is it that that spark comes, I think it comes from Mecca to Medina as they're doing that hijrah. Excellent, excellent. Sayyid, you know, people get married. Some people get married for wealth, some do it for looks, some do it for status. Now say the Fatima being the daughter of Rasulullah, surely there would have been many, many proposals. Who wouldn't want their father-in-law to be Rasulullah, alaihi salam? You're right. There were many proposals and proposals from prominent personalities as well. If you're looking at the personalities who had proposed, you find with these personalities, for example Abu Bakr, who later on becomes the first caliph. He is, he proposes and there is an expectancy that, you know, he has been with her father for a certain period of time and that could, you know, maybe give the brownie points that you need. It's always good to have a relationship with the father of the girl and he's rejected. And then Umar al-Khattab also proposes for Fatima and is rejected. And interestingly, amongst the other companions who had proposed for Fatima al-Zahra, alaihi salam was Abdel Rahman bin Auf. Now Abdel Rahman bin Auf is a wealthy personality. So when he comes to propose, he's thinking, well, the two that have come before me have not really offered much. So I'm willing to offer thousands of gold coins. I'm willing to offer, you know, products from Egypt. You know, I'm willing to give you all the material riches that you want. And I think the Holy Prophet is somewhat disappointed that he's, he's come and just flaunted his wealth because there are some people who, if they're going to come and propose, they should say, well, you know, I own this and I own this and I own that. And I think what they don't realize is that the girls think, well, you own all of these things and these are going to be helpful for us building our relationship. But do we click, do we have the same mindset, characteristics, is there charisma in your, is there physical attraction and so on? And I think, you know, these are all things which some people, when they're going for the proposal, think, well, you know what, if I can just show that I've got a really nice car, that's going to be enough. But what they don't realize is that there's many out there who have beautiful cars and, you know, really nice houses. But what's the point if none of you can even get on with each other? And so, yeah, there are people who come and propose from different strands of society. But on each occasion, they make no headway. Yeah. So the question from myself is, you said that, you know, the proposals were rejected. Now, was this rejection from Rasulullah himself? Or was, say, the Fatima rejecting these? And even in the early times of Islam and in the Arabs, were women allowed to choose who they wanted to marry? I think in some cases, women, you know, there were women out there who were able to choose who they wanted to marry. But there were some horrendous cases where they were forced to marry people they did not want to marry. And sadly, this still exists in certain illiterate communities in the Muslim world, where there are girls who are forced to marry people they don't want to marry. But the dad said, for example, I've always wanted that cousin to marry you. Yeah, but dad, you know, I tracked it to that cousin. Or the dad's like, for example, that family can only marry from us and we only marry from them. Okay, but what if there's no spark between us? And sadly, there are many whose lives have been ruined. You know, there are certain women out there who maybe they were in their teens and were forced to marry people three times their age. Three, when I say three, I mean three, there are certain women out there who were 19 and they had to marry people in their fifties. And why? Because you know what, that person who's come to propose is very wealthy. We have in some cases in Islamic history a disgusting tribal system. And I'm not surprised when the Qur'an stated that amongst the worst enemies of the Prophet Muhammad peace be upon him were the Bedouins of Arabia. Their tribal system is more important. If we pick someone for you from the age of two, four, five, then you go and marry that person. Or if there's someone who's the head of a tribe who's come to propose, you cannot say no to them because this will bring a war. Now also in Arabia, you had certain women who had to marry their step-sons. Now I think you'll hear that and you'll think what you're talking about. And what you have is you've got this concept where say my dad, my dad's married to my mom, my mom dies, my dad also has a second wife. When my dad dies, I inherit that second wife. I inherit her. She has no choice to say, okay, but that second wife, she was attracted to my dad. Let's say she's 10, 12 years older than me. No, I inherit her. Then you had another type of marriage where they force a wife to go and have a physical relationship with their best friend and they take his wife. So there was like a wife swapping happening. And this wife really has no say. The moment the husband says to her, listen, you're going to go and sleep with him. And his wife is going to come and sleep with me. Whenever you see a society where women are treated in this way, when there are women out there who have no say, this is the most oppressive society that exists. And sadly, we've had Muslim communities for years and we've had fathers who have ruined girls' lives by not even telling them about the proposal that's come for them. You see in this Fatima al-Zahra, Imam Ali, alaihi salam, marriage, the Prophet peace be upon him, with every proposal that came, took it to Fatima al-Zahra, irrespective of who the person was. The proposal was taken. There are some out there who believe that, well, I don't want him and I'm sure she doesn't want him. How do you know she didn't want him? Maybe she wanted him. And so the Prophet peace be upon his family sets for us a precedent. When someone has come to propose for my daughter Fatima, I will take the proposal to her. She wants to decline, she can decline. When we have in our communities today situations, and you know, many of the youth will email me and Facebook messages and so on, and people will send us messages from far and wide. And many times when they send us these messages, what do they say to us? I'm proposing but I'm getting rejected. In some cases with Instagram and Snapchat and Facebook. And what other social media are there out there? Which other social media exist? Twitter. Twitter, Facebook. With all of these things that exist, what I have is that now the boy and the girl know each other before that proposal. So the dad may be thinking, well, you know what, really, there's no one who's come to propose. And the girl's thinking, I'm chatting to him behind your back. He said that he's sent a proposal. Why are you lying to me? And this could end up breaking families. So yeah, the Holy Prophet peace be upon his family. He tried to institute this in Arabia. Let's see what the girl has to say. Rather than forcing the girl into a marriage where later on there are issues that could break the community. So when does Imam Ali come into the picture? I mean, does someone give him a little nudge and say, look, you know... Yeah, I think giving a little nudge is a good way of putting it. Imam Ali, peace be upon him, you know, is an embodiment of humility, an embodiment of, you know, real class and dignity. And he has such awe and respect for the Prophet Muhammad peace be upon his family that, well, do I go, don't I go? And that's another beautiful thing about the Holy Prophet peace be upon his family that Imam Ali, peace be upon him, finds it then comfortable to go up to the father of the girl he wants to marry. Now, if I was to tell you guys, are you comfortable going up to the father of the girl you want to marry and telling him, listen, I have an interest in proposing for your daughter, it's a shame in our societies if that doesn't exist. I remember Nabi Musa, Nabi Shuaib coming up to him and says, listen, I want you to marry one of my two daughters, meaning that I'm coming and I'm sending a proposal here. And that spirit of Islam, I think it's gone. That spirit of Islam has now become an arrogant spirit, has now begun to be a spirit where we've forgotten our decency as Muslims, where we should look out for each other, love for others, what we love for ourselves, and take from the example of the Prophet peace be upon his family. Now there are, you know, people out there, they go and propose for marriage and the family on the other side will tell them, we'll get back to you. Some, they get back to them, but maybe within a few months. Now I'm not understanding here, you're finishing a PhD or you're answering a proposal for marriage. Some, will get back and say for example politely that, you know, they may have decided to take an istikhara on the issue of marriage and it just didn't work out and that's something understandable. And that politeness and respect and that ability to walk up to each other, Imam Ali ibn al-Tahm is influenced by his brother Aqeel as well as others who are telling him, listen, what are you waiting for? If anyone's going to get accepted, it's you. And eventually he tells the Prophet and it's as if the Prophet's been waiting but the Prophet says, listen, I've got to ask Fatima. And when he goes to ask Fatima, there's very interesting that sometimes the words of a ma'soom are taken as sunnah. Sometimes the actions of a ma'soom are taken as sunnah. Sometimes the silence of a ma'soom on an issue is taken as approval, is taken as sunnah, is taken as a form of, you know, taqadir or taqadir approval. And when the Prophet says to her, we have a proposal from Ali, son of Abu Talib Imam Ali ibn al-Tahm is Fatima al-Zahra, second cousin. And when she remains silent with the others, it was no. But this time she remains silent. And the Holy Prophet, peace be upon him and his family, says something beautiful about that moment. First, as he always does, Allahu Akbar, Allahu Akbar. God is great, God is great. Then he says, Sukhutuhah, Rebaah. Her silence is her approval. And later when we see the silence of Ahlul Bayt on certain issues, that is a form of approval. And then he says, O Fatima, you have decided to marry the most knowledgeable and the most prudent person on this earth. Meaning that you are marrying a personality that of all of these companions around me. None of them has his own. Later on when we see I am the city of knowledge and Ali is its gate. For years it was accepted as a tradition. But of course the, you know, someone who's got darkness in their heart can never have love for Ali or they may have love for Ali but by default or they may love people who curse Ali but still claim to love Ali. But what you have is that he is the gate to the city of knowledge. And so, yeah, it's beautiful. And it's very classy with Fatima Zahra Ali. It's not like, yes, that I really want to marry him. It's just like Sukhutuhah, Rebaah. Yeah, it's a beautiful moment. Excellent. Sayyidna, marriage and age is a very, very controversial topic in Islam, Islamic history especially. And we see Rasulullah being accused of so many. How old was Sayyidna Fatima when she married Imam Ali? Would you say she was quite young? Yeah, I'd say I don't think she was older than nine. Nine years old. Nine years of age. Not a problem at that time. The Imam himself was just entering the 24th year of his life. I think it's more problematic when you're discussing the prophet Muhammad peace be upon his family because he's in his early 50s and he supposedly marries Aisha who is of that age or around that age and hence many Muslims will work hard to try and prove that no, it's not possible. They wouldn't know an Arabian culture at the time. There's no who-ha being caused. I think there are certain cultures, cities, societies, communities where for years the state allowed people to get married at 11, 12. But I don't think she was older than nine when she got married to Imam Ali, peace be upon him. Maybe going into her 10th year and different climates dictate different biological functions, biological changes of the human body, biological adaptations as well. But yeah, I think you'll find her and say that Zaynab, peace be upon him, both of them are marrying around the same time. How was Imam Ali? He's entering his 24th year. Zaynab, couldn't Zaynab Fathima kind of like stay, you know, Zaynab is like, not getting married? A lot of women say that, no, I don't need to get married. Or do you think maybe it's a distraction from spirituality, improving the relationship of Allah SWT? Yeah, I think you'll find that in certain parts of Islamic history there were women who did not get married and they said that because we want to remain close to God, our servitude to God, you know, we want to stay, for example, studying and learning and getting closer and disseminating God's word. But I think the Imams of Ahlul Bayt make it clear that if staying away from marriage was a form of getting you closer to Allah SWT, then Fathima Al-Zahra, peace be upon him, would have stayed away from marriage. Marriage should not be an impediment or an obstacle or a barrier in you gaining closest to Allah SWT. On the contrary, you know, hopefully in marriage you spiritually grow with one another, you spiritually buffer off each other, you spiritually are able to disseminate knowledge to one another, you spiritually are able to go on journeys together. And I think it's wonderful when I see families, especially when we go on Ziyarah, like when we're going on Ziyarah in Arba'een, when you see the couples who come on Ziyarah with us, you'll see them going to the Haram together, you'll see them listening to lectures together, you'll see them being able to ask questions and seek to gain more knowledge together. So that idea that certain paths of Islam prided themselves over certain women who never got married and therefore had a mystical status, I think Fathima Al-Zahra showed that you can have a balance of everything, yeah. Excellent. Say that you and I both know this because I know you do a lot of Akhlet and you do a lot of marriages. The mahar sometimes is absolutely ridiculous. What was the mahar between Imam Ali? What's the most ridiculous mahar you heard? 100,000. What do you remember? 100,000 pounds. 100,000 pounds for a mahar? Mm-hmm. Yeah. And this was in your culture or? No, no, no. Another community? I don't want to mention, but I think they're famous for riding camels. Famous for riding? Camels. How does it down to quite a few Arabian countries? Mind you, you'll find that it varies and it's very sad when we reach a stage where the dowries are so high because I have a lot of respectful people when they say the mahar is the mahar of Fathima Al-Zahra, alayhi salam. You know, when you go to listen to certain marriages or certain nikahs, you're always here then saying that the mahar is the mahar of Fathima. What do they mean when they say the mahar of Fathima? What they mean is that when it came down to deciding the dowry, the Holy Prophet, peace be upon him and his family, asks Imam Ali Ibn Abbas, alayhi salam, what can you offer for the dowry? Now, the Holy Prophet, if you notice in many legal traditions, he tries to help people out when it comes to dowry, when it comes to even kafara, I remember when I was studying the chapter on Zihar. Zihar is when Arab men would insult their wives by saying, you are to me like the back of my mother, meaning in the same way I cannot have a relationship with my mom, I cannot have a relationship with you. And this used to be a real insult and the Quran would say there's a kafara for that pronouncement. You can't turn around to your wife and say to her, you're like my mom. That's an insult to your Mrs. and the Prophet would try and tell them, can you free a slave? And you'd find some of them would turn around and say, well, I don't really own one. Inshallah in a couple of weeks we'll be looking at sex slaves and discussing the legal aspects of it as a part two to the lecture that I had given last year in Muharram. But what you have is the freeing of the slave if they can't, then he'd say to them, you know, fast consecutive days, no Arabs doing 60 days in a row. And if you could feed the poor and then he try and help them. And I think what happens is we need this in our communities that when people are trying to get married, A, the parents don't make things extra tough and B, the community should seek to come together. I love the fact that, for example, now in Iraq we have the Mawadda project. And that Mawadda project, you find the likes of, you know, Sheikh Muhammadi, for example, and Karbala and others in conjunction with Imam al-Hussein TV working their hardest to bring people together. It doesn't matter, Shia, Sunni, Kristi, it doesn't matter. Those who are trying to get married maybe can't afford to get married come and try and help them. And I think the community has a major responsibility that when someone's getting married we should try and help them from the beginning. Proposal we should help, reference we should help, wedding day we should help. And not by, you know, giving toasters and things like this. You know, no wonder they stopped doing, no wonder they said no more box gifts. You know, someone has a real fascination with toasters for some reason and sometimes people give you used projects like buy one, get eight free or things like this and it really shows the lack of class in certain people but I think we need to help on every level. So it tells Imam Ali what can you do and Imam Ali says this, I can offer my sword or my shield or I can offer the camel that I use to, that I have. And so the Prophet says to him that as for your camel or the animal that you have use that to continue to irrigate the water and use it to earn an income and as for your sword use it to help defend the religion. But as for your shield which some argued was some of the spoils of the battle are better then that shield sell it and the amount that you get, 480 or 500 or whatever it is use that as the mahar for Fatima. So it's vital that whether you're a father today whose daughter is going to get married try and take from the son of the Prophet peace be upon his family and make things easier for that person who's proposed. Or about the son or the method and the wedding itself I mean sometimes these weddings are extravagant usually cost more than the mahar sometimes. Some weddings are extravagant some are damn right stingy and we don't want both extremes. When I say stingy I don't mean that the location that's been picked is a bad look. I've been to a wedding which was done in the underground basement of a mosque that had dampness everywhere however there was a purity of heart and generosity in the food that was served. So although the surroundings weren't luxurious but everything just wouldn't stop serving food and different desserts and starters and so on so when I say damn right stingy I'm not talking about those people who for example who have simple weddings you can have a luxurious wedding but that luxurious wedding you could tell that you've done it in a luxurious place but there's not much generosity coming from you and I think when it comes to Imam Ali's wedding I think there isn't too much concern that we have to have a flash event I think they're just happy that they're finally together and I think that's what many of us failed to come to terms with when we got married that you know what everyone's going to tell you where you're doing it or what's happening or what's going on in the day but when it comes down to it while you two have got together you're happy about getting together that should be the most important thing your parents are smiling the community is happy for you and that's it and I do think sometimes we take it or we took it too seriously a lot more than we needed to and with them look at her like she's ready to give away her dress anyone who knocks at that door that Fatma Zahra's door was the door of generosity ironically it becomes the door that leads to her martyrdom I think what you notice is that you know we go crazy about the suit that we're wearing or the dress that we're wearing and it has to be I want to make sure that my suit is fitted on time and perfect and everything goes well on time and the dress that I'm wearing there are many girls who may have it may suffer a real moment of pressure leading up to the day and there are some people who are getting ready and so on and you've got this Fatma and Ali are extremely relaxed on that day and the Prophet peace be upon his family is also very relaxed tell the companions you guys if you can help out can you buy a couple of rugs can you get like a couple of cushions can you try and get some wood can you okay yeah done let's do the nikah thank you all so much let's have a walima and I think Muslims from the moment of Dawat al-Ashira we could tell that food was important and I think the Prophet peace be upon his family shows wonderfully that listen we'll have a nice walima people can come enjoy a nice meal and then move on and I do sometimes wonder you know that same spirit I don't have a problem if someone does a wedding in a very luxurious place and then you see people who no decided that the instead of spending that money they'll give it to orphans out there they'll give it to the poor out there which I think is a wonderful gesture in a very simple environment but they'll do it in a way where they're very generous with the food that's being served and I think if you're looking at the day of that wedding there's a real thankfulness to Allah hence in our Islamic traditions that on the night of your wedding the day of your wedding there's meant to be a sense of thanking God as well there are many people who may get married and on the night they return for example to their homes they don't wake up for Fajr for example now you have just been blessed by Allah to attend a wedding or to be married first thing you and your wife Fajr and you'll find that there are some known they'll go to sleep or some will come back home late but not think about Fajr whereas we are told read a dua thank Allah for this night you know and this builds your relationship with Allah Sayyidina Rasulullah SAW said if it wasn't for Ali then there would be no kufu for Fatima Zahra what was meant by this Ali? Well I think there was there was no one who could come near Fatima Zahra SAW you know personalities you know firstly she's Sayyid for example Alameen she is seen as the lady of the heavens you know Asya, Maryam, Khadija all of these you know for they make the greatest woman to have ever lived in the history of the religion of Islam but I think when it came to Ali Ibn Abi Talib SAW not only she found her match she found someone above her as we know Imam Ali Ibn Abi Talib SAW is revered as being higher than everybody except Rasulullah SAW and this is a source of pride for us as the lovers of Ahlul Bayt we come and you know try and say you guys take Ali too high we're honored you know I don't make no qualms, apologies, no reservations about saying it I don't think actually we've made Ali high I think we've actually studied 0.1% of Ali Ibn Abi Talib anyone out there who claims they know Ali Ibn Abi Talib only Allah and Rasulullah know him SAW so nobody could come near her and the only person who could come near and was her Imam and was higher than her in his status and his knowledge and his spirituality was the man she loved the most and she married yeah Masha'Allah excellent so with your permission we're going to go to a short break insha'Allah please join us after the break we will be insha'Allah taking your questions and the doctor will be answering them insha'Allah on the topic of the marriage between Imam Ali and Bibi Fathima As-salamu alaykum Rahmatullahi wabarakatuh see you after the break As-salamu alaykum Rahmatullahi wabarakatuh welcome back to Live in London where we're discussing the marriage between Imam Ali and Sayyid al-Fathima with Dr. Sayyid al-Aman al-Aqshani just a quick reminder to all of you is that this is a live show you can call in on 02035150199 if you have any questions and insha'Allah the Sayyid will be able to answer them for you alternatively you can get us on WhatsApp or Facebook Sayyid al-Nah we've been talking about the marriage we talked about the mahar the actual wedding itself was there any honeymoon any Maldives or Dubai Jamaica perhaps yeah none of those unfortunately you know I think some of those may not have been discovered at that time but what you have is yeah there's a honeymoon it's the battle of Ahud not the most luxurious honeymoon in the world and not the nicest place to be but really I think it solidifies a marriage because of the fact that they begin their marriage seeking to protect the religion seeking to protect the legacy of the teachings of God that are embodied by the Prophet peace be upon his family and it's not easy for any wife you know the first year of marriage it's not easy there are tests that you face with your husband but I don't think many wives out there who are facing a test in the first year of their marriage have to treat many wounds on the body of their husband Imam Ali ibn al-Aqshani's performance in every battle is phenomenal there is no one in the history of the religion of Islam who comes near the valent, the bravery of Ali ibn al-Aqshani I think Shaja'a is really a servant of Ali and learns from Ali and so what you have is that in the battle of Ahud the Quran mentions how the companions of the Prophet Muhammad peace be upon his family run away from the battle many texts trying to cover and hide and protect and no the Quran says in chapter 3 that Muhammad is but a messenger and messengers have come before him if he dies or rather he is killed you turn your back on him you turn on your heels and these companions absolutely run away on that day and the hadith books are clear as to they're running and one thing Imam Ali ibn al-Aqshani can never be accused of is running away from battle there are others out there who maybe now in the books are running away from the battle there are others out there who maybe now in the books which the Umayyads and the Abbasids more wrote have praised people being brave and so on but many have a history of running away and with Imam Ali ibn al-Aqshani he stands there protects the Prophet from the onslaught of Khalid ibn al-Waleed and you know a great number of the opposition on that day on the day of Ahud there's no way Khalid ibn al-Waleed can come near the dust of Ali ibn al-Aqshani at all absolutely no chance whatsoever Khalid ibn al-Waleed records when you're looking at at his wars with the Prophet I don't really think there's much to admire there's not much done at Hunayn there's not much done at Mu'tah and in terms of when he's an enemy of the Prophet at Ahud he tries to kill the Prophet but he can't Ali ibn al-Aqshani will always be there but Fatima is there at Ahud and you'd think that as the daughter of the Prophet Muhammad she'd turn around she'll be like well I'm the daughter I should be on a carriage, gold carriage I'm the daughter of the leader of the community and so on she comes and treats the wounds of her husband and it really is amazing that some of us really live in an imaginary world a dream world where we think that marriages have to be perfect or they imagine that the Ahlul Bayt never had difficulties in their marriages we remembered Imam al-Jawad a couple of days ago he was poisoned by his wife the Prophet had certain wives who divulged the secret as per chapter 66 verse number 3 of the Holy Quran and likewise you have here Imam Ali ibn al-Aqshani it's a very difficult start to their relationship but I think that cements their relationship and I think sometimes there are really certain people out there who've had long lasting marriages they'll tell you the early days were difficult the early days were full of trials but that was their honeymoon so it wasn't as exotic as some of us who may want to go to these wonderful holiday resorts and maybe sometimes that's a reminder to us as to just how easy some of us have it saying that you were mentioning they've got marriages very difficult at the beginning of their adulthood and then on top of that the first four years say the Fatima has Imam Hassan, Imam Hussein say the Zaynab surely this is just a bit too much to say the Fatima really really difficult times no? I don't really think they're the most difficult times because she has those children yes Imam al-Hassan, Imam Hussein said Zaynab I'm born within four years of each other three kids in four years in that period it's extremely difficult for a mother biologically some people don't appreciate the mothers and in some cases what difficulties they face after giving birth there are some who are insulted because they don't look like they did on the wedding day although if the guy looks in the mirror he may have to explain himself there are others who for example are insulted because they they may not be physically wanting what they wanted before but there's bodily changes happening there's some who go through periods of depression but with Fatima al-Zahra you notice there's a very dignified manner of respect with everything that's happening in the house and there's these one may call hagiographical stories but they are there within the literature of incidents where seemingly she's pale from the work she's doing at home she's tired but she never complains to the iman she may tell her dad that things aren't easy and her dad tells her you know what I'll give you something which is the best that is the tasbih of Fatima al-Zahra Allahu Akbar 34 times Alhamdulillah 33 times Subhanallah 33 times you know when people finish Salat some people as soon as they finish Salat al-Maghrib get up straight away some people as soon as they finish Salat straight away for example then there is a third group of people who straight away will go to the tasbih of Fatima al-Zahra and that tasbih of Fatima al-Zahra al-Zahra al-Zahra is really a spiritual cure for all of us and Imam Sada goes to the extent of saying whoever recites the tasbih of Fatima al-Zahra al-Zahra al-Zahra exactly the minute they finish their Salat for example Allahu Akbar Allahu Akbar 34 times Subhanallah 33 and 33 they will be protected from the fire of Hell she also had the help of Fidda and we should never forget Fidda's help but it's not like Fatima al-Zahra was just like saying Fidda okay you do everything no a day for you a day for me and then what keeps her strong in this period as well is her Salat al-Layl I think that becomes fundamental in all the lives of the Ahlul Bayt al-Alaym As-Salaam there is this real love for Allah and that then makes the way they bring up their children and the service that they are giving towards their Lord it gives them peace I think sometimes in our communities when there are young mothers who have 3-4 kids the husband needs to recognize at those moments the odd Ziyara journey may be beneficial for that relationship the odd holiday the odd change of atmosphere so I think these are our pointers which we can take saying that a lot of women these days this is not a bad thing but they want to go out and work and say the Fatima was very content with being a housewife I mean for our sisters out there can we do both and gain spiritual benefit a lot from both I don't see why not I think what Fatima al-Zahra displays is that there is a divine element to being a housewife there is something unique there because it seems very mundane there are many ladies in our communities who have excelled in their education who are phenomenal role models in terms of the perseverance and the strength they had to study to maintain their chastity and modesty while studying a lot more than us guys and many of them deserve to go on and work and all of them have the right to go on and work and they don't need to bring any of that money back home the onus is on the husband responsibility of the husband to maintain the household what Fatima al-Zahra does is that she just shows hold on you looking after those kids don't look at it as a backward step for you there is a divine element to this in your service bringing up these kids and turn you're serving Allah SWT you're serving the prophetic message and that's why it's very beautiful how many admire Fatima al-Zahra alaihi salam but what's interesting is that sometimes they'll say I don't want to be a housewife but if you admire her admiring her for which part of her life because the majority of her life is spent at home you say why are we made to be housewives or spend life at home and so on then which part of Fatima al-Zahra that you admire she seems to find pleasure serving in the household she doesn't look at it as a box I have to take on an application for what's your job doctor, nurse, engineer, housewife no there is a divine element that she instills there and I think sadly many times in our community women are not shown that respect that what they're doing is divine the man going out and earning a living is ensuring the obligatory is done whereas what the women in our community are doing is showing a real divine element to their upbringing of those kids to the instilling of the Quran and the teachings of the adabah to those kids very inspirational saying a very controversial question I'm probably going to get in trouble for this but do we see say the Fatima interrogating Imam Ali at any time where have you been, what's going on you haven't called, you haven't text what's this, what's that really getting in his face really trying to get involved in his life which to a limit that is acceptable like today we see a lot of women stuck to their husbands like glue you'll hear some people saying that my wife is a lezga and even over here and you know in many parts of the world he says she's a lezga when he says she's a lezga meaning she sticks to me I go out for one minute, where are you text me and sometimes it's the guys fault because the guys either done something really he's messed up one time and she's going to be after him non-stop and I think sometimes absence really does make the heart grow fonder as well there are some who yes there are some who check up who you with, send me a picture where are you, what time are you coming home why not, and so on and what you find with Fatima Zahra is no on the contrary, I don't think I think firstly she has the most impeccable human being living anyone who's being raised by the Prophet Muhammad he's going to be an impeccable human being so she's got nothing to worry about when he's out but when he is out in those first years one minute Khanda, Khaybar, Hunain and so on and never do you find her saying why did you go to every battle why is it that you're always in the mosque why is it that for example you're always with my father and so on and maybe there's a message there that listen, stick close with each other build a bond but sometimes allowing that space really makes that relationship grow now I know there are some ladies probably out there saying how do I allow him space, do you know if I allow him space the trouble that's going to be caused and I don't trust him and so on everyone's got their own relationships everyone's got their own certain pasts things that have happened in history if you're asking me Fatima Ali everywhere, no that let's get element I don't think was there but then again the man she's married you really don't need to worry about anything Senor you were mentioning that Sayyid al-Faltima you know being in the house and was very content with being the housewife but we also know that she was present at Mubahila and Allah SWT used that as a symbol of Islam as representing Islam could you comment on this please I think I find it beautiful that God wants this woman to be the one who is representing the religion as Pasora 3 verse 61 so this ayah the Christians have come to meet the Prophet Muhammad peace be upon him and what's interesting is that when you want to take a delegation to meet the Christians of Najran there are many who will say that Islam was always led by a patriarchal world view with male chauvinists who in many cases were misogynists and so on but the God of the religion has no qualms about making sure that a woman goes to meet a delegation of Christians and what is a very sensitive issue on Mubahila being a call on God to curse those who are seen as disbelievers and so when Fahmuz Zahra is the one who is chosen by the Prophet to go towards the Mubahila Imam Ali has no problem his wife being in public his wife representing the religion his wife being in a political issue and a theological issue and sometimes people when they mention examples they always say Zaynab AS in Sham or in Khufa as an example of a lady who was in public but I think that was a version or under duress or in compulsion you know she was forced to be there whereas Fahmuz Zahra AS there are other wives the Prophet could have taken peace be upon his family with him but he doesn't take them and I think that's wonderful that he takes the young Fahmuz to represent the religion of Islam and I think we need to encourage in our communities for a few things more programs where the men and the women as a whole rather than the women have to always be looking at the speaker from a screen when in reality many of the women in our community have more passion for learning than the men I think there needs to be an increase in men being willing to listen to a female speaker because I don't care about your gender I'm more interested in what ilm comes from you what knowledge is coming from you that needs to increase we should encourage more of our daughters to be involved in political roles in our communities and external of our communities we have for example in the west many of our sisters who have been phenomenal in representing the religion or the community it doesn't have to be the religion it could be the citizens of the country and I think Fahmuz Zahra AS and also Imam Ali is not having an issue with it Imam Ali doesn't tell us you stay at home or Imam Ali doesn't tell us have I ever had a woman talk in public no no Imam Ali you know what represent the religion this is an important pivotal moment so it really is a unique event that one which you can examine from so many angles are inspiring I believe we have a call on the lines inshallah we'll be able to take the question salama alaykum your name and where you're calling from I'm afraid we can't inshallah we've got some technical difficulties inshallah we'll be able to get back to that call please call again and inshallah we'll be able to take your question Sayyidina some say Imam Ali married a second wife when he was married to say the Fahmuz Zahra AS some say it was Abu Jahl's daughter and his angered say the Fahmuz Zahra AS is there any evidence for this well it exists in the narrations that Imam Ali AS proposed for the daughter of Abu Jahl but you'll find that this can be something which can be disproven on a variety of levels you know if you're looking at for example the Prophet suddenly getting angry when he hears the news that Imam Ali AS has interest in Abu Jahl's daughter and then all of a sudden saying it's forbidden for Ali to marry anyone why is it forbidden the Quran says that you can marry how many four and so why would it be forbidden to Ali just because he's married to Fatima no, it's not forbidden and so that contradicts anything that Rasulullah would never say something like that secondly if you're looking at some of the people in the chain some of the narrators like Al-Karabis, Al-Baghdadi or Maswara bin Makram and people like that they're known enemies of Ali you know there are certain personalities who are known for their Bughd of Ali their hate of Ali don't get me wrong there'll still be Mashaayikh who'll say but they are Thiqa, we trust them but even if they hate Ali and these people all will try and show that they find a black daughter in the character of Ali ibn Abi Talib but however many people will come and try and attack him with Ali ibn Abi Talib AS is the person who lives on forever number three, I just think that this hadith was done as a cover-up for the hadith Fatima is the part of me whoever angers her angers me, so well it's Imam Ali who angered her because he wanted to provide as a cover-up for other things said I do believe we have a call-in shall I take it through to him this time salamu alaykum, your name and where you're calling from salamu alaykum more technical difficulties I think you either fix the phones or don't pass on calls yes go ahead next question Sayidna who are the closest friends to Sayidna Fatima I mean we know that girls like to have friends and like to talk and also sometimes the husband doesn't really necessarily like his wife's friends or maybe that one individual they think is a bit you know a bit shaky sometimes the wife doesn't like her husband's friends you know it works both ways I think her best friends really in that period you're looking I think her mother in law is the best friend to her for that first part of the marriage for the first 3-4 years she loves Fatima the Prophet Muhammad used to love Fatima and if you know I remember reading I think it was in the book where it was mentioned that when he wanted to have a a siesta you know like a sleep for the day he'd go and sleep and Fatima went to Assad's place going to relax away from everyone because he's so alike his mom Asma went to Umayyis very close to Fatima al-Zahra Sayidna Fidda al-Salam very close to Fatima al-Zahra I'd say yeah I'd say these are probably the ladies who were the closest to Fatima al-Zahra and if for example someone says I have a problem with my wife's friends if your wife's friends are bringing her closer to Ahl al-Bayt have the Akhilaq of Ahl al-Bayt and so on there's no issue Excellent Final question before I go into the whatsapp questions Do we see the Prophet get involved in interfering the marriage between Imam Ali and Sayidna Fadima and what sort of advice and lessons can we learn from this sort of relationship that we can pass on because sometimes we have too many family members actually interfering and not allowing the husband who have to deal with it themselves and to bond and grow from this Yeah I think parents out of their love sometimes have to have a say on everything in a marriage and I think it comes from a good place but the way it's expressed sometimes it leaves a lot to be desired and but with the Prophet peace be upon his family there's no interference there that incident you mentioned about Imam Ali proposing for Abu Jahl's daughter one of the moments where people were like this is when the Prophet Muhammad peace be upon his family became angry with Imam Ali and you know that's an absolute load of nonsense on the contrary he doesn't interfere rather the only thing I'd say where he interferes is in such positive moments he either comes past their house sends his salams to them and then continues or he'll tell them you know how Hassan Hussein is very much his grandchildren and they'll reply they're good but they may not be feeling well then he'll say to them ok then make a nither of that if Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala helps them regain their strength you will fast for 3 days and you know the famous ayah was revealed from Surat al-Dahr in honour of the food they gave to the miskin and the yatim and the asir or sometimes the only other interference there's always a positive interference was when he'd come home for for dinner and it's not an interference but you know he'll suddenly tell Imam Ali you know I'm coming home and Imam Ali will come and he'll be like I don't have much here but the lord who sent Jibra'il to feed Maryam will also ensure that Jibra'il has food for Fatima so now with your permission we have Hussain Jawah from Sydney saying that is the age difference that big surely this is absurd absurd in terms of what the age difference between Imam Ali I'm assuming because that was the topic of the discussion then what would you think of the Prophet's marriage to Aisha you know in those days they seem to have certain norms and each culture has their different norms I remember in the states there were certain states within America who would have their marriages legalized at 12 and this was only until recently so let alone in that Arabian society there was there was a norm there at the time and nor was there any huha about it what about today saying that do you think there's an age limit that we should I think today it's absurd it's absurd to marry you know someone nine years of age it's absurd and the norms of society have changed and it's not something which we or the grand scholars even push that even in Iraq when people try to want to push it's going in that direction no and if it occurs I think it's an oppression another one here Islam is marriage mandatory in Islam because they don't want to get married because they've seen unsuccessful marriages and they kind of put off what I would always be told is if you don't want to get married because you've seen unsuccessful marriages then you haven't met the right person just wait till you meet the right person and you have that click and then you'll want to get married and marriage in Islam becomes mandatory if you know that by not being married you will fall into sin a very interesting question Ali or any of the Imams marry non-sheer wives did they have any non-sheer wives well I think Imam Al-Hassan Alayhi Salam Imam Al-Baqir Alayhi Salam Imam Al-Jawad Alayhi Salam one may argue that amongst their wives there were people whose theology would not necessarily be seen as you know Shi'a'i in that early period Imam Al-Hassan and Imam Al-Jawad Imam Al-Jawad marries Al-Ma'moun's daughter so I think that's pretty obvious Imam Al-Hassan marries Joa'da the daughter of Al-Ash'af bin Qais I don't think Al-Ash'af or his son Muhammad I don't think these could be classified as Shi'a'i Imams who believed in Nassan, Asma and and Imam Al-Baqir Al-Baqir certainly had a wife who I remember had insulted Imam Ali Alayhi Salam on one occasion and that some argue led to a separation so yeah, not necessarily all of them yeah Controversial question I said now what is the sage's opinion in regards to those who cannot get married because they're not a virgin anymore I think that's ridiculous in all honesty you find the right person you want to marry them and just because someone is not a virgin that shouldn't be something that gets in your way at the end people have made decisions in their life people change, people move on in some cases people haven't done anything wrong in some cases they may be divorced and they want to move on and even if they have done something that is wrong the door of repentance never closes so for someone to turn around and say a girl has to be a virgin for me to marry her nah, not at all a person you keep the door open like you want Allah to keep the door open for you to both progress in life and I think there are many more important things than that final thought for anyone please well I just hope that we can reflect on the simplicity and the class of the marriage of Imam Ali Al-Baqir and I think every day any of you face difficulties in your marriages all those of you haven't got married just pray to Allah Almighty and say let me feel a bit of what Imam Ali Al-Baqir felt for Fatima and I think the way I say that is very important because the wordings that he uses when he says that half of me departed from this world my nights are full of sorrow when he talks about a flower came from heaven went to heaven left its fragrance in my mind these types of words really highlight an emotive aspect of Imam Ali Al-Baqir that I hope we can all especially as men build for our wives thank you very much Sayyidna thank you to all of yous for joining us inshallah we'll be back next week I'll be joining you inshallah next week again until then