DR. KIRMANI’S CORNER
This section is developed through the weekly reflections of Dr. Sayed Shabbir Kirmani, our respected resident scholar. Each week, Dr. Kirmani will share his thoughts on faith, current affairs, and community matters, offering valuable insights on how Islamic teachings relate to both global and local events.
In the Name of Allah, the Most Compassionate, the Most Merciful
Bibi Fatima and the Mercy of the Qur’an:
A Living Rahmah
When the Qur’an announces, “My mercy embraces all things” (7:156), we see in Bibi Fatima (sa) that boundless mercy is made manifest: a woman who fed the hungry while famished, who spoke truth to power while grieving, and who carried the burdens of a nation yet never allowed her heart to harden.
This divine mercy was first nurtured in the Prophet’s house. He called her Umm Abīhā – “the mother of her father.” This was not mere poetry; it was a description of her role. She was the young daughter who ran to him with water and a cloth when he returned from Ṭā’if, blood crusted on his sandals. She looked after the Messenger through boycott, bereavement, and betrayal.
Her home became the laboratory for this compassion. The story is the Quran enshrines: three nights of fasting, and each night, the family’s last morsel of food given away – to the poor, the orphan, and the captive. This quiet, selfless act prompted the revelation of Sūrat al-Insān: “They feed, for the love of Him… ‘We feed you only for the sake of Allah. We desire from you
no payment, nor thanks’” (76:8-9).
But this profound tenderness was never a weakness. After the Prophet’s passing, when her inheritance of Fadak was seized, Fatima (sa) demonstrated that mercy and justice are two sides of the same coin. She walked into the mosque, veiled and dignified, and delivered her famous sermon. She did not scream for revenge; she illuminated the truth, weaving Qur’anic verses into a net to catch a community whose pillars were beginning to slip. It was mercy speaking truth to power, demanding a return not just to her rights, but to the covenant of God.
This is her legacy: the dual mirror of intimacy and eternity. We see the daughter wiping dust from prophetic feet, and we see the leader holding the ummah to account. Her Rahmah is not a static memory; it is mercy still walking. It beats in the pulse of every Muharram majlis for her son, Husayn (as). It is whispered in the lines of Duʿā’ Kumayl. She is the proof that mercy is not passivity; it is creation’s most unstoppable force. Tyrants require armies, Bibi Fatima (sa) required only truth.
May we have the ability to receive the Divine Mercy and extend it to others!
With Duas,
Dr. Kirmani