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
The Appreciation of Women in Islam: Bibi Fatima Az Zahra (sa)
A Study Grounded in Tafsir al-Mizan
Islam establishes women’s spiritual equality not through cultural concession but through explicit divine proclamation. Surah Al-Ahzab (33:35) enumerates identical virtues for men and women—faith, obedience, truthfulness, patience—declaring: “for them Allah has prepared forgiveness and a great reward.” In Tafsir al-Mizan (vol. 16, pp. 312–320), Allamah Tabataba’i
interprets this deliberate parallelism as “conclusive proof” that nobility (karamah) depends exclusively on taqwa (God-consciousness), transcending gender entirely. He further demonstrates through Qur’an-by-Qur’an methodology that spiritual equality flows directly into jurisprudential autonomy: Surah An-Nisa (4:7, 4:11) grants women full legal personhood, autonomous inheritance rights, and economic independence—a “fundamental revolution” in pre-Islamic Arabia where women lacked juridical standing.
Bibi Fatima and Divine Infallibility
Bibi Fatima (as) is encompassed in the Verse of Purification (Surah Al-Ahzab 33:33): “Indeed Allah desires to repel all impurity from you, O People of the Household, and purify you with a thorough purification.” Tabataba’i interprets this not as moral exhortation but as divine bestowal of ‘ismah—metaphysical infallibility through Allah’s absolute grace (lutf ilahi). The verse’s grammatical inclusion of the masculine plural ensures Fatima’s protection from sin, error, and impurity by divine decree, positioning her alongside the Prophet and Imams as a conduit of divine truth. This connects to Surah Al-Kawthar (108:1–3), where the Prophet’s “abundance” encompasses the spiritual legacy transmitted through Fatima’s progeny, the Imams, elevating motherhood to soteriological significance.
The Prophet’s unprecedented reverence for Fatima—rising to greet her, kissing her hand, declaring “She is the leader of the women of Paradise”—shattered cultural norms. In an era marked by female infanticide, his conduct established a prophetic mandate: daughters are bearers of divine mercy, sources of paternal honor rather than shame.
Maternal Sanctity and Justice
Islam accords mothers singular reverence. Surah Luqman (31:14) invokes “weakness upon weakness” (wahnan ‘ala wahn), which Tabatabai analyzes (vol. 15, pp. 428–442) as layered tribulations—gestation’s frailty, childbirth’s agony, nursing’s exhaustion. This unparalleled maternal endurance forms the sacred foundation of her supreme spiritual rank. As such, it is as
if the Quran is establishing that motherhood itself becomes a spiritual discipline yielding proximity to Allah.
Bibi Fatima exemplified this sanctity: sustaining her household through tireless labor while nurturing Imams Hasan and Hussain and Bibi Zainab as Islamic luminaries. Yet she was no passive domestic figure. Her Fadak Sermon—eloquently defending her inheritance before the caliphate through Qur’anic argumentation and logical precision—demonstrated that feminine excellence encompasses intellectual acuity, rhetorical power, and moral courage. Allamah Tabatabai emphasizes (vol. 4, pp. 160–170) that Islamic jurisprudence grants women full rights to advocate for justice (‘adalah), to testify, and to confront injustice. Women are active agents in pursuing truth, not passive recipients of justice administered by others.
Final Thoughts
Bibi Fatima az-Zahra (as) embodies Islamic femininity as a synthesis: spiritual equality rooted in taqwa; maternal transcendence transmitting divine guidance; intellectual and moral agency defending justice; and infallibility positioning her as divine truth’s conduit. Her life refutes false dichotomies—women need not choose between spiritual depth and worldly engagement, between honoring family and defending justice, between tradition and courageous confrontation of oppression.
The Qur’an’s teachings remain living principles: Islam offers both pre-Islamic patriarchy’s rejection and modern feminism’s reductions a third path—the integration of traditional roles with intellectual authority, spiritual purity with moral courage. In BIbi Fatima’s example lies Islam’s enduring answer to questions of gender, justice, and human dignity: excellence belongs to the righteous (al-muttaqin), regardless of gender, and the path to Allah remains equally open to all.
May we have the ability to receive the Divine Mercy and extend it to others!
With Duas,
Dr. Kirmani