A Play on the life of Bibi Fatima (as) after the death of the Prophet (saw)
Narrator: The sky of Madina is grieving for the daughter of the Prophet. The stars that lit the sky at the time of her father have lost their twinkle. The inhabitants of the earth and skies are amazed at how no one understood all the beauty that surrounded them and how time passed and no one answered her call for help.
Today a holy household has lost a mother, a wife. But she was not only a mother or a wife; she was a part of the Holy Prophet, about whom the best of creation has said: whoever troubles her has troubled me. Woe be onto this two faced ummah! She rose from the city of the Prophet towards the Prophet and the reason behind her smile is finally realized in her Heavenly meeting. Peace and Blessings be upon you O daughter of the prophet of Islam.
SCENE 1
Summary: Umar and a few of him companions come to the house of Hazrat Zahra and ask for Imam Ali to come out. The door is burnt down and Imam Ali is taken to the mosque and Hazrat Zahra is left unconscious.
Narrator: Fatima, Mother of her father, Lord of the women of the worlds, the one who the Prophet would give his place to and rise in respect to, and said: who angers her angers me, who makes her happy makes me happy, he would take permission before entering her house and giving salaam to the ahlul bait at her door. So high was her status that even the Angel of Death took permission to enter her home.
The world of Islam had darkened under the clouds of self desires and selfishness of a few, the truth was being suffocated and trampled upon, the sign posts to salvation that the Prophet had painstakingly put up had been changed and now pointed to destruction. And now it was Fatima who had to remind people of their covenant to the Prophet on the day of Gadir and defend the Imam of her time because it was her Islam was in need of at that moment, her as the daughter of the Prophet whom they could not raise a sword against.
She had been standing behind this very door, leaning against this very wall, when she had opened the door to the tearful eyes of Ali, opened the door upon a man who had lost his brother (the Holy Prophet (s.a.w.)...
She had been standing behind this very door, leaning against this very wall, when she had heard the neighbour saying loudly – so she would hear: Ali take her far from the city, her wailing does not let us sleep..
She had been standing behind this very door, leaning against this very wall, when she had said to Bilal who stood behind it silent and grieving: recite the Azan again, I miss hearing it...
She had been standing behind this very door, leaning against this very wall, and had opened the door to Ali who had come home to retire for many long years...
She had been standing behind this very door, leaning against this very wall, and had said: I won't let you take him...
She had been standing behind this very door, leaning against this very wall, that...
Umar and a few of his companions go the door of Hazrat Zahra. The door is knocked on.
Fizza: Who knocks at the door?
Umar: Tell Ali to come out.
Umars companion shouts: Open the door and hand Ali over.
H Zahra: Do you not fear God that you are banging on the door of the daughter of the Prophet this way?
Umar: No, for the protection of Islam, if need be we will even burn down the house.
H Zahra: Will you burn down the house even if I am within it?
Umar: Yes even if you are behind the door.
The door is burnt down and pushed onto H Zahra. Imam Ali is tied with a rope and dragged away. H Zahra tries to stop them by holding on to Imam Ali and is hit by one of umars friends.
H Zahra: Oh Fizza come help me, I swear to God they have killed my child.
Narrator: Leaving Hazrate Zahra unconscious and uncaring of her state, the usurpers forcibly take the Imam to the mosque...
They take Imam Ali to the masjid and force him to give allegiance.
Meanwhile H Zahra regains consciousness and says : Fizza where is Amirul Mumineen.
Fizza: My Lady they have taken Amirul Mumineen to the mosque.
SCENE 2
Narrator: The daughter of the Prophet, despite her pain, analyzes the situation and realizing her need to help the Wali of God and Imam of the time, hurries to the mosque along with Hasanain to defend the rights of her Mawla. She enters the mosque to find Amiral Momineen threatened to death and forced to give allegiance...
H Zahra: Do you want to take the blessing of a father away from my children? And have me sit in mourning for a husband? I swear by God if it wasn't unbecoming I would have disheveled my hair and complained to Allah of your injustice.
I Ali: Salman go and console the daughter of the Prophet.
Salman: Oh daughter of the prophet of the Merciful God, who has sent your father as a messenger of love and mercy for the world, return home.
H. Zahra: Salman do you not see they want to martyr Amirul Mumineen? Let me go to the grave of my father to call out to my Lord and curse these people.
Salman: I am afraid Medina will collapse if you do so. Amirul Mumineen has sent me to ask you not to carry out that which you have decided upon and to return home.
H Zahra: Because amirul mumineen has asked me to do so, I shall return. May my soul and myself be sacrificed for you O Abal Hassan. I am with you in good times and I am with you in bad.
SCENE 3
Summary: Silent scene. On the 7th day after the death of the holy prophet, H Zahra goes to his grave to grieve and complain. (Play subat alaiya.)
Narrator: On the seventh day after the death of the Holy prophet, Hazrate Zahra goes to the grave of her father. Fizza says that her grief for her father increased day by day and her tears became more intense. On the seventh day of his death her cries of pain were deeper and more painful and so she went towards the grave of the Prophet and her cry of pain brought tears to the eyes of the people. The women turned off the lamps so their faces would be hidden and all proceeded towards the grave of the Prophet and helped her in her grief...
SCENE 4
Summary: Silent Scene. Hazrat Zahra goes with Imam Ali and Hassanain to knock on the doors of the Ansar
Narrator: After the death of the Holy Prophet, at nights Hazrate Zahra would take Imam Hassan and Hussein and along with Imam Ali would go to the house of the Muhajirin and Ansar to remind them of their allegiance on the day of Gadir, in order to gather companions for the Imam for she had heard from Imam Ali that if I had 40 companions I would not sit at home... But they either did not open the door or would promise their loyalty and break their word. For several nights she continued this but was able to gather only four companions...
Those people were so deeply asleep that not even the words of the lady of light could awaken their deadened hearts:
SCENE 5
Summary: Hazrat Zahra goes to the mosque to demand her right of Fadak
Narrator: Ten days after the death of the Prophet, Fadak, the garden that had been gifted to Fatima by the Prophet, was usurped. On the suggestion of Amiral Mumineen Fatima (a.s.) goes to demand her rights. (The order for the return of Fadak is given to Hazrate Zahra. However on her way back from the mosque she is met by an evil companion and is asked by him to return the order. On her refusal he slaps the daughter of the Prophet and forcibly takes it from her, tearing it to pieces.)
Once again Bibi Fatima (a.s.) goes to the mosque to ask for her rights. People from all over Madina gather in the mosque to hear her words.
Praise to Allah (Arabic)
Narrator: After praising Allah, Hazrate Zahra talks about the wisdom and secrets behind the orders of Allah to pray fast, perform hajj, pay the zakat, take part in jihad, etc... then she introduces herself and talks about Prophethood and the pains taken to preach the message and guide the Muslims and about the efforts of Imam Ali in order to spread the message...
H. Zahra: O people, know that I am Fatimah, my father is Muhammad [SWS ]; what I say repeatedly is the same I began with, and I do not say what is wrong, and I do not transgress, nor do I say anything wrong; the Holy Prophet, my father, fulfilled his Mission by conveying the divine Message; whenever Satan showed his horns, or whenever the dragon of the polytheists opened its mouth, the Prophet hurled his brother (Imam Ali a.s.) against it, who had never relented until he had trampled under his feet their nose and ears, and he put out the fire with his sword; he strove for the sake of Allah (meaning Imam Ali a.s.) and he struggled for the sake of and cause of Allah; he was very near to the messenger of Allah, and he was a leader amongst those who loved Allah; he was always ready and prepared for the struggle, doing his best; he was advised well and he sought and strove to the utmost, while you were, during all this time, living a life of ease and comfort, in the state of security and pleasure, awaiting that the circle of time turns against us, and you were keenly listening to the news, while you held back from the conflict, and you were fleeing from the battles;
Satan popped up his head from his hiding place, he found that you were answering his invitation warmly, and you were responding to his deceptions quickly;, and he branded you and found you easy to anger (against us); and so you branded the camels that were not yours, and you came to drink from a place which was not meant to be yours; all this when the time of the Pledge was still very recent, the split in the wound (the death of the Prophet) was still wide and the wound had not healed, and the Holy Prophet had not yet been interred in his grave (still un-buried); you made an excuse that you were afraid of disturbances and sedition, but Lo! You have fallen into disturbance and sedition
you have responded to the calling and hailing of Satan, who misled you, in order to extinguish the light of clear religion, and to suppress the traditions of the true Prophet; we shall endure, patiently, the cuts of your daggers and swords, and now you assert that we have no inheritance;
O Muslims! Will I be overcome and denied my inheritance? (address abu bakr) Is it in the Book of Allah that you inherit from your father and I do not inherit from my father? You have come out with a very strange and evil idea; Have you, intentionally, discarded the Book of Allah and left it behind your backs, when the Holy Book says "Sulaiman inherited from Dawood", yet, in the story of Zakariya, when he said, "Therefore, grant to me, by your grace, O Lord, a successor who will inherit me and inherit from the family of Yaqoob", and while the Book states, "And the people related by blood relations to one another are first and foremost for one another (have a priority)
Has Allah chosen for you in the verse of the Holy Qur'an and excluded my father from it? Or are you more knowledgeable in regard to the particularities and generalities of the Holy Qur'an than my own father and my cousin [Imam Ali a.s.]? Then you can now hold this camel [Caliphate] that has been ready and take it away; it will meet you again on the Day of Resurrection, what a Just Judge Allah is! And what a good religious leader Muhammad [SWS] is! And the appointed Day of Resurrection! And the hour (of Judgement), when the false ones will be losers and will not avail when you feel remorseful!
Abu Bakr: O daughter of the Messenger of Allah! you are the best of all women, and the daughter of the best of all the Prophets; you are truthful and rightful in all your statements, and you are foremost in the abundance of your wisdom and brain; you will never be turned away from what is yours by your right, and you will not be barred from the truth that you have spoken. By Allah, I have taken no step against the opinion of the Holy Prophet of Allah, and I have not acted except by his permission? (What a lie! He disobeyed Allah and his Messenger) and the one who is being sent as pioneer shall not lie to his people, and I make Allah my witness, and He is the most sufficient of all the witnesses. I heard the Prophet state: "We group of Prophets have no-one who would inherit from us either gold or silver or house or pasture; only what is inherited is wisdom, knowledge and Prophethood, and whatever is left behind by us, in the forms of any source of nourishment, is for the one ruling the affairs of the Muslims; it is for him to decide and judge in its regard." what is yours, by your excellence, shall not be denied, and no-one can humiliate your dear origin or your branches or your roots; your decision and your order will be enforced in whatever is in my hands; would you wish that I oppose, in this matter, your father, the Praise of Allah be upon him and his household?
Fatimah: Subhanallah! Praise be to Allah! The Messenger of Allah never turned away from the Book of Allah , and neither was he ever opposed to the Commandments mentioned in the Holy Qur'an, have you all combined to betray him by ascribing to him what is untrue and deceptive? And all this, after his death, is similar to what was plotted against him during his lifetime; this Book of Allah is the most just of all judges and let it be judging between me and you. it is your own selves which have tempted you in this matter; therefore, patience and endurance is well and good, and Allah is my best Helper.
AbuBakr: Allah has spoken truthfully and so has His Messenger; also, the Prophet's daughter has also spoken justly
Fatima (a.s.):'The Holy Qur'an, the law of Allah is the judge between you and me';
AbuBakr: 'These Muslims are the judge between you and me?!
Bibi Fatima (a.s.) - turns to the people, addressing them: O people! You have hastened to listen to the false statements; you are ignoring an action that is ugly to do and will lead to losses; do you not study the Holy Qur'an in depth, or is that your hearts are sealed off? No! But what evil actions you have performed have darkened your hearts, by denying and refusing orders of Allah and His Messenger who appointed Imam Ali ( a.s.) the successor and leader of the Muslims after Mohammed (SAWS), but they became polytheist and have deprived you of hearing and seeing well; when the veil will be removed from before you, and what losses are beyond it will become evident, and from Allah it will be revealed what you had not taken into account, and there it is where those who follow falsehood will surely be losers.
SCENE 6
Summary: Last will of Hazrat Zahra to Imam Ali
Narrator: The life of Bibi nears an end and the last hours of her life quickly pass by. The time has come for Bibi to relate all that is in her heart to her beloved Ali and speak of her will to him... and she tells him the time to leave and say good bye has come...
Imam Ali :"Instruct me to do anything you wish, daughter of Allah's Messenger."
Ali (a.s.) then asks everyone to leave the house and sits next to her.
Fatima: "Cousin, you are not accustomed to me being a False-teller, undevoted, or have I disobeyed you since I have become your companion?"
Ali: "Allah forbid!! You are more knowing of Allah, more devoted, more pious, and more honorable and more fearing of Allah than (to give me a reason) to reprimand you for disobeying me. Surely it is very painful for me to be separated from you and to lose you; but it is an inevitable destination. By Allah, you have renewed the sorrow I have just encountered with the death of Allah's Messenger; surely your death and departure will be a great calamity, but 'to Allah do we belong, and to Him shall we return.' What a painful, bitter and sad calamity. Surely this is a calamity for which there is not consolement, and a disaster for which there is no compensation."
Then they both cry and Imam Ali (A) embraces her head.
Ali: "Instruct me to do anything you wish; you certainly will find me devoted and I will execute everything that you command me to do. I shall also put your matters over mine."
Hazrat Zahra: "I ask you not to let anyone who did injustice to me to witness my funeral, for they certainly are enemies of mine, and the enemy of Allah's Messenger. Also don't give them the chance to pray over me, nor to any of their followers. Bury me at night when eyes are rested and sight is put to sleep." O Ali don't cry. My tears are for you, for you are the one who has been most wronged in the world. Whatever I did was to defend your usurped rights. I knew I would leave soon because my father had made me certain of that but I knew what was to happen to you after me and this has gravely distressed me, so don't cry Ali. This is the beginning of my comfort and the start of your Musibat. I leave you and our children in the care of Allah swt, oh Ali.
SCENE 7
Summary: Imam Hassan and Imam Hussain are crying over their mothers body, Asma tells them to go and inform their father at the mosque. As soon as Imam Ali (A) heard their words, he fell unconscious. When he regained consciousness...
Narrator: The sun of Madina is in the state of ascension from the city of cruelty and pain and the moment that the Prophet had promised of drew closer and closer. Hazrate Zahra asks Asma to leave her alone for a while then to call out to her. If she received no answer then she had passed away, then to inform Imam Ali and her children.
Asma does as asked, upon receiving no reply to her calls she enters the room of her Lady and falls, crying upon her.
Hasanain enter the house and ask the reason of their mother being asleep at that hour, hearing the news of her death they fall weeping beside her.
Asma asks them to go to the mosque and inform their father. Hearing their words Imam falls unconscious, upon regaining consciousness he says:
Imam Ali: "Who will console me now, daughter of Muhammad? You used to console me, so who will take your place now?"
Together they proceed toward the house. The scene closes showing them crying over the body of Hazrat Zahra.
Narrator: And so ended the trials and grief of Fatima. And who has truly perceived the value of this jewel and understood her true status?
Have you ever thought that we too can be Fizzas for Fatima? Yes we can never be Fatima but if we look around us we will see that there are many Fizzas surrounding us...
If we haven't thought about it till now, today and now, is a good time to think where we are and how we too can drink from this pure spring. That great Lady put her life in danger to protect and defend the Imam of her time, lets take a look at our time... Do we not hear, the Hussain of our time still crying out to us.