Sayyidah Fatimah (sa) : The Purest of the Pure

Someone says that the fact that Sayyidah Zahra (sa) did not menstruate is considered a health problem which needed treatment, or at least it was a deficiency in her womanhood or in her personality as a woman, and it cannot be counted among her esteems or merits, and so is the case with her postpartum. He even labels such a condition as “Nonsense”

Our reply :

FIRST: It may happen to some women, though rarely, that one does not bleed while delivering, or she may bleed a little, and this is not seen as a deficiency in her womanhood or personality as a woman. As regarding Sayyidah Zahra (sa) having no menstruation, we say that slipping out of the straits of nature is not regarded as a deficiency. Rather, it is an esteem for her and a trait just like that bestowed on Mary (Maryam) (sa) who was pregnant by Jesus ع although no man had ever touched her before, and like the wife of Abraham ع who became pregnant at a very advanced age, and like the wife of Zacharias (Zakariyya) ع who also became pregnant although she was sterile. There are many such super natural esteems and blessings. The fact that Sayyidah Zahra (sa) was above menstruation points out to her lofty status, to her uniqueness and distinction from all others since menstruation is a discomfort as described by the One Who has all the Glory in the Holy Quran, Surah Baqrah, verse 222

"They ask you about menstruation. Say: It is a discomfort; therefore, stay away from women during menstrual discharge and do not go near them unil they have become clean"

Such a continuous condition, which neither ablution nor ghusul nor tayammum can remove till it is no more, was removed by Allah, Glory is His, from the Head of the Women of Mankind whom He purified from all filth with a perfect purification. She was chosen by Allah, Glory to Him, for His favour and esteem without in any way altering her feminine nature. Allah, the most Exalted One, is the One Who causes all causation, the omni-Potent Who can override the law of cause and causation not by “violating” it or annihilating it but through the law of causation itself. He, the most Exalted One, is the One Who brings about the miracles of His prophets through causes for them, the knowledge of which is with Him, and only with Him, and humans are not familiar with it, nor is it well known to them. This is them meaning of the super-natural which they discuss in the subject of miracles and super natural phenomena. This may be more clear than needing additional explanations, proofs or evidences.

SECOND: Labelling the exemption of Sayyidah Zahra (sa) from menstruation and postpartum as “Nonsense” is totally unacceptable from one who follows the statements of the Prophet ﷺ and the Purified Imams ع because everything articulated by the Prophet ﷺ and by the Purified Imams ع can never be nonsense, nor can it be useless knowledge for those who know it. Such an exemption has been narrated by Shias and Sunnis who cite the Messenger of Allah ﷺ and the Purified Imams ع in numerous texts which are so many, they reach the degree of consecutive reporting (Mutawaatir). They all prove that Allah, Glory and Exaltation are His, exempted Sayyidah Zahra (sa) from going through menstruation or postpartum. Among such narrations are the following :

1. The Prophet ﷺ has said : "Fatima is called ‘Al-Batul’ because she was exempted from menstruation and postpartum"

Yanabi al-Mawaddah, pg 260

Ihqaq al-Haqq (in the Appendices section), v 10, pg 25, where it is quoted from the previous reference

Mawaddat al-Qurba, pg 103

2. The Prophet ﷺ has said : "My daughter, Fatima, is a huri who never menstruated nor went through postpartum"

Thakha’ir al-Uqba, pg 26

Sharh Bahjat al-Mahafil, v 2, pg 138

Refer to v 11, p. 54 of 'Awalim al Ulum and in one of its footnotes citing v 12, pg 331 of Tarikh Baghdad

Kanz al-Ummal, v 12, pg 109

Also Refer also to Is`af al-Raghibin as cited in a footnote on ph 173 of Nur al-Absar

3. Shaykh Saduq, through his own Isnad, has cited Umar ibn Ali quoting his father saying that the Prophet ﷺ was asked : "What is 'Batul' ? We have heard you, O Messenger of Allah ﷺ , saying that Maryam (sa) is Batul and Fatima (sa) is Batul" He ﷺ replied : "Batul بتول is a woman who never menstruates, for it is contemptible for the daughters of prophets to menstruate"

Maani al-Akhbar, pg 64

Manaqib al Abu Talib, v 3, pg 330, citing Abu Salih, the caller to prayers, in Al-Arbaeen

Taj al-Mawalid, pg 20

Kashf al-Ghumma, v 2, pg 90

Bihar al-Anwar, v 43, pgs 15-16; also refer to v 78, pg 112

Yanabi al-Mawaddah, pg 260

Mustadrak al-Wasail, v 2, pg 37

Ilal al-Sharai, v 1, pg 181

Musbah al-Anwar, pg 223

Al-Kafami, Musbah, pg 659

Rawdat al-Waizin, pg 149

Dalail al-Imamah, pg 55

Al-Rawda al-Fayha’ fi Tarikh al-Nisa, pg 252

Habib al-Siyar, v 1, pg 433

Diya al-Alamin (manuscript), v 2, pg 7

Ihqaq al-Haqq, v 10, pgs 25, 310 and v 19, pg 11

Tarikh al-Awalim, v 11, pg 153

4. Al-Qattan, quoting al-Sukkari quoting al-Jawahiri quoting al-Abbas ibn Bakar from Abdullah ibn al-Muthanna from his uncle Thumamah ibn Abdullah from Anas ibn Malik who quotes his mother saying that :

"Fatima never saw any blood in any menstruation, nor did she undergo any postpartum"

Shaykh Saduq in his Amali, pg 154

Bihar al-Anwar, v 43, pg 21

Tarikh al-Awalim, v 1, pg 153

5. Imam Abu Jafar ع has cited his forefathers saying that She (sa) was called “Al-Tahira” (the pure one) for many reasons one of which is that she never underwent any menstruation or postpartum

Bihar al-Anwar, v 43, pg 19 citing Musbah al-Anwar

Awalim al-Ulum, v 11, pg 66

6. Imam Jafer Sadiq ع has said : "Do you know what the meaning of ‘Fatima’ is ? She was weaned from evil, and it is said that she is named so because she was weaned from menstruation"

Manaqib al Abu Talib, v 3, pg 330

Bihar al-Anwar, v 43, pg 16

7. The Prophet ﷺ said once to Aisha, "O Humayra’ ! Fatima is not like other women; she does not suffer from (green) sickness like they do"

Mujma al-Zawaid citing al-Tabrani, v 9, pg 202

I`lam al-Wara, pg 148

Miraat al-Uqul, v 5, pg 345

Al-Tara’if, pg 111

Al-Awalim (in a section about the biography of Sayyidah-Zahra (sa) ), pg 64

Diya al-Alamin (manuscript), v 2, pg 7

8. Abu Abdullah al-Sadiq ع is quoted as having said : "Allah forbade Ali ع from taking another wife as long as Fatima (sa) was alive because she was purified and never menstruated"

Al-Khawarizmi, Maqtal al-Husayn, v 1, pg 64

Manaqib al Abu Talib, v 3, pg 330

Bihar al-Anwar, v 43, pgs 16, 153

Shaykh Tusi’s Amali, v 1, pg 42

Mustadrak al-Wasail, v 2, p g 42

Al-Tahthib, v 7, pg 475

Bisharat al-Mustafa, pg 306

Awalim al-Ulum, v 11, pg 66 & 387

Diya al-Alamin (manuscript), v 2, pg 7

9. The author of Bihar al-Anwar, Shaykh al-Islam Allamah al-Majlisi II, has spoken very well about this issue :

Aisha is quoted as having said: “Whenever Fatima (sa) came along, her gait was similar to that of the Messenger of Allah ﷺ , and she never menstruated because she was created from the apple of Paradise”

Akhbar al-Duwal, pg 87 (Baghdad edition) according to the contents of the Appendices of Ihqaq al-Haqq, v 10, pg 244

Awalim al-Ulum, v 11, pg 60

10. The author of Dala’il al-Imamah, through his own Isnad going back to Asma daughter of Umays, cites the latter saying: "I have been around Fatima (sa) and she had given birth to some of her children. The Messenger of Allah ﷺ said to me, ‘O Asma ! Fatima (sa) was created as a human huri"

Dalail al-Imamah, pgs 53, 55

Bihar al-Anwar, v 78, pg 112

Kashf al-Ghumma, v 43, pg 7

11. Imam Ali ع is quoted as having said that the Messenger of Allah ﷺ said to him that Fatima (sa) was created as a huri in human form, and that the daughters of prophets do not menstruate''

Dalail al-Imamah, pg 52

Bihar al-Anwar, v 78, pg 112

Mustadrak al-Wasail, v 2, pg 37

12. In a tradition from Imam Abu Jafar ع he said: "So He called her Fatima (sa). Then He said, ‘I have weaned you with knowledge and weaned you from menstruation" Then Imam Abu Jafar ع continued to say, “By Allah ! Allah, the most Exalted and Sublime, weaned her with knowledge and from menstruation according to His covenant”

Bihar al-Anwar, v 43, p. 13 citing Misbah al-Anwar

Kashf al-Ghumma, v 2, pg 89

Ilal al-Sharai, pg 179

Awalim al-Ulum, v 11, pg 55 and in its footnote are the following references: Al-Kafi, v 1, pg 46

Al-Muhtadir, pgs 132, 138

Al-Mukhtasar, pgs 172, 218

Al-Majlisi I described this tradition as STRONG

(Refer : Rawdat al-Muttaqin, v 5, pg 439)

13. Shaykh Saduq, may Allah have mercy on him, has cited his father quoting Sa'd from Ibn Isa from Ali ibn al-Hakam from Abu Jameela from Imam Abu Jafar ع saying: "Daughters of the Prophets, peace and blessings of Allah be on them, do not menstruate, for menstruation is a penalty"

Ilal al-Sharai, v 1, pg 290

Bihar al-Anwar, v 43, pg 25 and v 12, pg 107 and v 81, pg 81

Awalim al-Ulum, v 11, pg 153

Mustadrak al-Wasail, v 2, pg 38

14. Abu Abdullah ع is quoted as having said: "Daughters of the prophets do not menstruate"

Al-Kharaij wal Jaraih, v 2, pg 527

15. Al-Sayyuti has said: “One of the characteristics of Fatima (sa) is that she never menstruated"

Ihqaq al-Haqq (Appendices), v 10, pg 309 from al-Sayyuti’s Al-Sharif al-Mu’abbad

Awalim al-Ulum, v 17, pg 63

16. Al-Sabban has said: “She was called 'Al-Zahra', which means The Purified One, because she never bled in a menstruation nor during childbirth”

Refer to Is'af al-Raghibin (as appears in a footnote in Nur al-Absar), pg 172, which is attributed to al-Muhibb al-Tabari and to the Hanafi author of Al-Fatawa al-Zahariyya

17. The Prophet ﷺ is cited in a tradition as saying: “Fatima was called Batul because she was exempted from women’s ordinoory monthly periods”

Ihqaq al-Haqq, v 10, pg 25 from Al-Manaqib al-Murtadawiyya, pg 78

Awalim al-Ulum, v 11, pg 64

18. Asma daughter of Umays has said: “I acted as the midwife for Fatima (sa) and I never noticed any bleeding, so I said, ‘O Messenger of Allah ﷺ ! I never noticed any bleeding in Fatima during a menstruation or postpartum” The Messenger of Allah ﷺ said to her: “Have you not come to know that my daughter is pure and purified and she undergoes no bleeding during any menstruation or childbirth ? ”

Al-Awalim (in the biography of Sayyidah Zahra (sa) ), pgs 66, 153 from Sahifat al-Rida ع and Thakha’ir al-Uqba, pg 44

Ithaf al-Sa’il, pg 90

Tarikh al-Khamis, v 1, pg 417

Nuzhat al-Majalis, v 2, pg 183

Diya al-Alamin (manuscript), v 2, pg 7

19. The author of 'Umdat al-Akhbar' has said: Al-Hassan son of Ali ع was born in the middle of the month of Ramadan. His mother conceived Al-Husayn ع after having given birth to Al-Hassan ع because Fatima (sa) never underwent any menstruation or postpartum”

Al-Awalim (in the biography of Sayyidah Zahra (sa) ), pgs 66, from Umdat al-Akhbar, pg 349

20. In the Sihah books, Ali ibn Jafar quotes his brother Abul-Hassan ع saying: “Fatima is a truthful woman, a Witness, and the daughters of prophets do not menstruate”

Rawdat al-Muttaqin, v 5, pg 342

Al-Kafi, v 1, pg 458

21. Anas ibn Malik quotes Umm Salamah wife of Abu Talhah al-Ansari as saying that she never saw Fatima (sa) suffering from bleeding during menstruation or childbirth, that she was created of the water of Paradise, and that when the Messenger of Allah ﷺ went during his Isra journey and entered Paradise, he ate of the fruit of Paradise and drank of its water. He also narrated the same from the Prophet ﷺ

I`lam al-Wara, pg 148

22. Ahlulbayth ع are also quoted as having said that the way with the mothers of all the Imams ع is the same like that with Fatima (sa) menstruation was removed from them

Taj al-Mawalid, pg 20, where it is included among a sect of precious letters and is published by Intisharat Baseerti, Qum, Iran

23. It is agreed on that the Prophet ﷺ is quoted as having said: “Fatima is not like any of you; she never sees any bleeding during menstruation or childbirth, like a huri”

Shaykh Saduq has narrated this tradition in his Faqah book in a chapter about taking a bath following menstruation in “Kitab al-Tahara” (the book of purification)