WHY WE CHOOSE THIS TOPIC ?




The aim of this blog is to remove whatever doubts that may have entered some people’s minds regarding denial of any violence against Hazrat Fatima Zahra (s.a.) at her home, or against Hazrat Ali (a.s.) at the house of Janabe Fatima Zahra(s.a.).
Authentic references have been provided in the fond hope of a definitive conclusion and the eradication of all doubts Inshallah.



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Tuesday, February 11, 2014

OBJECTIONS AGAINST HAZRAT FATEMAH ZAHRA (SA) AND THEIR REPLIES - OBJECTION NO 12

Objection 12: Houses of Mecca and Medina were not having doors 

Of all the doubts, which are spread by Wahabism and regretfully by some people who do not have the necessary knowledge of history it is repeated that originally during the early period of Islam, houses in Mecca and Medina did not have wooden doors like today and people used only curtains or mats in order to screen the house from strangers and unrelated persons. Some of them, in order to prove their claim, use reasoning through traditional reports:
“It is narrated from Ali (r) that he said: And we are Ahle Bayt of Muhammad. Our houses neither have roof nor door…”[1]
So they conclude: How it is possible for Fatima to come between the door and the wall? Thus, the issue of burning of the door of Fatima and crushing her between the wall and the half-burnt door is false.

By study of the reports present in books of Shia and Sunni it can be concluded that during the period of the Messenger of Allah (s) houses in Medina were having wooden doors.
To prove the point, it is possible to reason through numerous evidences and those interested in details may refer to detailed books on this subject.[2]

While numerous verses of the Holy Quran have clarified the existence of doors for houses, how can we deny the existence of doors in the early period of Islam? For example the following verse:

وَلَيْسَ الْبِرُّ بِأَنْ تَأْتُوا الْبُيُوتَ مِنْ ظُهُورِهَا وَلَٰكِنَّ الْبِرَّ مَنِ اتَّقَىٰ وَأْتُوا الْبُيُوتَ مِنْ أَبْوَابِهَا
“…and it is not righteousness that you should enter the houses at their backs, but righteousness is this that one should guard (against evil); and go into the houses by their doors.” (Surah Baqarah 2:189)

In the above verse, the existence of door in the house is clarified.


Or the following verse of the Holy Quran, in which it says:
مِنْ بُيُوتِكُمْ أَوْ بُيُوتِ آبَائِكُمْأَوْ مَا مَلَكْتُمْ مَفَاتِحَهُ أَوْ صَدِيقِكُمْ ۚ لَيْسَ عَلَيْكُمْ جُنَاحٌ أَنْ تَأْكُلُوا جَمِيعًا أَوْ أَشْتَاتًا
“…from your houses, or your fathers’ houses… or what you possess the keys of, or your friends’ (houses). It is no sin in you that you eat together or separately.” (Surah Nur 24:61)

In the above verse, Allah, the Mighty and the High allows persons having keys to houses to enter those houses and eat from there; without any doubt, how can houses not having wooden or iron doors, on the contrary, according to the claim of objection maker, having only a curtain or mat screen, have keys?

Some traditions, like the one mentioned below, talk of unlocking the door with keys and this shows that houses and rooms of that period were having doors:
It is narrated from Dukain bin Saeed Muzni: I went to the Holy Prophet (s) and requested him for food. The Prophet said to Umar: Go and give food to them. Umar took us to the room upstairs; then he removed the key from his waist band and opened the door.[3]

Albani in the book, Sahih wa Zaeef Sunan Abi Dawood, no. 5238 has corrected this report.
In the same way, the report, which Muslim has narrated in his Sahih is also proof that house had doors during the early period of Islam.
Abu Hamid says: The Prophet commanded us to place containers of water in a corner and latch the doors at night.[4]

Ibne Kathir Damishqi, quoting from Hasan Basri, says regarding the door of the Prophet’s house:
Rooms of the Messenger of Allah (s) were constructed by fastening branches of juniper tree together with thick hair. It is mentioned in Tarikh Bukhari that the door of the Prophet was knocked with finger tips and nails and this proves that there was no ring for knocking.[5]

The above text is evidence that houses of that period were having doors.

In numerous Shia and Sunni traditional reports there is mention of the door of the house of Amirul Momineen (a). For example, in the description of the marriage of Lady Fatima Zahra (s) with Amirul Momineen (a), it is mentioned as follows:
The Messenger of Allah (s) summoned Ali Ibne Abi Talib (a) and recited the same rituals and supplications for Ali (a), which he had recited for Lady Fatima (s)…after these supplications the Messenger of Allah (s) stood up and closed the door.[6]

Bukhari, in the book of Abadbul Mufarrad, has written about the door of Ayesha’s house:
It is narrated from Muhammad bin Hilal that he saw that the chambers of the wives of the Prophet (s) were having knitted fur coverings. I asked him about the door of Ayesha’s house. He said: Her door opens to Shaam. I asked: Did it have single or double flap? He replied: It did not have more than a single flap. I said: What was it made of? He replied: It was made from wood of juniper or teak.[7]

Muhammad bin Ismail Bukhari has written in his Sahih:
It is narrated from Ayesha that: When report of martyrdom of Ja’far bin Abu Talib and Abdullah bin Rawaha arrived; the Prophet sat on the ground and signs of grief became apparent from his face and I watched him from the crack in the door.[8]

Crack or hole in the door proves our claim that houses were not without doors, on the contrary, doors were made from wooden planks of trees or trunks of date trees.

As for the traditional report attributed to Amirul Momineen (a) that: ‘Our houses do not have either roof or door’, it is necessary to mention the following points:

Firstly: Ahmad bin Husain bin Saeed is included in the chain of reporters of this traditional report and that person is unreliable and this makes the report defective (Mursal) and unreliable.
More important than this is the fact that the objection maker has mentioned the report in a defective manner; in such way that the reader feels that the houses of Ahle Bayt (a) were not having doors or imagines that their houses did not have the usual form. While the fact is that basically it is impossible to imagine houses sans doors, ceiling and walls?!

The complete text of the tradition, without this distortion is as follows: We are the Ahle Bayt of Muhammad, there are no roofs for our houses and neither there are doors and curtains, except palm leaves and branches. From this report, it is not concluded that the house of Ahle Bayt (a) do not have doors, on the contrary, it can be concluded from the last words of this report that the roof, doors and walls of our houses are made of date trunks. This report in fact says: “Roof and door of house of us Ahle Bayt (a) is made of date trunks.”


[1] Al-Khisaal, Shaykh Saduq, Pg. 382; Sharh al-Akhbar, Qadi Noman Maghribi, Vol. 1, Pg. 362; Al-Ikhtisaas, Shaykh Mufeed, Pg. 163 and Biharul Anwar, Allamah Majlisi, Vol. 38, Pg. 167.
[2] Those interested in details can refer to two books: Masaatuz Zahra and Khalfiyaat Masaatuz Zahra by the great Allamah, Sayyid Ja’far Murtaza Jabal Amili.
[3] Sunan Abi Dawood, Vol. 2, Pg. 527, Tr. 5240, Sulaiman bin Ashath Abu Dawood Sajistani Azdi (d. 275 A.H.), Edited: Muhammad Mohiuddin Abdul Hamid, Darul Fikr.
[4] Sahih Muslim, Vol. 3, Pg. 1593, Tr. 2010, Kitabul Ashraba (wal Ata-ama), Baab fee Sharb Nabidh wa Takhmiril Anaa, Muslim bin Hajjaj Abul Husain Qashiri Nishapuri (d. 261 A.H.), Edited: Muhammad Fawad Abdul Baqi, Darul Ahya Turath Arabi, Beirut.
[5] Al-Bidaya wan Nihaya, Vol. 3, Pg. 221, Ismail bin Umar bin Kathir Abul Fida Qarashi Damishqi (d. 774 A.H.), Maktabul Marif – Beirut.
[6] Al-Musannaf, Vol. 5, Pg. 489, Abu Bakr Abdur Razzaq bin Hamam Sanani (d. 211), Darul Nashr al-Maktabul Islami, Beirut – 1403, Second edition, Edited: Habibur Rahman Azmi
[7] Al-Adabul Mufarrad, Vol. 1, Pg. 272, Muhammad bin Ismail Abu Abdullah Bukhari Jofi (d. 256 A.H.), Edited: Muhammad Fawad Abdul Baqi, Darul Bashairul Islamiya, Beirut, 3rd edition 1409 (1989).
[8] Al-Jami as-Sahih al-Mukhtasar (Sahih Bukhari), Vol. 1, Pg. 440, Tr. no. 1243, Baab Maa Yanha An Nuh wal baka wa Zajari An Dhaalik, Muhammad bin Ismail Abu Abdullah Bukhari Jofi (d. 256 A.H.), Edited: Dr. Mustafa Dibul Bagha, Daar Ibne Kathir, Yamama, Beirut, 3rd edition, 1407 – 1987.