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HAZRAT FIZZA
Hazrat Fizza was the
maid-servant of The Chief of The
Women of the Universe, Bibi
Fatima Zahra (s.a.). She was the
Queen of Ethiopia, was enslaved,
purchased then freed by the
Noble Prophet (s.a.w.s.). She
was given the title of “Amma”
due to her dedication and
loyalty to the Ahlul Bayt
(a.s.). She lived in the house
of Bibi Fatima Zahra (s.a.).
The Prophet (s.a.w.s.)’s
daughter set an example of
humanity and equality by the
working arrangement that she
will work one day, while Hazrat
Fizza will rest and the next day
she will work and the Lady of
Paradise will rest.
Can it be imagined, that the
house where Holy Qur’an was
revealed and the company of the
Lady of Paradise influenced
Hazrat Fizza to such an extent
that for twenty years she would
quote an Ayah of the Holy Qur’an
in response to any question.
Abul Qasim Al-Qashiri narrates a
story from Abdullah Bin Mubarak
and his encounter with Hazrat
Fizza. He noticed Hazrat Fizza
at some distance behind a
caravan in the desert. He wanted
to help her by taking her to the
caravan. So he approached her
and asked her: “Who are you?”
She replied, “And when those who
believe in Our revelation come
unto thee, say: “Peace be unto
thee!” (6:54) She wanted to
correct Abdullah Bin Mubarak
reminding him of the proper
ethics before opening
conversation. He then offered
his salutations and asked: “What
are you doing here?” She
replied: “And one who Allah
guides none can mislead” (39:37)
Abdullah understood from this
Ayah that she was not lost in
the desert. He then inquired:
“Are you a human being or jinn?”
She replied: “O Children of
Adam! Adorn your self at every
place of worship” (7:31) He then
asked: “Where are you coming
from?” She replied: “They are
being from a place far distant!”
(41:44) He continued to inquire:
“Where do you want to go?” She
informed him: “And Pilgrimage to
the House is a duty unto Allah
for mankind.” (3:97) She was
informing him that she was going
to perform Hajj. He then asked:
“When did you leave for Makkah?”
She replied: “And verily We
created the heavens and the
earth, and all that is between
them in six days.” (50:38) He
asked: “Are you hungry?” She
replied in affirmative: “And We
did not make for them a body
that can live without eating.”
(21:8)
He waited at a distance on his
horse while she ate the food he
offered to her. When she
finished her meal, he called out
to her: “Come running, hurry
up!” She told him: “Allah
burdens not a soul beyond its
scope.” (2:286) He said: “Sit
behind my horse” Once again she
had to remind him of Islamic
etiquette. She refused and
recited: “If there were therein
gods beside Allah there would
have been disorder.” (21:22) It
can be seen how she glorifies
oneness of Allah while reminding
to guard his faith (Taqwa). He
took heed to the Ayah and
dismounted from the horse. After
she was comfortably seated on
the horse, she recited the words
of praise: “Glory is to Allah
who has subdued these (animals)
unto us.” (43:13) When they
caught up with the caravan she
was traveling with, He asked:
“Do you have anyone in this
caravan? “O David, We have made
you a khalifa in the earth.”
(38:26) “Muhammad was but a
Messenger” (3:144) “O John,
holdfast to the Scripture” “O
Musa, I am Allah, Lord of the
worlds” (28:30) By reciting
these Ayahs, she named four
people in the caravan. When
David, Muhammad, Yahya, and Musa
saw her they ran towards her. He
asked: “Who are they?” She
answered: “Wealth and children
are the ornaments of this life.”
(18:46) These were the sons of
Hazrat Fizza. Seeing that
Abdullah had assisted their
mother with kindness, they
treated him with due respect.
She ordered her children: “Hire
him. The best person you should
hire is the one who is strong
and trust worthy.” (28:26)
Hazrat Fizza served the Ahlul
Bayt (a.s.) for 58 years. She
was the symbol of deed and
commitment and by confronting
the problems and difficulties
along with Sharikatul Hussain,
Sayyada Zaynab (s.a.) with
courage, bravery and firmness;
she for ever became the symbol
courage and sincerity for women.
Hazrat Fizza was part of the
incident when Imam Hasan and
Imam Hussain fell sick and the
Noble Prophet (s.a.w.s.)
suggested to Imam Ali (a.s.) to
make a “Nazr” - vow to keep
three fasts when the Hasnain
(a.s.) recover from sickness.
When they recovered from
sickness, every one kept the
fast for three days, including
Hazrat Fizza. Each day, at the
time of “Iftaar” someone knocked
at the door to solicit food and
they all gave their share food
to him and kept the second day
fast without eating any thing.
After third day, the following
Ayah of the Holy Qur’an was
revealed: “They who fulfill
their vows, and fear the day,
the woe of which stretches far
and wide. And they give away
food, out of love for Him, to
the poor and the orphan, and the
captive, (saying) we feed you
only for the sake of Allah, we
do not want anything from you,
not even thanks. Verily we fear
from our Lord a stern day of
distress.” So Allah will guard
them from the evil of that day
and give them freshness and
pleasures.” (76:7-11)
It is reported that once she
invited the Noble Prophet
(s.a.w.s.) for meals in the
house of Imam Ali (a.s.) and
Bibi Fatima. Because she had
trust in Allah in spite the fact
that there was nothing in the
house. When the Prophet arrived,
she went and offered two rakat
prayers and solicit help from
Almighty. Allah accepted her
prayers and sent food
fromParadise for
Ahlul Bayt (a.s.)
She knew the art of making gold
from other metals. Once, she
converted copper into gold and
presented it to Imam Ali (a.s.).
Imam Ali (a.s.) said: “If you
would have melted pewter and
make gold, the color of the gold
would have been sharper and more
valuable.”
She inquired if the Imam was
familiar with the process to
which Imam replied that even his
son, (Imam) Hussain, knows it.
Then, the Imam told her to look
towards a direction and she saw
that a golden piece of about the
size of a camel’s neck was
there. She was surprised at the
Imam’s contentment. The Imam
mentioned the short life of this
world and the Hereafter.
Afterwards, she adopted
patience, contentment, and
piety. The Imam prayed: “O
Allah! Make Fizza a source of
blessings for us”
During a period when Ahlul Bayt
(a.s.) were passing through a
tough time and were starving for
three days, then Fizza took
permission from the Lady of
Paradise, Bibi Fatima Zahra (s.a.)
and went out to collect some
wood, grass and a special leafs
called “Gule Khairi). She put
her bangle (from Paradise)
in a pot and put it on fire.
After some time she hammered it
up and put the special grass in
it, sealed it and put on fire
for few hours. When it cooled
off, it became silver. When she
brought the price of selling it,
Bibi Fatima asked her to
distribute it to poor. She was
surprised about it. Next day,
Bibi Fatima asked Fizza to bring
some special grass and heated
the pot for some time. Then she
took the metallic portion of a
spear and put it in the pot.
After few hours, it turned into
gold. Like yesterday, she asked
Fizza to sell the gold and
distributed the money to the
needy and poor. Fizza asked as
to why she did not retain a
portion of money for the house.
Bibi replied: “If I do this then
I would be deprived of the
bounties from Allah”
When the Noble Prophet
(s.a.w.s.) was on the death bed,
he asked Fizza if she had any
wish. Fizza replied: “Please
pray to Allah to grant me long
life so that I may live till the
tragedy of Karbala and
share the pains and afflictions
with Ahlul Bayt (a.s.)” The
Prophet confirmed the acceptance
of her wish. Hence, Fizza
remained loyal to Ahlul Bayt
(a.s.) and she served Bibi
Fatima, remained with Bibi
Zaynab (s.a.) in Karbala,
Kufa and Syria.
In the court of Yazid (l.a.),
she stood like rock in front of
Bibi Zaynab and refused to move
away. Yazid (l.a) ordered to
whip her. She asked for help
from the black body guards of
Yazid, seeing the signs of
revolt, he abandoned the
whipping. As reported in some
narrations that she was with
Bibi Zaynab (s.a.) till her
martyrdom and was buried in her
tomb. References: Bibi Fizza by Maqbool Ahmed |
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