Fatima (AS): The Criterion of the Pleasure and Displeasure of Allah and His Messenger (PBUH)
Fatima (AS): The Criterion of the Pleasure and Displeasure of Allah and His Messenger (PBUH)
In the Holy Qur’an, it is declared:
«إِنَّ الَّذِينَ يُؤْذُونَ اللَّهَ وَرَسُولَهُ لَعَنَهُمُ اللَّهُ فِي الدُّنْيَا وَالْآخِرَةِ وَأَعَدَّ لَهُمْ عَذَابًا مُهِينًا وَ الَّذينَ يُؤْذُونَ الْمُؤْمِنينَ وَ الْمُؤْمِناتِ بِغَيْرِ مَا اكْتَسَبُوا فَقَدِ احْتَمَلُوا بُهْتاناً وَ إِثْماً مُبيناً»
(Surah Al-Ahzab, verses 57–58)
“Indeed, those who harm Allah and His Messenger—Allah has cursed them in this world and the Hereafter and has prepared for them a humiliating punishment. And those who harm believing men and believing women for [something] other than what they have earned have certainly taken upon themselves a slander and manifest sin.”
These two verses were revealed immediately after the “Verse of Salawat.” They address those who cause harm or distress to the Holy Prophet (PBUH) and his Ahl al-Bayt (AS), stating that such people are under the curse of Allah and His Messenger in both worlds and will face a severe punishment in the Hereafter—bearing upon their shoulders the burden of slander and clear sin.
Numerous hadiths related to these verses are cited in both Shi‘i and Sunni tafsir and hadith sources. Below, we present a selection of relevant hadiths along with their conclusion:
The Holy Prophet (PBUH) said:
«مَنْ آذَی شَعْرَهًًْ مِنِّی فَقَدْ آذَانِی وَ مَنْ آذَانِی فَقَدْ آذَی اللَّهَ عَزَّوَجَلَّ…»
“Whoever harms even a single hair of mine has harmed me, and whoever harms me has harmed Allah, Exalted and Glorious. Such a person is cursed by all beings in the heavens and on earth.”
(Al-Amali by al-Tusi, p. 451; Bihar al-Anwar, vol. 27, p. 206)
Ibn Abbas narrated that the verse «إِنَّ اَلَّذِينَ يُؤْذُونَ اَللّٰهَ وَ رَسُولَهُ» was revealed when the hypocrites, in opposition to the Prophet’s repeated emphasis on the rights of his Ahl al-Bayt (AS), began saying: “Muhammad (PBUH) only wants us to worship his Ahl al-Bayt!” Thereupon, the Prophet (PBUH) recited this verse, stating that Allah has cursed such people in this world and the Hereafter and prepared for them a painful punishment. (Al-Manaqib, vol. 3, p. 210)
In another hadith, the Prophet (PBUH) said:
“What is wrong with a group of people who harm my close relatives? Indeed, whoever harms them harms me, and whoever harms me harms Allah.”
(Al-Manaqib, vol. 3, p. 211)
Regarding the second verse, it is narrated:
«یُؤْذُونَ الْمُؤْمِنِینَ یَعْنِی عَلِیّاً (وَ الْمُؤْمِناتِ یَعْنِی فَاطِمَهًَْ»
“‘Believing men’ refers to Ali (AS), and ‘believing women’ refers to Fatima (AS).”
And it is further stated that on the Day of Judgment, when this group is subjected to severe punishment, it will be said to them:
«فَیَقُولُونَ لَهُمْ مَعَاشِرَ الْأَشْقِیَاءِ هَذَا عُقُوبَهًٌْ لَکُمْ بِبُغْضِکُمْ أَهْلَ بَیْتِ مُحَمَّدٍ»
“O wretched ones! This punishment is your recompense for your hatred toward the Ahl al-Bayt of Muhammad.”
(Tafsir al-Qummi, vol. 2, p. 196; Bihar al-Anwar, vol. 36, p. 188)
Thus, it becomes evident that the Ahl al-Bayt al-Athar (AS)—particularly the wilayah of Amir al-Mu’minin (AS) and Lady Fatima al-Zahra (AS)—are the fundamental criterion of divine and prophetic pleasure.
The pleasure of Fatima al-Zahra (AS) is the pleasure of Allah and His Messenger, and enmity toward her or causing her displeasure is equivalent to enmity toward and displeasing Allah and His Messenger. This is clearly affirmed in other narrations as well. The Prophet (PBUH) said:
«إِنَّ فَاطِمَةَ شِجْنَةٌ مِنِّي يُؤْذِينِي مَا آذَاهَا وَ يَسُرُّنِي مَا يَسُرُّهَا وَ إِنَّ اَللَّهَ تَبَارَكَ وَ تَعَالَى لَيَغْضَبُ لِغَضَبِ فَاطِمَةَ وَ يَرْضَى لِرِضَاهَا صَلَوَاتُ اللَّهِ عَلَيهَا»
“Indeed, Fatima (AS) is a branch of me: whatever harms her harms me, and whatever pleases her pleases me. And indeed, Allah, Blessed and Exalted, becomes angry for her anger and is pleased by her pleasure.”
(Ma‘ani al-Akhbar, vol. 1, p. 303; ‘Awalim al-‘Ulum, vol. 11, p. 148)
Similarly, in another hadith, the Prophet (PBUH) stated:
«فَاطِمَةُ بَضْعَةٌ مِنِّي يُرِيبُنِي مَا رَابَهَا وَ يُؤْذِينِي مَا آذَاهَا»
“Fatima (AS) is a part of me; whatever distresses her distresses me, and whatever harms her harms me.”
(Al-Sirat al-Mustaqim, vol. 1, p. 170; Ithbat al-Hudat, vol. 3, p. 408)
Hadiths emphasizing the obligation of not causing harm to Fatima al-Zahra (AS) and maintaining her pleasure are also recorded in authentic Sunni sources. A well-known narration states:
«فاطمة بضعة منّی فمن اغضبها اغضبنی»
“Fatima (AS) is a part of me; whoever angers her angers me.”
(Sahih al-Bukhari, vol. 6, p. 220, Dar al-Fikr Beirut, 1433 AH)
Similarly, in Faydh al-Qadir, al-Manawi reports that the prominent Sunni scholar al-Sahili, citing this hadith from Sahih al-Bukhari, asserted:
«ان من سبّها فکفر لانه یغضبه و انها افضل من الشیخین»
“Whoever insults her is a disbeliever, for he angers the Prophet (PBUH), and she is superior to the two Shaykhs.”
(Faydh al-Qadir, vol. 4, p. 421, Dar al-Kutub al-‘Ilmiyyah, 1415 AH)
Other prominent Sunni scholars have also transmitted this and similar hadiths, including Ahmad ibn Hanbal and al-Tirmidhi (Musnad Ahmad, vol. 4, p. 328; Sunan al-Tirmidhi, vol. 2, p. 319), al-Muttaqi al-Hindi (Kanz al-‘Ummal, vol. 6, p. 219, hadiths 34237–34240), al-Hakim al-Nishapuri (Mustadrak al-Sahihayn, vol. 3, pp. 153–154), and al-Dhahabi (Mizan al-I‘tidal, vol. 2, p. 72).
Ibn Qutaybah al-Dinawari also recounts a significant incident: Lady Fatima al-Zahra (AS) addressed the two (usurping) caliphs, saying:
“Have you not heard the Messenger of Allah (PBUH) say: ‘The pleasure of Fatima (AS) is my pleasure, and her displeasure is my displeasure. Whoever loves Fatima (AS) loves me, whoever pleases her pleases me, and whoever displeases her displeases me’?”
Upon hearing this, both acknowledged: “Yes, the Prophet (PBUH) did say these words.”
(Al-Imamah wa al-Siyasah, vol. 1, p. 17)
The narration continues:
After securing their admission, Fatima (AS) declared:
«فانّى اُشهد الله و ملائکته أنکما اسخطتُمانى و ما أرضیتُمانى، و لئن لقیتُ النبى لأشکونّکما الیه»
“I call Allah and His angels to witness that you two have angered me and failed to please me. And if I meet the Prophet, I will surely complain against you both to him.”
She also said:
«و الله لأدعونّ الله علیک عند کلّ صلوة اُصَلّیها»
“By Allah! I will invoke curses upon you in every prayer I offer.”
(Al-Imamah wa al-Siyasah, vol. 1, p. 17, ed. 1418 AH)
Other Sunni historians and hadith scholars have also narrated this incident, though some omitted certain phrases (Ansab al-Ashraf by al-Baladhuri, vol. 1, p. 79; Al-Saqifah wa Fadak by al-Jawhari, p. 104; Raf‘ al-Hajib by al-Subki, vol. 2, p. 308).
In light of these narrations and historical accounts, it is clear that Lady Fatima (AS), the Princess of Creation, serves as the ultimate criterion for the pleasure and anger of Allah and His Messenger.
This is precisely why those who subjected her to the severest trials and harms—those who openly displayed enmity and usurped the rights of the Ahl al-Bayt, especially the Imamate—made desperate attempts at the end to seek her forgiveness. Yet, the Princess (AS) forbade them from visiting her until her last breath, turning her face away and publicly declaring her displeasure. She even prohibited them from attending her funeral rites, burial, and washing.
Thus, she established, for all true monotheists, lovers of the Prophet (PBUH), and justice-seekers until the end of time, an eternal standard of truth and righteousness—and left behind profound questions for humanity:
Who angered the only daughter of the greatest Messenger of the cosmos—the very criterion of divine and prophetic pleasure?
Who truly pleased her?
Why was the Prophet’s only daughter wronged?
Why was her burial conducted in secrecy?
And why, even today, remains the location of her blessed grave unknown?
