Ali Ibn Abi Talib - Volume 1 of 2

'Ali ibn Abi Trilib 179
6.4. 'Umrat al-Qada' (the fulfilled pilgrimage) in 7 AH
and 'Ali (&), and the custody of the daughter of
Hamzah (may Allah be pleased with them both)
Islam had a great impact and profoundly changed the
mentality of the people. Daughters had been regarded as a source of
shame for Arab nobles; in some tribes, the custom was to bury them
alive to escape the shame and as a result of the lack of interest in
daughters. In Islam, daughters became beloved, and the Muslims
began to compete to raise them. The Muslims were equal, and no one
was better than anyone else except by means of virtue or truth.445
When the Prophet a) wanted to leave Makkah, the daughter
of Hamzah followed him, calling out: "0 uncle!" 'Ali turned to her,
took her by the hand and said to Fitimah (&): "Here is your
cousin." 'Ali, Zayd and Ja'far disputed concerning her. 'Ali said: "I
should take her because she is the daughter of my patemal uncle."
Ja'far said: "She is the daughter of my paternal uncle, and her
maternal aunt is my wife." Zayd said: "She is the daughter of my
brother." The Prophet (a) ruled that she should go to her matemal
aunt and said: "The maternal aunt is lie the mother." He (@) said to
'Ali: "You are from me, and I am from you." He (g) said to Ja'far:
"You resemble me physically and in attitude," and he said to Zayd:
"Yon are our brother and our freed slave." 'Ali said to the Messenger
of Allah (@): "Why don't you many the daughter of Hamzah?' He
said: "She is the daughter of my brother through brea~tfeedin~."~~
From this story, we learn a number of lessons and mlings:
1. The matemal aunt is like the mother.
2. The maternal aunt takes precedence over anyone else with
regard to custody, if there are no parents.
3. The Messenger of Allah (g) praised Ja'far ibn Abi T2lib