Ali Ibn Abi Talib - Volume 1 of 2

260 'Ali ibn Abi Ttlib at the time of the Rightly Guided Caliphs
2.5. Marriage of 'Umar to Umm Kulthoom
bint 'Ali ibn Abi T2lib (may Allah be
pleased with them)
'Ali ibn Abi T2lib (&) , , gave his daughter - whose mother
was Fgtimah, the daughter of the Prophet (g) - in marriage to
'Umar (&) when 'Umar asked him to do so, because he had great
confidence in him and held him in high esteem. This was an
achowledgement of his good character and a demonstration of the
strong and good relationship that existed between them and the
strong and blessed ties which bum the hearts of the envious enemies
of the Ummah and rub their noses in the dust.154 'Umar felt a special
love for Ah1 al-Bayt that he did not have for anyone else, because of
their closeness to the Messenger of Allah (g) and because of the
urging of the Messenger of Allah (gJ to honour the members of his
family and take care of their rights. Based on this motive, 'Umar
(&) proposed marriage to Umm Kulthoom, the daughter of 'Ali and
Fgtimah (&). 'Umar (&) spoke to 'Ali (&) in a very gentle way,
saying: "By Allah, there is no man on earth that would be so kind to
her as I will be." 'Ali (&) said: "I will do that." 'Umar (&) turned
to the Muhgjireen gladly and said: "Congratulate me." Then he said
that the reason for his marrying her was what he heard from the
Prophet (g): ''All ties and connections will be severed on the Day of
Resurrection except ties and connections to me." He said: "I wanted
to have ties between me and the Messenger of Allah (B)."'~~
This marriage was confirmed by all historians and
genealogists, and by all the Shia narrators of hadith, jurists,
stubborn persons and their so-called infallible Imams. Shaykh ns2n
Il& maheer quoted a number of reports about that in his book Ash-
Shi'ah was-~unnah.'~~ This marriage was also mentioned by the
Snnni historians, and all their sources are agreed upon it. Among the
scholars who mentioned it were at-~abari"~, Ibn ~atheer'~', adh-