Documents of the Right Word

would have produced other problems which in turn would have
been too difficult for hadrat Abû Bekr to cope with. He therefore
risked the grief of having been unable to please hadrat Fâtima than
venture upon these various catastrophic adventures. It is stated in
a hadîth-i-sherîf, “When a Believer confronts a dilemma, let him
choose the alternative which seems less unwelcome.” Hadrat Abû
Bekr did so. For this alternative was remediable. And it was
remedied, too. The other alternative, on the other hand, would
have caused incurable wounds. Religious matters would have
become complicated.
B- As for the second question: It is stated in both Sunnite and
Shiite books that this disagreement between hadrat Abû Bekr and
hadrat Fâtima ‘radiy-Allâhu ta’âlâ anhumâ’ was settled. Yet why
did Fâtima-t-uz-zehrâ wish that hadrat Abû Bekr not attend her
funeral? And why did she request in her last will that hadrat Alî
bury her at night (after her death)?
This we would answer as follows: hadrat Fâtîma’s wish to be
buried at night was a result of her excessive feeling of shame. As a
matter of fact, she stated towards her death, “I feel very much
shame whenever I remember that when I die they will take me
among men without any cover.” In those days it was customary to
wrap a dead woman’s corpse in a shroud only, so that the corpse in
the shroud would be taken out of the coffin without any cover.
Esmâ binti Umeyr relates: “One day I told her that I had seen
people interlace date branches like weaving tents in Abyssinia.
Hadrat Fâtima said, ‘Let me see you do it.’ When I did it to show
her, she liked it very much and smiled. She had never been seen
smiling since Rasûlullah’s passing away. She made this will to me:
‘When I am dead, you wash me. Let Alî be present too. Do not let
anyone else in.’ ” It was for this reason that hadrat Alî did not
invite anyone to her funeral. According to a narration, after
performing the namâz of janâza for her, (hadrat Alî), hadrat
Abbâs and a few other members of the Ahl-i-Bayt buried her at
night. According to other narratives, the following day Abû Bekr
Siddîq, ’Umar Fârûq and many other Sahâbîs came to hadrat Alî’s
house to pay a visit of well-wishing. When they knew that hadrat
Fâtima had passed away and had already been buried, they
expressed their sorrow, saying, “Why didn’t you send for us so that
we could perform the (janâza) namâz for her and help the funeral
services?” Hadrat Alî apologized and said that he had done so to
carry out her will to be buried at night lest other men should see
her. It is stated in the book Fasl-ul-hitâb: Abû Bekr as-Siddîq and
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