Fatima (ع) Shunned Abu Bakr and Umar During Her Final Illness

After the death of the Messenger of Allah (ص) and the attack upon her house and her miscarriage of her third son Muhsin, the health of Fatima (ع), whose kunyah was Umm Abiha (the mother of her father), and who was given the title Al-Zahra and referred to as the chief of the women of the worlds, deteriorated. Abu Bakr and Umar realized it was not politically expedient for Fatima (ع) to die while shunning the two of them, so they decided that it was necessary, at least as a public sign of good-will, to visit Fatima (ع). According to Ibn Qutaybah:
Umar told Abu Bakr, “Let us go visit Fatima, for we have angered her.” The two went to the house of Fatima and asked for her permission to enter. She did not grant them permission, so they went to Ali and spoke to him. Ali took them to her. When they say with her, she turned her head away from them towards the wall. They greeted her but she did not respond to their greeting. Abu Bakr said, “O loved one of the Messenger of Allah! By Allah, I prefer closeness to the Messenger of Allah to closeness of my own family, and I love you more than my own daughter Aisha. I wish I had died the day your father died and that I did not live after him. How can it be that I, while cognizant of your right and your high status, would take away your rights to your inheritance? It’s just that I heard from your father, ‘We do not leave inheritance. What we leave is charity.’”
She replied, “Do you want me to tell you a tradition from the Messenger of Allah so that you may know it and act upon it?” They said, “Yes.” She said, “By Allah, did you not hear the Messenger of Allah (ص) say, ‘The satisfaction of Fatima is from my satisfaction and the anger of Fatima is from my anger. Whoever loves my daughter Fatima indeed loves me, whoever makes Fatima content has indeed made me content, and whoever makes her angry has indeed made me angry’?” They said, “Yes, we have heard this from the Messenger of Allah.”
She said, "I take Allah and the angels as witnesses that you two have angered me and have not made me content. When I meet the Messenger of Allah (ص), I will complain to him regarding both of you.” Abu Bakr said, "I seek refuge to Allah from His wrath and your wrath, O Fatima!” Abu Bakr then started weeping so loudly that his life was about to leave him. Fatima said, “By Allah, I will curse you in every prayer that I perform.”
Abu Bakr left her house crying. The people gathered around him. Abu Bakr told them, “Each one of you goes home, embracing his wife and enjoying his family. Leave me with what I have gotten myself into. I have no need for your pledge of allegiance. Take your pledge away from me.” (Imamah wa Siyasah 23:4)
The reality was that Abu Bakr could have easily attracted the satisfaction of Fatima (ع) had he truly desired to do so. All he needed to do was return to Fatima (ع) her rightful property, restore Ali (ع) to the caliphate that was rightfully his, and sincerely repent from the sinful acts that he had performed. However, Abu Bakr’s Intention was not to step down from power, but rather appear caring and just in the eyes of people. This was not possible with making it appear that he had appeased the daughter of the Messenger of Allah (ص). However, at the end, Abu Bakr and Umar did not gain her satisfaction, and as Aisha said according to Sahih Bukhari, “Fatima became angry with Abu Bakr and kept away from him and did not talk to him until she died… When she died, her husband Ali buried her at night without informing Abu Bakr and he said the funeral prayer by himself.” (Sahih Bukhari 5.59.546) According to Sahih Bukhari, Aisha also said, “Fatima, the daughter of Allah’s Apostle got angry ans stopped speaking to Abu Bakr, and continued assuming that attitude until she died.” (Sahih Bukhari 4.53.325) According to Sahih Muslim and Sahih Bukhari, “Abu Bakr refused to hand over anything from the properties Fatima was demanding to Fatima, who got angry at Abu Bakr for this reason. She forsook him and did not talk to him until the end of her life.” (Sahih Muslim 19.4352, Sahih Bukhari 5.59.546)
Ibn Abi al-Hadid, after relating a number of accounts on this topic, concluded, “The truth for me is that she died upset at Abu Bakr and Umar and she stated this in her will that the two of them must not pray upon her. For our companions, this is a matter for which two of them are forgiven. It would have been better for them to have honored her and to have respected the sanctity of her house, but they feared discord.” (Ibn al-Hadid 6:50)
The problem with this is that the Prophet (ص) said that one who died without recognizing the imam or while not submissive to the command of the imam dies the death of the Days of Ignorance. It is clear that Fatima died while rejecting Abu Bakr. As such, either the chief of the women believers, the chief of the women of the worlds, and the best of the women in paradise died the death of the Days of Ignorance or Abu Bakr’s imamate was illegitimate.
Abu Bakr and Umar Angered the Messenger of Allah (ص) by Their Treatment of Fatima (ع)
According to widely narrated traditions appearing in Sahih Bukhari, Sahih Muslim, and many other leading Sunni Books, the Prophet (ص) said,

1. “Verily Fatima is part of me (literally, of my flesh). Whoever harasses her has harassed me.” (Sahih Muslim 31.6000, Sunan al-Kubra Bayhaqi 20651, Kanz al-Ummal 34241, Isabah 4:2597)
   
2. “Verily Fatima is part of me. Whoever makes her angry has made me angry.” (Sahih Bukhari 5.57.61, Sunan al-Kubra Nasa’i 8371, Kanz al-Ummal 34222, 34344, Jami al-Saghir Suyuti 5833-4)
   
3. “Verily Fatima is part of me. Whoever harasses her has harassed me and whoever opposes her has opposed me.” (Sunan Tirmidhi 3689, Mustadrak Hakim 4751, Fada’il Hanbal 1327, Kanz al-Ummal 34215)
   
4. “Verily Fatima is part of me. Whoever saddens her has saddened me and whoever makes her happy has made me happy.” (Mustadrak Hakim 4747)

It is clear that Abu Bakr and Umar harassed, angered, saddened and opposed Fatima (ع) and thereby harassed, angered, saddened and opposed the Prophet (ص). If any Muslim is told that someone harassed, angered, saddened and opposed the Messenger of Allah (ص), his first reaction would be that that individual must have been the enemy of Islam. It is very clear that Fatima (ع) died angry at them. Anyone who claims that Abu Bakr and Umar repented from this is arguing in vain because when a sin involves and wrong one has done to another, one must obtain the other’s forgiveness before being forgiven by Allah, and Fatima (ع) died without forgiving them.
According to a widely narrated tradition Hakim certified as authentic, the Prophet (ص) told Fatima (ع), “Verily, Allah bears wrath by your wrath and becomes content by your contentment.” (Mustadrak Hakim 4730, Kanz al-Ummal 34237-B, 37725; Tahdhib al-Tahdhib v. 12 #2860, Majma al-Zawa’id 15204, Isabah 4:2598 #11579, Usd al-Ghabah 5:367 #7184)
Therefore, by inciting the wrath of Fatima (ع), Abu Bakr and Umar brought on themselves the wrath of Allah. Every time Muslims recite Surah Fatihah, they ask Allah to keep them away from the path of Abu Bakr and Umar and to guide them to the path of Fatima (ع); “Guide us to the straight path. The path of those whom You have favored, not the path of those who earn Your wrath or who go astray.” Indeed, Fatima (ع) was so upset at what Abu Bakr and Umar did after the Prophet’s (ص) death that, according to Ibn Athir, “She was not seen smiling after the death of the Messenger of Allah (ص) until she joined Allah, the great and glorious, as she was struck by intense agony.” (Usd al-Ghabah 5:368) A similar statement also appears in Mu’jam al-Kabir Tabarani (Mu’jam al-Kabir Tabarani 22:399)

Shi’ah Islam: Proofs from the Qur’an, Sunnah, and History p. 534-536

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