The Presence of Lady Fatimah al-Zahra in Mourning Gatherings

Question

This question discusses whether Lady Fatimah al-Zahra, peace be upon her, attends the mourning gatherings for Imam Hussein, peace be upon him. [AR_ID:587]

Answer 1

Peace be upon you. Some narrations suggest that souls in the Barzakh (the intermediate realm) have the ability to observe the world. When they see something bad, it saddens them, and when they see something good, it brings them joy. This does not contradict their state of bliss in the Barzakh. Therefore, it is not unlikely that Lady Fatimah (peace be upon her) observes her presence in places where the tragedy of her son Hussein (peace be upon him) is mentioned, and she feels sorrow for that memory, even though we do not have a specific narration confirming this. If we consider her presence to mean that she honors the gatherings and is aware of their details, it is easy to establish this. The verse from the Quran, 'Say, work; for Allah will see your work and [so will] His Messenger and the believers,' along with the interpretation of 'believers' as the pure progeny, is sufficient to affirm the supervisory presence of the pure lady (peace be upon her) in the blessed gatherings for Hussein. Additionally, there are numerous reports indicating that mourning for the Master of Martyrs (peace be upon him) brings joy to his mother, the pure lady (peace be upon her). For instance, in the book 'Kamal al-Ziyarat,' Imam al-Sadiq (peace be upon him) said, 'There is no one who weeps for him except that he has brought joy to Fatimah (peace be upon her),' implying that the joy of the one who brings happiness cannot occur without the knowledge and awareness of the one who is made happy. Furthermore, there is a narration found in some later books of the battles, including 'Thamarat al-Aw'ad' by the scholar Sayyid Ali al-Hashimi, where it is reported that a man named Fadail held a mourning gathering for Hussein (peace be upon him) without informing Imam al-Sadiq (peace be upon him). When he approached the Imam the next day, the Imam asked him where he had been the previous night. Fadail replied that he was occupied with something. The Imam then said, 'Did you not hold a mourning gathering in your home for my grandfather Hussein?' Fadail confirmed this, and the Imam said, 'I was present.' Fadail asked where the Imam had been sitting, and the Imam replied, 'When I wanted to leave the house, did you not stumble over a garment?' Fadail said yes, and the Imam explained, 'I was sitting there.' Fadail then asked why the Imam did not sit at the head of the gathering, and the Imam replied, 'My grandmother Fatimah (peace be upon her) was sitting at the head of the gathering, so I did not take the lead out of respect for her.' May you be successful in all good things.