Women can play many roles in a society. The Muslim women that should stand as a role model for all the Muslim women is the daughter of Prophet Muhammad (PBUH) – Fatimah (RA). She is an epitome of virtue, piety, charity, humility and sacrifice in all her roles, whether it is the role of the daughter of Prophet of Islam, the role of wife of Ali (RA) or the role of mother of Hazrat Hassan and Hussain (RA). In all her roles, there is purity, sincerity, dedication and commitment.
In addition to what she did in her roles, she received great respect and stature from others in return. Prophet Muhammad (PBUH) would stand up from the bed and give her His place whenever she came into the room. Moreover, He would also lay His shawl at the place where she were to sit. Regarding her, Prophet Muhammad (PBUH) said:
“Fatimah is a part of me, and he who makes her angry, makes me angry.”(Bukhari) Therefore, if a Muslim woman is looking for a role model who lived her life in modesty and made the best of it whilst staying within her means, then the life of Hazrat Fatimah (RA) is what she should be studying.
In an Islamic Society, women can fulfill several individual and collective responsibilities in different spheres and under different conditions. However, many of these roles and responsibilities are not set mandatory by the teachings of Islam and these often reflect personal effort, attributes and talent on the part of a woman. Setting this as a prelude, one can investigate and analyse different roles played by Muslim women during various periods of history after the advent of Islam. Today's modern technology with all its sophisticated tools available for the acquisition of knowledge, making the life easier and high speed communication cannot be compared with the life and times of Prophet of Islam (a) and those who lived with him at that time with harsh physical and socio-political environment in Arabia. One can easily appreciate that performing various intellectual pursuits such as seeking knowledge, imparting education and training, communication, even living a normal life was in no way comparable with today. Added to this was the time of conflict prevalent in the Arabia due to the advent of Islam with wars and social upheaval resulting from the opposition of the mushrikin, the Jews and the opponents of Islam. In such a society, where women were considered lower than males or rather even not considered as human and with the beginning of Islam as a new socio-religico-political order or rather as a new overall system struggling to give back to women, their divinely ordained status of womanhood and their rights, Muslim women in that time were additionally over burdened and over whelmed by the old pagan (jahiliyyah) thinking prevalent among the minds. They were, at that time under enormous additional confrontation and psychological pressure to perform their model Islamic role. The hostile environment then, with all its aggressiveness is in no way comparable to any other time in the history after sadr-e Islam. Thus, women who really stood for the Islamic values and performed their role and responsibilities in the time of beginning of Islam or sadr-e-Islam, can be considered as the role model for the women that came later, even today. This is not an assumption; rather, it is based on observation of the historic phenomenon of Islam in the society of Arabia with all the opposition, aggression, oppression, misery, migration and battles that resulted in the time of Prophet of Islam (s). The Muslims, in particular women, were under a lot of physical, mental and psychological pressure. At this point, let us briefly overview the difference between male and female from various aspects in the light of modern medical research. Females are physically weaker and more vulnerable to physical, mental, psychological and emotional stress than males. Females suffer additional pain, distress and long duration of physical hardship due to their role as mother. Females are more emotionally bound to their offspring and their loved ones then their male counterparts. All these facts and several other similar findings put females in a special position with regards to performance of their roles in a society, both individually and collectively. With this introduction, I would like to now talk about the role played by Hazrat Fatima Zahra (sa) during her life in the Arabian society and the harsh times of sadr-e Islam. One can then compare her role with other Muslim women of her time and appreciate the excellences of Hazrat Fatima Zahra (sa). Traditions from the Prophet of Islam (s) and verses of the Holy Quran are sufficient as proof to the par excellence personality of Hazrat Zahra (sa). However, I will not bring forth these as a support for my argument. Rather, let us imagine for a while the real life of Hazrat Fatima (sa) with the conditions of the personalities whom she was related to by family, conditions of the followers of Islam she was religico-socially associated with and the condition of the hostile environment she was in due to her being a Muslim, then analyze and envisage and appreciate, that how difficult it is for us living under modern times, to even imagine different roles that she performed during her relatively short life.

Individual role and Responsibilities

Her role as a daughter can be seen in her fulfillment of duties towards her father in different and very harsh times. The incidence of kuffar (infidels) throwing filth on Prophet (s) in the house of God and her bravely coming and removing it in the midst of enemies is an example. The respect Prophet (s) showed towards her by giving her his own seat is another poof of Hazrat Fatimah Zahra (sa) as a role model for daughters. Her role as a wife can be seen in her excellent management of home and support for her husband, Imam Ali (as), who more than any other companion of Prophet (s) was involved in the defense of Islam and Muslims and was away from the house during battles and other missions he was sent by the Prophet (s). She was a close and sincere friend to her husband and a partner in performing her duties not only towards him but also towards needy Muslims. Incidence of her and Imam Ali (a) sleeping hungry while feeding a Muslim passenger is an example. Her role as a mother can be seen in the light of her upbringing of her children, Imam Hassan and Hussain (as) and Hazrat Zainab (sa). These children were brought up in such a manner by her that reflected high level moral, intellectual and spiritual indoctrination. Lives of these personalities and their brilliant and par excellence role in the most adverse moments of the history of Islam is a litmus proof to the best upbringing they received from their mother. Truly, Hazrat Fatima (sa) was a great mentor of her children.(To Be Continued)

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