The necklace of Fatima al-Zahra fed a hungry man, clothed a naked man, made rich a poor man, freed a slave and then returned to

 As we are celebrating these days the blessed and auspicious birth anniversary of the beloved daughter of the Noble Prophet (prayers and Allah's peace be upon him and his holy Household), our pure Lady Saint Fatima Al-Zahra (peace be upon her), which falls on Friday 20th of Jumada II 1436 AH. She (peace be upon her) is the optimal role model for those who want to build a blessed life, by following her in faith, knowledge, sacrifice, courage, altruism and all other morals of her blessed life until her martyrdom, among of which the story of her necklace:

Jabir ibn Abdullah Al-Ansari (may Allah be pleased with him) has reported that:

One day, we were with the Prophet Mohammed (prayers and Allah's peace be upon him and his holy Household) after Asr (after noon) prayer when an old immigrant man came by who was wearing worn out clothes and was barely able to walk because of his old age and weakness. Prophet Mohammed (prayers and Allah's peace be upon him and his holy Household) inquired him about his welfare and the old immigrant man said, "O Prophet of Allah! I am starving, so feed me; I am naked, so cloth me; and I am poor, so help me!"

Prophet Mohammed (prayers and Allah's peace be upon him and his holy Household) said, "Surely I have nothing to give you, yet, he, who guides to goodness is equal to one who performs it. So go to the house of one (she) who loves Allah and His messenger, and Allah and His messenger love her. The one who prefers Allah over herself; I mean Fatima (peace be upon her)."

Fatima Al-Zahra's (peace be upon her) house was near to that of Prophet Mohammed (prayers and Allah's peace be upon him and his holy Household). He (saw) asked Hazrat Bilal (may Allah be pleased with him) to lead the old immigrant man to her house. As soon as they reached her house, the old immigrant man cried out loudly, "Peace be upon you O people of the house of Ahl Al-Bayt of Naboowah [House of Prophecy], where the angles frequent their visits; where Rooh Al-Amin (Jibril) descends bringing what the Lord of the worlds reveals." Fatima daughter of Mohammed (peace be upon her) responded to his greetings and asked who he was, to which, the old immigrant man replied, "I am an old Arab man. I have emigrated from a distant land. O Daughter of Prophet Mohammed! I am hungry and in need of clothing - so console me and may Allah bless you."

This incident occurred at a time when Prophet Mohammed (prayers and Allah's peace be upon him and his holy Household), Imam Ali (peace be upon him) and Fatima daughter of Mohammed (peace be upon her) had not eaten anything for three days. Fatima daughter of Mohammed (peace be upon her) looked around. The only thing she could see in the house was a goatskin on which his two little children, Imam Al-Hassan and Imam Al-Hussayn used to sleep. She picked up the goatskin and came to door. She extended that goatskin to the old man from behind the door and said: "Please take this and fulfil your needs." However, the old man said, "O Daughter of Prophet Muhammad! I complain to you of hunger and you give me a goatskin? How can I eat this?"

Fatima daughter of Mohammed (peace be upon her), the Manifestation of Self-sacrifice, thought and then she realized that she was wearing a necklace which was the wedding gift from Fatimah the daughter of Hamzah bin Abdul-Muttalib. Fatima daughter of Mohammed (peace be upon her) took the necklace off and gave it to the old man saying, "Sell this and Allah The Almighty will grant you with a solution to your problem". The old man took the necklace, brought and showed it to the Prophet Mohammed (prayers and Allah's peace be upon him and his holy Household). Prophet Mohammed (prayers and Allah's peace be upon him and his holy Household) looked at the necklace and his eyes filled up with tears. He (prayers and Allah's peace be upon him and his holy Household) said, "Indeed Allah The Almighty will grant you a solution, for Fatima, the Mistress of all the women has given to you this necklace."

Ammar bin Yasir (may Allah be pleased with him), who was present among the companions said, "O Messenger of Allah! Do you allow me to buy this necklace?" Prophet Mohammed (prayers and Allah's peace be upon him and his holy Household) said, "Buy it Ammar, surely if all men and women participate in its purchase, Allah The Almighty will protect them from Hell-fire". Ammar bin Yasir (may Allah be pleased with him) asked the old man for its price and he replied, "A meal of bread and meat, a Yemeni shirt to cover myself and a dinar to return to my family." Ammar bin Yasir (may Allah be pleased with him) gave him 20 dinar and 200 Dirhams, a Yemeni shirt, wheat bread and meat, and a horse to take him to his home. Prophet Mohammed (prayers and Allah's peace be upon him and his holy Household) asked the old man if he was satisfied with all that and he replied in affirmation. "So reward Fatima for her kindness", said Prophet Mohammed (prayers and Allah's peace be upon him and his holy Household). The old man prayed, "O Allah! Give Fatima that which no eyes have ever seen and no ears have ever heard."

Ammar bin Yasir (may Allah be pleased with him) perfumed the necklace with musk and sent it to Prophet Mohammed (prayers and Allah's peace be upon him and his holy Household) with a slave named Sahm whom he had purchased with the booty he received from Khaybar, saying, "Give this necklace to the Messenger of Allah and tell him that I gift you to him too." When the slave delivered the necklace and the message, Prophet Mohammed (prayers and Allah's peace be upon him and his holy Household) said to him, "Take this necklace to Fatima and I gift you to her". When the slave came to Fatima daughter of Mohammed (peace be upon her), she took her necklace back and set the slave free. When the slave was set free, he laughed loudly.

People who had been watching the whole thing, asked Sahm for the reason of his laughing. Sahm replied: "I laughed when I thought of the abundance of goodness in this glorious necklace - it came out of the house, fed a hungry man, clothed a naked man, and provided for a lost wayfarer. It then freed a slave from his bond and then returned to its rightful owner/mistress."





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