Lady Fatima Zahra is Ḥujjat over the Imams
Since the purpose of creation is the worship of Allah the Almighty, as He says: “And I did not create the jinn and mankind except to worship Me” (Surah Zariyat (51):56), worship cannot be completed except through knowing Allah, and knowing Him cannot be completed except through His Messengers and His Awliya (guardians), for they are His proofs upon the servants in every era, and they are the path to Him and the way to His satisfaction.
On the necessity and importance of the proofs, Hisham Ibn Hakam (r.a.) narrates from Imam Jafar Sadiq(a.s.):
Indeed, we have established that we have a Creator, a Maker, exalted above us and above all that He has created. And since that Maker is Wise and Transcendent, it is not permissible that His creatures should behold Him, nor touch Him, such that He should directly engage with them and they with Him, dispute with them and they with Him. Thus, it is established that He must have envoys among His creation who convey His message to His creatures and servants, guide them to their interests and benefits, to that by which their existence is preserved, and warn them of that which would lead to their annihilation. Hence, it is established that there are those who command and forbid on behalf of the All-Wise, All-Knowing, conveying His will—and these are the prophets (a.s.), the chosen of His creation: wise men disciplined with wisdom, sent forth with it, not sharing with the people—despite sharing in creation and composition—any of their ordinary states. They are supported from the All-Wise, All-Knowing with wisdom. And this has been established in every age and time by what the messengers and prophets have brought of proofs and evidences, so that the earth of God may never be void of a proof, possessing knowledge that testifies to the truth of his claim and the validity of his justice.
- Al-Kafi v 1 p 168
The proof, then, is the guide to Allah, through whom He warns His servants, and guides them.
The position of proof is divine, through which the divine sciences reach His servants.
As the Ahle Bait (a.s.) are Allah’s proofs upon His creation, then their mother Lady Fatima Zahra (s.a.) is Allah’s proof upon them, and this is what was explicitly stated in the narration of Imam Hasan Askari (a.s.):
We are Allah’s proof upon creation, and Lady Fatima (s.a.) is a proof upon us.
- Awalim al-Uloom v 11 p 7 from Tafsir Atyab al-Bayan 13/225
Mushaf of Lady Fatima (a.s.)
This meaning is witnessed by what was reported about the sources of their knowledge (a.s.) such as al-Jafr, al-Sahifah, and al-Jamea, and that among them is the Mushaf of Fatima (s.a.), which indicates that she is a scholarly intermediary between the Imams (a.s.) and Allah in the knowledge preserved in her Mushaf related to what will be until the Day of Judgment.
So, she is a proof in this abundant knowledge upon the Imams (a.s.) who take from it, similar to the proof of the Prophet (s.a.w.a.) regarding the Noble Quran, which is the source of the Imams’ knowledge (a.s.) as evident in numerous narrations.
It should be known that her mediation (a.s.) is not just through the Mushaf alone.
Her real mediation is in the world of lights for the Imams (a.s.).
Furat al-Kufi narrated in his Tafsir:
Muhammad Ibn Qasim Ibn Obaid narrated to us with a chain from Imam Jafar Sadiq (a.s.) that he said:
‘Indeed, We sent it down during the Night of Decree’–
the night is Lady Fatima (s.a.) and the decree (Qadr) is Allah.
So whoever knows Lady Fatima (s.a.) with true knowledge has comprehended Lailatul Qadr, and she was named Fatima because creation was prevented from knowing her.
And His saying ‘And what can make you know what is Lailatul Qadr? Lailatul Qadr is better than a thousand months’ means better than a thousand believers, and she is the mother of the believers.
The angels and the Holy Spirit (Rooh al-Qudoos) descend therein – and the angels are the believers who possess the knowledge of Aal Muhammad (a.s.), and the Holy Spirit is Lady Fatima (s.a.)
by permission of their Lord for every matter. Peace it is until the emergence of dawn. means until al-Qaim (a.s.) emerges.
- Tafsir al-Furat al-Kufi p 581
Imam Jafar Sadiq (a.s.) explains about the origins of Mushaf of Lady Fatima (s.a.):
Fatima (s.a.) remained after the Holy Prophet (s.a.w.a.) for seventy-five days, and she was overcome by severe grief for (loss of) her father. Jibrail (a.s.) used to come to her to console her for her father, comfort her soul, tell her about her father and his place, and tell her about what would happen after her in her offspring. And Ali (a.s.) used to write that down, so this is the Mushaf of Fatima (a.s.).
- Basair al-Darajat v 1 p 154
- Al-Kafi v 1 p 241
In another narration, the Imam (a.s.) explains another aspect of what this divine source contains:
And the Mushaf of Fatima (s.a.) – I do not claim that it contains Quran, but it contains what people need from us and we need from no one, even including the compensation for a wound, half a wound, a third of a wound, a quarter of a wound, and the compensation for a scratch…
- Basair al-Darajat v 1 p 150
In another aspect of what the Mushaf of Fatimah (s.a.) contains, Imam Sadiq (a.s.) declares:
And indeed we have the Mushaf of Fatima (s.a.), and what do they know what is the Mushaf of Fatima (s.a.)?
Narrator: What is the Mushaf of Fatima (s.a.)?
Imam (a.s.): A Mushaf containing the equivalent of your Quran three times, and by Allah, it does not contain a single letter from your Quran.
- Basair al-Darajat v 1 p 152
When the Imam (a.s.) said that the Mushaf of Lady Fatima (s.a.) does not contain a single letter from the Quran, he did not mean that it is unrelated to Quranic knowledge. The Quran itself holds all knowledge, but the Mushaf of Fatima (s.a.) does not include the actual verses and wording of the Quran. Instead, it contains knowledge given to her through Jibrail (a.s.), connected to the hidden and higher reality of the Quran—the Preserved Tablet, where everything past and future is recorded. In other words, her Mushaf reflects deeper meanings and elevated truths of the Quran, not a separate or different reality.
This is witnessed by another narration about Mushaf of Fatima (s.a.), which is what Emad al-Deen al-Tabari (r.a.) narrated in Dalail al-Imamah from the reliable narration of Abu Basir, who informed:
I asked Imam Muhammad Baqir (a.s.) about the Mushaf of Fatima (s.a.).
Imam (a.s.): It was revealed to her after her father’s death.
Abu Basir: Is there anything from the Quran in it?
Imam: There is nothing from the Quran in it.
Abu Basir: Describe it to me.
Imam (a.s.): It has two covers of emerald, along the length and width of red paper.
Abu Basir: May I be sacrificed for you, describe its paper to me.
Imam (a.s.): Its paper is of white pearl, it was said to it: ‘Be,’ and it was.
Abu Basir: May I be sacrificed for you, what is in it?
Imam (a.s.): In it is the news of what was and what will be until the Day of Judgment, and in it is the news of each heaven, and the number of what is in the heavens of angels and other than that, and the number of everything Allah created, sent and not sent, and their names, and the names of those to whom they were sent, and the names of those who denied and those who responded, and the names of all whom Allah created from the believers and disbelievers from the first and the last, and the names of the countries and the description of every country in the east and west of the earth, and the number of believers in them, and the number of disbelievers in them, and the description of everyone who denied, and the description of the first generations and their stories, and who ruled from the tyrants and the duration of their reign and their number, and the names of the Imams and their description and what each one rules, and the description of their nobles, and all who turned in the cycles.
Abu Basir: May I be sacrificed for you, how many are the cycles?
Imam (a.s.): Fifty thousand years, and they are seven cycles in which are the names of everything Allah created and their terms, and the description of the people of Paradise and the number of those who enter it, and the number of those who enter Hell, and the names of these and those, and in it is the knowledge of the Quran as it was revealed, and the knowledge of the Torah as it was revealed, and the knowledge of the Gospel as it was revealed, and the knowledge of the Psalms, and the number of every tree and clod in all countries.
Imam (a.s.) continued: And when Allah wanted to reveal it to her, Jibrail, Mikail, and Israfil came to carry it and descend with it to her, and that was on Friday eve, in the second third of the night. They surrounded it while she was standing in prayer, and they remained standing until she sat down. When she finished her prayer, they greeted her and said: Peace sends you greetings, and they placed the Mushaf in her lap.
She said: To Allah belongs peace, and from Him is peace, and to Him returns peace, and upon you, O messengers of Allah, be peace.
Then they ascended to heaven. She continued after the dawn prayer until the sun’s zenith reading it until she reached its end. Indeed, she (s.a.) was one whose obedience was obligatory upon all that Allah created from jinn, humans, birds, beasts, prophets, and angels.
Abu Basir: May I be sacrificed for you, to whom did that Mushaf go after her passing?
Imam (a.s.): She handed it to Ameerul Momineen (a.s.), and when he passed away, it went to Imam Hasan (a.s.), then to Imam Husain (a.s.), then it remained with his family until they hand it to the Master of this Affair (a.t.f.s.).
Abu Basir: Indeed, this knowledge is abundant.
Imam (a.s.): What I have described to you is in two pages from its beginning, and I have not described what comes after in the third page, nor have I spoken a single letter from it.
- Dalail al-Imamah p 106-105
It should be noted that the difference in the expressions of the narrations about the manner of Mushaf of Fatima (s.a.) is either due to the multiplicity of her pages or the difference in parts of the same Mushaf, or other aspects that are not hidden from the reader after observing the totality of the discussion in this position.
What indicates its apparent meaning and import from the inclusion of her Mushaf of every small and large thing, moist and dry, and everything created from what was, what will be, and what is to be, and the knowledge of the heavenly books, and as will come in the following positions about her being purified as in the verse of al-Ahzab, and the purified one as in Surah al-Waqiah touches the reality of the elevated Quran hidden in the Book and the Preserved Tablet described as being the explanation of everything as in Surah al-Nahl, and it is the Clear Book (Al-Kitab al-Mobeen) as in Surah al-Dukhan, and Al-Kitab al-Mobeen which is that in which every absent thing in the heavens and earth is recorded as in Surah al-Naml, and everything on land and sea and every moist and dry thing as in Surah al-Anam.
The content of this narration is what those verses indicated, in addition to the Quran being the book dominant over the rest of the heavenly books, so it encompasses them. Therefore, whoever touches its elevated reality, such realities descend upon him.
Mushaf of Lady Fatima (s.a.) is Hujjat on Opponents / Claimants of Caliphate
Not only is Lady Fatima (s.a.) a Proof /Hujjat for the Imams (a.s.), she with her Mushaf, is also a Hujjat for the enemies of the Imams (a.s.), who unjustly claimed caliphate.
In a challenge to the claimants of caliphate, Imam Jafar Sadiq (a.s.) declares:
…and let them bring out the Mushaf of Fatima (s.a.), for indeed in it is the will of Fatima, and with it is the weapon of Allah’s Messenger (s.a.w.a.). Indeed, Allah says: ‘Bring me a Book before this, or some trace of knowledge, if you are truthful.’ (Surah Ahqaf (46): 4)
The Mushaf of Fatima (s.a.) was not a source for a specific scholarly aspect, but encompasses several sciences, some of which the Imam (a.s.) referred to, such as the events occurring until the Day of Judgment – that is, what was, what will be, and what is to be until the Day of Judgment, in addition to the rulings that her Mushaf contains to include even the compensation for a scratch.
We do not overlook the Imam’s (a.s.) statement that the Mushaf of Fatima contains her will (s.a.), and this will contains a serious and important matter that the Imam (a.s.) did not explicitly state, but he hints at the seriousness and importance of this will through his words – “and let them bring out the Mushaf of Fatima” is a kind of threat and challenge to certain parties, implying that in her will (s.a.) are divine recommendations that designate the Imam whose imamate is from Allah. The bequest of the Imamate of the Imams (a.s.) indicates that the covenant of the Imamate of the Imams (a.s.) from her offspring is among her affairs, as the subject of the will must be within the authority of the testator.
Hence, the previous Imam would bequeath the Imamate of the succeeding one, such as the Prophet’s (s.a.w.a.) will regarding the Imamate of Ali (a.s.) and the Imams from his offspring (a.s.).
This position for her (s.a.) is declared by the text reported about the descent of the Green Tablet to her (on occasion on birth of Imam Husain (a.s.)) containing the designation of the names of the Imams (a.s.). Hence, it is correct that the Imams from her offspring are her successors, as is the case with the succeeding Imam being the successor of the preceding Imam, as mentioned in the Ziyarat of Imam Husain (a.s.) and the Ziyarat Imam Reza (a.s.): “O heir of Fatima…” indicating a divine inheritance between her and the Imams.
Lady Fatima (s.a.) and Lady Mariam Bint Imran (a.s.)
The position of succession in Imamate is a crucial divine position similar to what Lady Mariyam Bint Imran (s.a.), had in terms of position, where the Kalimatullah Esa (a.s.), was cast to her, and she had the responsibility of giving glad tidings to people about his prophethood.
This means that the Mushaf of Fatima (s.a.) has a role in determining the position of divine Imamate, and at the same time demonstrates what Fatima (s.a.) has of special authority in determining the features of Islamic leadership represented by her true leadership in the Imamate of the infallible ones (a.s.). It also confirms the greatness of her authority in the most serious affair of religion and the nation, which is determining the positions of divine Imamate, knowing that this determination will be at the level of divine will that is revealed to the Prophet (s.a.w.a.) to entrust to Fatima (s.a.).
From here, we will see the extent of the seriousness of Lady Fatima’s (s.a.) responsibilities in drawing the principle of the nation’s path and its end until the Day of Judgment, and it will become clear that is a serious and important matter.
This highlights the extent of the importance of Lady Fatima’s (s.a.) stand during the events of allegiance (of Abu Baqr) and the turn of events in Saqifah, and her declaration of condemnation of what the group of Saqifah undertook at that time.
Lady Fatima’s (s.a.) condemnation of what the people undertook means their opposition to the path that Allah the Almighty established and drew for this nation as its generations succeeded according to what was entrusted to her from the will in designating the Imam, which is guaranteed by the Mushaf of Fatima (s.a.).
After all, the Mushaf of Fatima (s.a.) is a divine communication revealed to Allah’s Messenger (s.a.w.a.) and he (s.a.w.a.) communicated it to her (s.a.).
Imam Jafar Sadiq (s.a.) informed:
…and Fatima (s.a.) left a Mushaf which is not Quran, but it is speech from Allah’s speech that was communicated to her, dictated by Allah’s Messenger (s.a.w.a.) and written by Ali (a.s.).
- Basair al-Darajat v 1 p 156
The narration says that part of Lady Fatima’s (a.s.) Mushaf came from what the Prophet (s.a.w.a.) dictated to her, not directly from Jibrail. This is similar to another report in Usool al-Kafi which explains that new divine knowledge first reaches the Prophet (s.a.w.a.) in the next world, then passes to Imam Ali (a.s.), then to each succeeding Imam, until it reaches the living Imam of the time (a.t.f.s.).
The narration shows that divine knowledge reaches the Imams (a.s.) through the Prophet’s (s.a.w.a.) mediation. Imam Ali (a.s.) would write down what the Prophet dictated to Lady Fatima (a.s.), just as he used to directly hear and see what the Prophet received from revelation as reported in numerous narrations. For instance, Imam Ali (a.s.) has himself narrated from the Prophet (s.a.w.a.):
‘You hear what I hear and see what I see, except that you are not a prophet’ at the end of the Qasiah sermon from Nahjul Balagha.
This is in harmony with the widely reported Hadith Manzelat wherein Holy Prophet (s.a.w.a.) declared to Ali (a.s.):
‘You are to me as Haroon was to Moosa,’ as what was revealed to Moosa was heard and seen by Haroon, as is the content of the noble verses shared between them in what is revealed.
What was revealed to Lady Fatima (s.a.) was divine speech (not Quran), with Imam Ali (a.s.) also hearing it—similar to Lady Mariyam (s.a.) receiving angelic and direct revelation despite not being a prophet. This highlights Lady Fatima’s (a.s.) elevated divine authority.
Mushaf of Fatima (s.a.) is among the proofs of the Imam’s Imamate
The Mushaf of Fatima (s.a.) is one of the scholarly sources from which the Imam of the era draws during his divine mission, in addition to being one of the proofs of his true imamate.
Abu Basir narrates: I heard Imam Jafar Sadiq (a.s. him) say:
Abu Jafar (Imam Baqir (a.s.)) did not die until he received the Mushaf of Fatima (s.a.).
- Basair al-Darajat v 1 p 157
Light of the Imams (a.s.) is from the Light of Lady Fatima (s.a.)
At the first level, Lady Fatima (a.s.) holds authority over the Imams (a.s.) through the divine knowledge in her Mushaf, making her an intermediary between Allah and them, similar to the Prophet’s (s.a.w.a.) authority with the Quran. This knowledge is not limited to the written Mushaf but reflects higher realities revealed to her.
Narrations about the creation of lights show that the Imams’ (a.s.) lights emanate from hers, placing her rank just after Imam Ali (a.s.) and making her a foundational source of their existence and perfections. She is a formative intermediary of emanation for their existence and perfections, and this is an elevated position and a great secret. The is the second level of her authority (Hujjat) on the Imams (a.s.).
In a report on the creation of the light of the infallibles (a.s.) Salman al-Muhammadi (r.a.) narrates:
I entered in the Holy Prophet’s (s.a.w.a.) presence, when he looked at me, and said:
O Salman, indeed Allah, did not send a prophet or messenger except that He made for him twelve leaders.
Salman: O Messenger of Allah, I have known this from the two books [Torah and Gospel].
Holy Prophet (s.a.w.a.): O Salman, do you know my twelve leaders whom Allah chose for Imamate after me?
I said: Allah and His Messenger know best.
Holy Prophet (s.a.w.a.): O Salman, Allah created me from the purity of His light and called me, and I obeyed Him. And He created from my light Ali and called him to His obedience, and he obeyed Him. And He created from my light and the light of Ali (a.s.), Fatima (s.a.), and called her, and she obeyed Him. And He created from me, Ali, and Fatima, Hasan and Husain, and called them, and they obeyed Him.
So Allah, named us with five names from His names: Allah is al-Mahmood (the Praised) and I am Muhammad, and Allah is Al-Ali and this is Ali, and Allah is Fatir and this is Fatima, and Allah is al-Ehsan and this is Hasan, and Allah is al-Mohsin and this is al-Husain.
Then He created from the light of Husain, nine Imams and called them, and they obeyed Him before Allah created a built heaven or a spread earth, or air, or water, or angel, or human. And we are all, by His knowledge, lights glorifying Him, hearing Him, and obeying Him.
- Behar al-Anwar v 25 p 6-8
The derivation of Ali’s light from Muhammad’s light, Fatima’s light from Ali’s light, Hasan and Husain’s light from Fatima’s light, and the lights of the nine from Husain’s offspring from Husain’s light is an indication of the order of luminosity and that the preceding one is an intermediary of emanation for the succeeding one. Therefore, Lady Fatima (s.a.) is considered a luminous intermediary of emanation for the Imams (a.s.) due to her precedence over them in luminosity, and this is the meaning of her being an intermediary of emanation to her infallible children (a.s.), so she is consequently a proof over them.
What confirms that they are from one light is what was narrated from Imam Reza (a.s.): …indeed Allah revealed to Imran:
I am granting you a male, so He granted him Mariyam, and granted Mariyam, Esa. So Esa is from Mariyam and Mariyam is from Esa, and Mariyam and Esa are one thing. And I am from my father, and my father is from me, and my father and I are one thing…
- Al-Kafi v 6 p 195
If Esa is from Mariyam and Mariyam is from Esa as one thing, then how about those who were lights glorifying Allah before creation by two million years?
As the infallibles (a.s.) have reported:
Indeed Allah created us before creation by two million years, so we glorified Him and the angels glorified due to our glorification.
- Al-Ikhtesaas p 91
So the Imams (a.s.) are from Lady Fatima (s.a.), and Lady Fatima (s.a.) is from them (a.s.).
This is the proof of our statement: that she (a.s.) is a formative intermediary of emanation for their existence and perfections.
Thus, two aspects of Lady Fatima’s (s.a.) position of authority over the eleven Imams (a.s.) are summarized:
First: Her Mushaf being a source among the sources of the Imams’ (a.s.) knowledge, and the meaning of this is her scholarly mediation appointed by Allah for the Imams.
Second: The derivation of their light (a.s.) from her light at the beginning of creation, which necessitates the position of authority due to the preceding one’s dominance over the succeeding one.
Source: Maqamat Fatima al-Zahra (s.a.) by Sayyid Muhammad Ali al-Helu
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