Woman Between Islam and Western Society
9. Dowry
~ 435 ~
‘Ali told Fatimah about this and suggested that she
should go and ask her father to give her one of
them. When Fatimah came to the Prophet, he asked
what had brought her there. But, feeling too shy to
ask anything of him, she merely said, “I have come
to say
salam
to you,” and she went back home
without having explained her difficulties to him.
The Prophet later came to her house and asked why
she had really come. Then Fatimah said, “O Prophet
of God, both of my hands have boils on them. I
have to keep grinding and kneading the flour, so I
wanted a servant.” The Prophet replied, “Whatever
God has decreed, that you will receive. And I will
tell you something better than that. That is, when
you go to bed, glorify God 33 times and proclaim
His glory 33 times and praise him 34 times. This
makes full one hundred. Such action on your part is
better than that of having a servant.”
5
In spite of these events having been faithfully
recorded, there are still many people who seek to
justify the giving of huge dowries by citing the
example of the Prophet’s gifts to Fatimah. But,
would anyone of this number advise a daughter
with blistered hands to forget about having a
