Exemplary Conduct

EXEMPLARY CONDUCT daughter. Fatimah’s hands, he said, were blistered from constant grinding; her neck had become sore from carrying water; her clothes would become dirty from sweeping the floor. When the Prophet had received an influx of servants from some place, ‘Ali suggested to his wife that she approach her father and ask for a servant. She went but could not speak to the Prophet because of the crowd. The next day, he came to their house and asked Fatimah what she had wanted to see him about. ‘Ali told the Prophet the whole story and said he had sent her. “Fear God, Fatimah,” the Prophet said, “Fulfill your obligations to the Lord and continue with your housework. And when you go to bed at night, praise God thirty-three times, and glorify Him the same number of times; exalt His name thirty-four times, and that will make a full hundred. This would be much better than having a servant.” “If that is the will of God and His Prophet,” Fatimah replied, “then so be it.” This was the Prophet’s only reply. He did not give her a servant. The truth revealed to the Prophet was that this world did not spring up by itself but was created by one God, who continues to watch over it. All men are His servants and responsible to Him for their actions. Death is not the end of man’s life; instead, it is the beginning of another permanent world, where the goodwill enjoys the bliss of paradise, and the wicked will be cast into a raging hell. The revelation of this truth also came with the commandment to propagate it far and near. Accordingly, ascending the height of the rock of Safa, the Prophet called the people together.