• Fatimah: What distinguishes Fatimah from other women
In my country, some people claim that Lady Fatimah, the daughter of the Prophet Muhammad, peace be upon him, was a special woman. When she was born, the Prophet Moses' sister and Pharaoh's wife as well as Lady Mary, mother of the Prophet Jesus, attended her birth and that Lady Fatimah talked to Angel Gabriel, calling him uncle. Is this true?
That Lady Fatimah was a woman of distinction is an absolute fact. No one can claim otherwise. Her position of distinction is mentioned in more than one Hadith. Prophet is reported to have said: "Fatimah is a part of my flesh: whoever causes her to be upset, upsets me." (Related by Al-Bukhari)
He also says: "Fatimah is the mistress of all women in heaven (with the exception of Mary)." That is more than sufficient to make her one of the most distinguished women in the whole history of mankind.
Lady Fatimah was the youngest of the Prophet's daughters. He loved her so dearly and he told her what he told no one else and she kept that secret until he had passed away. Lady Fatimah reports: "Allah's messenger, peace be upon him, came in one day when I was at Aisha's room and he spoke privately to me and I cried. He then spoke privately to me and I smiled. Aisha asked me about this and I said I have learned something, but should I tell you Allah's messenger's secret? She dropped the subject. When the Prophet passed away she asked again and I told her: "He said to me: I think I will die this year, and that no woman in any generation has ever had a greater tragedy than yours, so do not be less patient than any woman. I therefore cried. He then said to me: [Fatimah] You are the mistress of all women in heaven, with the exception of Mary, and I smiled." As for the attendance of the distinguished ladies you have mentioned at her birth and her talking to the angel, this cannot be authentic at all.
• Following the Prophet, peace be upon him, or someone else
Is it proper to say that one follows an Imam, such as the founder of any of the four major schools of thought or should we say that we follow the Prophet Muhammad, peace be upon him,? May I also ask about the meaning of the Verses 166-167 of Surah 2 and whether they apply to following the four imams?
As Muslims, we follow God's Messenger, the Prophet Muhammad, peace be upon him. This is what is required of every one of us. Only by following the Prophet Muhammad, peace be upon him, can we redeem ourselves on the day of judgment. No one will be asked on that day which school of thought he had followed, but he will be asked whether he had followed the Prophet Muhammad, peace be upon him, or not.
The great scholars who founded the four schools of thought, and indeed those who contributed to each one of these four schools, as well as other great scholars who had their own methods and made their own rulings, either in line with those schools or independently, were merely helping ordinary people follow the Prophet Muhammad, peace be upon him. They did not bring anything new, nor did they devise something that was at variance with the Prophet's guidance. Far be it from any of them to do so. Their aim was one, but their methods differed. They had their methods of deduction and their measures of value which they assigned to each piece of evidence that concerned any aspect of legislation. We do them wrong if we claim that they made their rulings as they considered fit. No one of them ever claimed to do so. They simply studied the Qur'an and the Hadith, as well as the practical Sunnah and the great legacy of scholarship they received from the time of the Prophet up to their own time. They balanced opposing considerations and considered people's interests and how best to serve these, since the purpose of the Islamic law is to ensure that people's best interests are properly served.
The two Qur'anic verses to which you have referred may be translated as follows: "Those who have been followed would dissociate themselves from those who followed them, when they have seen the punishment and felt that all relations would be cut off. Those who followed them would say: "If only we had one more chance so that we dissociate ourselves from them, as they have dissociated themselves from us. Thus God will show them the fruits of their deeds as nothing but regrets. They will have no way out of the fire." These verses do not speak of every type of following. Most certainly they do not refer to following any Muslim scholar, let alone the noble scholars who founded the schools of thought. These verses speak of people who follow others that lead them astray. This applies, for example, to following a political or social leader who adopts a course of action which is contrary to Islamic teachings. He will thus lead his people to ruin because when they follow him they displease God. They will be acting against the Prophet's guidance.
• Food: Canned in foreign countries
Cans of food imported from foreign countries may carry a statement in Arabic that the food has been prepared according to the Islamic way. Do we accept such a statement without question?
This statement in Arabic is made to comply with requirement by governments of Muslim countries that canned food imported into those countries must be permissible to eat from the Islamic point of view. Some governments have gone to considerable length to ensure that the food so imported satisfies the conditions Islam lays down for consumption. Such governments appoint certain agents to supervise the killing of animals, the meat of which is to be used in canned food.
Even if this was not the case, and the exporter includes this statement on his own behest, we have a rule that we need not ask about the details which we do not know. If we have no reason to doubt the correctness of a particular statement, we should accept it at its face value. Therefore, when we read such a statement that the food used in a particular can is acceptable from the Islamic point of view, we take it as correct. If we have a good reason for suspicion, then we take appropriate action. For example, if certain cans have been imported from a country where atheism was the standard creed for a considerable length of time and we have a statement that the meat used has been slaughtered in the Islamic way, we have a very good reason to doubt. In such a case, we should be extra-careful.
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