Until now, most of us are oblivious of the actual place. Perhaps, as some scholars opine, she intentionally wanted her grave to be unknown, so that the future Muslims are led to question how and why it is possible for the grave of the daughter of the noblest Messenger of Allah to be hidden. In one of my visits to Medina, when I was honored to visit the graves of the Ahlul Bayt (peace be upon them) in the well-known cemetery of Jannat al-Baqi, an old woman happen to meet me and asked in the Urdu language: Qubure Fatima kaha hai? (Where are the graves of Fatima?) I immediately thought that her sentence was wrong, and what she meant was, Qabre Fatima kaha hai? (Where is the grave of Fatima?)
Obviously, there is a difference of opinion on where she actually has been buried. Is it near the Prophet’s house in the Rawdha (the Aromatic and Paradisal Garden) as some traditions allude, or is it in Jannat al-Baqi? Until now, most of us are oblivious of the actual place. Perhaps, as some scholars opine, Fatima (peace be upon her) intentionally wanted her grave to be unknown, so that the future Muslims are led to question how and why it is possible for the grave of the daughter of the noblest Messenger of Allah to be hidden. What do the books of history say? Why did Fatima not allow some of the contemporaries of the Holy Prophet (peace be upon him and his progeny) to participate in her burial ceremony? Why did she prefer to be buried in secret? These are questions history has already answered. Those curious search for the truth.
Today, the situation is worse than before. The graves of the four immaculate leaders of the Ahlul Bayt, among other esteemed members of the Prophet’s family, are blocked in such a way that the lovers of the Ahlul Bayt cannot even go near them or sometimes even utter any salutational prayer, just because a group of misinformed watchmen have been ordered by the Wahabi leadership to discourage and even disturb anyone who does so.
Why all this disturbance? Is it really because of their concern for the people not to get astray, or is it because of a kind of vacuum and jealousy they have been taught to harbor against the Ahlul Bayt? Or is Ziyarah a catalyst to ignite sparks of revolution and unity of the Ummah? These are questions we must try to ponder upon and try to answer.
However, coming back to the question of the old woman, I must say that what she said was not grammatically improper. Yes, Fatima does not have one grave. She has several graves: the heart of every lover of Fatima encapsulates Fatima. However much the hypocrites try to spoil, destroy, and insult the edifices of the graves of the Ahlul Bayt, as long as they reside in the hearts of their lovers, they would remain eternal.
