Editing Fatima (section)

==Fatima in Popular Culture==
Esoteric or popular beliefs about Fatima, often connected with episodes in her hagiography, constitute the basis of several feasts and pilgrimages ([[ziara]]). The most important of the former are commemorations of the ordeal ([[mubahala]]) witnessed by the ahl al-ʿabaʾ, who are thus recognized as legitimate leaders of the community, celebrated on 21 Dhu’l-hejja; <ref>Schmucker; Massignon, 1969, I, pp. 550-91.</ref> Then there is Fatima’s birth (mawludiya) on 21 Ramadan, with a secondary celebration on 15 Shaʿban (which also commemorates the birth of the Mahdi Fatemi; the laylat al-baraʿa; the death of Salman); then her death on 3 Jomada II, with a secondary celebration on 2 Ramadan; of her figure as al-Masjed al-Aqsa, on 27 Rajab, commemorating Muhammad’s meʿraj. <ref>Massignon, 1969, I, pp. 576-77.</ref> Specific ziarat are made for Fatima at Medina. <ref>Massignon, 1969, III, pp. 295 ff.</ref> In private [[Rawza-Khani|rawza-khani]] (recitation of the [[martyrdom]] of Hussain) assemblies held by Persian women at any time of year, the most popular story is of Fatima’s invitation to a wedding, where she converts those present. <ref>ʿarusi-e Qoraysh; Massignon, 1969, I, p. 580.</ref> Special offerings are dedicated to Fatima: small pots (digcha-ye hazrat-e Zahra) on the last Wednesday of Safar and samanu, a kind of pudding reputed to have been her favorite dish. <ref>Shakurzada, pp. 26-27, 46 ff., 83; Massé, Croyances et coutumes, p. 47 n. 2.</ref> On the last Wednesday of the solar year [http://www.iranicaonline.org/articles/caharsanba-suri chaharshanba suri] some families used to break and replace their earthenware pots in her honor. <ref>Massé, Croyances et coutumes, p. 146 n. 2.</ref> Offerings and thanks are dedicated to Fatima as an intercessor on various occasions and in various sanctuaries throughout the Islamic world. She is especially invoked by Shiʿite women during childbirth. <ref>Massignon, 1969, III, p. 296.</ref>

Popular devotion finds its utmost expression in representations of redemptive suffering focused on the [[Karbala]] paradigm. As mistress of the bayt al-ahzan (house of sorrows) and the Day of Judgment, <ref>Ayoub, 1978, pp. 48 ff., 212 ff.</ref> Fatima is present in most rituals as an “icon”: She wears a crown for Muhammad, a necklace or sword for ʿAli, and earrings of diamonds and rubies for Hasan and Hussain. <ref>Massignon, 1969, I, pp. 517, 568, 583, 612; Kashefi, p. 67; Calmard, p. 416; Ayoub, pp. 213-14.</ref> Hussain’s daughter Fatima Kobra, who allegedly married her cousin [[Qasim b. al-Hasan|Qasim b. Hasan]] at Karbala, and the sickly [[Fatima Soghra]], who remained in Medina, were both named after her. <ref>Kashefi, pp. 24, 391 ff.; Calmard, pp. 390, 393, 401.</ref> Banners ([[Alam|ʿAlam]]) related to Fatima are carried in [[Muharram]] processions. The 17th-century traveler Adam Olearius mentioned having seen at Ardabil a miraculous ʿalam allegedly made by her daughter. <ref>Massé, Croyances et coutumes, p. 131.</ref> The large Bibi ka ʿalam, made of gold (with pendant diamonds on each side symbolizing earrings), is carried on an elephant in Ashura processions at Hyderabad, Deccan, and is venerated by both Sunnites and Shiʿites. <ref>Hollister, p. 169; Pinault, pp. 158-59.</ref> The symbol of the open hand of Fatima (cf. the hand of God among Jews, of Mary among Christians) is widespread in Sunnite areas, <ref>Kriss and Kriss-Heinrich, I, p. 23, II, pp. 2 ff., with illustrations and references to Venus and Babylonian cults.</ref> but among Shiʿites the open hand (panja) represents that of Hazrat-e [[ʿAbbas b. ʿAli]] (q.v.), severed at Karbala. <ref>Massé, Croyances et coutumes, p. 27 n. 1; Eilers, p. 111 n. 7.</ref> Rawza-khanis and other liturgies and rituals connected with Fatima also found their way into passion plays ([[taʿzia]]; see bibliography).

Beside Fatima’s name and variants, popular for Muslim girls, her epithets Zahra, Tahera, Zakiya, Raziya, Razia, Batul (virgin), Kaniz (maiden), and the like are also given as names, as are various diminutives: Fatayma/Fotaytom/Fattush, Foti/Foto in India. <ref>Schimmel, pp. 44, 69 ff.; on other names, see Veccia Vaglieri in EI2 II, pp. 847-48.</ref> Her name is sometimes given to girls born on Friday night. <ref>Schimmel, p. 23 n. 41.</ref> Fatima as “sovereign of feminine humanity” <ref>Corbin, 1960, pp. 115 ff.; idem, 1971-72, IV, p. 314.</ref> has been variously appreciated in recent history. Fatima has been idealized as a symbol of feminine excellence, a model of submission both to the will of God and her husband <ref>Meer Hassan Ali, p. 97.</ref> and authenticity and liberation for all women ([[Ali Shari’ati|Shariʿati]]).