Әли ибн Әби Талиб әйелі – Үмм әл-Банин

Wife of Ali ibn Abi Talib

Fāṭima bint Ḥuzām (فَاطِمَة بِنْت حُزَام), better known as ʾUmm al Banīn (أُمّ ٱلْبَنِين), was a wife of Ali ibn Abi Talib, the fourth Rashidun caliph and the first Shia Imam. She belonged to the Banu Kilab, a tribe within the Qays confederation. Umm al Banin married Ali sometime after the death in 632 CE of his first wife Fatima, daughter of the Islamic prophet Muhammad. She bore Ali four sons who were all killed in the Battle of Karbala (680 CE).

Her date of birth is unknown. The Shia leaning historian Abu al Faraj al Isfahani gives some information about her marriage to Ali in his Maqatil al Talibiyyin, a historical biographical compilation about the descendants of Ali. He writes that Aqil, a brother of Ali knowledgeable in Arab genealogy, introduced Fatima bint Huzam to Ali because her tribe was famed for courage in the hope that she would bear Ali brave sons. Her marriage to Ali brought the couple four sons: Abbas, Abd Allah, Ja'far, and Uthman. It was because of her sons' courage that she became known as Umm al Banin , reads a poem attributed to Fatima bint Huzam. All four fought alongside their half brother Husayn ibn Ali in the Battle of Karbala (680 CE) and were killed with him. When Umm al Banin received the news of their deaths in Karbala, she reputedly said that she would have given her sons and everything on the earth to see Husayn alive again. The Shia scholar Yusofi Oshkuri views this as a sign of her devotion to the Ahl al Bayt, that is, the House of Muhammad. Upon her return from Karbala, Zaynab bint Ali is also said to have personally visited Umm al Banin to offer condolences. She regularly visited the al Baqi Cemetery in Medina to mourn with her grandson, Ubayd Allah, who was Abbas' son. Her poems would bring those present to tears, even apparently the Umayyad Marwan ibn Hakam. She is buried in the al Baqi but the year of her death is unknown.

Especially in Iran, Shia women make the supplication of tawassul to Umm al Banin, requesting her soul to join her prayers to them, particularly when in dire need or to find patience in difficult times.