Shi'ite Scripture: The Mus-Haf of Fatima

بسم الله الرحمـن الرحيم

الصلوة والسلام على من لا نبى بعده

Another peculiarity of the Twelver Shi’a is their belief in a secretive scripture called the Mus-haf of Fatima عليها السلام. They believe that after the passing away of the beloved Prophet صلى الله عليه وآله وسلم his daughter Sayyida Fatima عليها السلام was deeply saddened and grieved, so Allah sent the Angel Gabriel عليه السلام to console her. The speech of Angel Gabriel was recorded by Sayyidina Ali كرم الله وجهه who would listen in to their conversations, and write down the Angel’s words, which eventually took on the shape of a book. This book (Mus-haf of Fatima) is believed by the Shi’a to be three times the size of the Holy Qur’an, and contains knowledge of the unseen:

وإن عندنا لمصحف فاطمة عليها السلام وما يدريهم ما مصحف فاطمة عليها السلام؟ قال: قلت: وما مصحف فاطمة عليها السلام؟ قال: مصحف فيه مثل قرآنكم هذا ثلاث مرات، والله ما فيه من قرآنكم حرف واحد

The Imams (a.s.) remained silent for a while and then said, “With us there is the book (Mushaf) of Fatima, (a.s.). What do they know what Mushaf of Fatima is? The Imam (a.s.) said, “Mushaf of Fatima is three times bigger than your Quran. There is not even a single letter therein from your Quran.”

إن الله تعالى لما قبض نبيه صلى الله عليه وآله دخل على فاطمة عليها السلام من وفاته من الحزن ما لا يعلمه إلا الله عز وجل فأرسل الله إليها ملكا يسلي غمها ويحدثها، فشكت ذلك إلى أمير المؤمنين عليه السلام فقال: إذا أحسست بذلك وسمعت الصوت قولي لي فأعلمته بذلك فجعل أمير المؤمنين عليه السلام يكتب كلما سمع حتى أثبت من ذلك مصحفا قال: ثم قال أما إنه ليس فيه شئ من الحلال والحرام ولكن فيه علم ما يكون.

The narrator has said that he asked the Imams (a.s.), “What is Mushaf of Fatima?” The Imam (a.s.) said, “When Allah took the Holy Prophet (s.a.) from this world, it caused such a degree of grief to Fatima (a.s.) that only Allah, the Most Holy, the Most High, knows its extent. Allah then sent an angel to her to offer solace and speak to her. She complained about it to Amir al-Mu’minin Ali (a.s.) who asked her to inform him whenever she would find the angel speak to her. She then informed him when the angel came to speak. Amir al-Mu’minin Ali (a.s.) then would write down all that he would hear of the conversations of the angel so much so that his notes took the shape of a whole book.” The Imam (a.s.) then said, “There was nothing in it of the knowledge of the lawful and unlawful matters but it had the knowledge of things that had happened and things to happen in future.”

قال: فمصحف فاطمة عليها السلام؟ قال، فسكت طويلا ثم قال: إنكم لتبحثون  عما تريدون وعما لا تريدون إن فاطمة مكثت بعد رسول الله صلى الله عليه وآله خمسة وسبعين يوما وكان دخلها حزن شديد على أبيها وكان جبرئيل عليه السلام يأتيها فيحسن عزاء ها على أبيها، ويطيب نفسها، ويخبرها عن أبيها ومكانه، ويخبرها بما يكون بعدها في ذريتها، وكان علي عليه السلام يكتب ذلك، فهذا مصحف فاطمة عليها السلام.

The narrator has said that he asked the Imams (a.s.), “What is Mushaf of Fatima?” The Imam (a.s.) waited for quite a while. Then he said, “You ask about what you really mean and what you do not mean. Fatima (a.s.) lived after the Messenger of Allah for seventy-five days. She was severely depressed because of the death of her father. Jibril (a.s.) would come to provide her solace because of the death of her father. Jibril would comfort her soul. Jibril would inform her about her father and his place and of the future events and about what will happen to her children. At the same time Ali (a.s.) would write all of them down and thus is Mushaf of Fatima (a.s.).”

Reference: Usul-al-Kafi; pp.172-174

One piece of knowledge of the unseen that this scripture (Mus-haf of Fatima) allegedly contains is the fact that not a single descendant of Sayyidina Hasan al-Mujtaba رضى الله عنه will ever become a king and rule over the land:

محمد بن يحيى، عن أحمد بن محمد، عن الحسين بن سعيد، عن القاسم بن محمد، عن عبد الصمد بن بشير، عن فضيل [بن] سكرة قال: دخلت على أبي عبد الله عليه السلام فقال: يا فضيل أتدري في أي شئ كنت انظر قبيل؟ قال: قلت: لا، قال: كنت أنظر في كتاب فاطمة عليها السلام ليس من ملك يملك الأرض الا وهو مكتوب فيه باسمه واسم أبيه وما وجدت لولد الحسن فيه شيئا.

Muhammad ibn Yahya has narrated from Ahmad ibn Muhammad from al-Husayn ibn Sa‘id from al-Qasim ibn Muhammad from ‘Abd al-Samad ibn Bashir from Fudayl ibn Sukra who has said that once I went to abu ‘Abdallah (a.s.) and he said the following to me. “O Fudayl, do you know what at did I look just awhile before?” The narrator has said that he said to the Imams (a.s.), “No, I do not know.” The Imam (a.s.) said, “I was looking at the book of Fatima (a.s.). There is no king who would rule on earth with being listed therein by his name and the name of his father but I did not find the name of any of the descendent of al-Hassan therein.”

Reference: Ibid; p.174

The obvious problem with this so-called “Mus-haf of Fatima” is that if was indeed revealed to Sayyida Fatima through the Angel Gabriel عليهما السلام, containing information of the unseen, then puzzlingly it is in error about the fact that not a single descendant of al-Hassanرضى الله عنه  will enjoy kingship!

But history bears testament that there have been many kings and rulers with temporal authority in the Earth from among the progeny of Hassan b. Ali. For example, the Idrisid dynasty in Morocco, which was founded by Idris b. Abdullah b. al-Hassan al-Muthanna b. al-Hassan b. Ali. This dynasty lasted from 788 – 917 C.E. when it was finally overtaken by the rival Fatimids, and included nine successive rulers, all from the progeny of Hassan b. Ali رضى الله عنه.

Between 968 to 1925, the sacred city of Mecca was under the custody of the Sharifate of Mecca (descendants of Sayyidina Hassan). After the Arab revolt against the Ottoman Turks, members of this respectable family were made kings of Iraq and Jordan. Today, there is the Hashemite Kingdom of Jordan, currently ruled by King Abdullah b. al-Hussain, a direct descendant of Sayyidina Hassan رضى الله عنه

The inescapable conclusion is that the Mus-haf of Fatima is a fabricated book and the Twelver Shi’a must answer why they attribute it to the Angel Gabriel!