Fatima's Touch - Poems and Stories of the Prophet's Daughter

Fatima’s Touch is unique. Biographies of Muhammad are available, but there is very little in English on Fatima—the Prophet’s youngest daughter—her life and family. The word “Islam” takes up a great deal of space in world events today, so it would follow that there are many who are curious about the founder of Islam and his famous daughter, Fatima al-Zahra. How was she raised? Why was she known as the “Mother of Her Father?” How were she and her family treated after Muhammad’s death? The Sunni/Shia conflict originated with a struggle for political power and attempt to exclude Fatima’s husband and sons from guiding Muhammad’s followers. This marked the beginnings of a family quarrel soaked in lethal bitterness that continues today. Two different histories tell Fatima’s life, one from the Sunni and the other from the Shia. This book weaves the telling as well as addressing the earthly and heavenly perceptions of the woman who is Fatima. From the preface: “I write to join this contentious family through the quiet power of poems. Poetry has a way of nudging sense and meaning inside a stream of words, the way water runs under the desert sand—to green an oasis.”The brief prose narration and remarks that precede each poem give the reader a better understanding and appreciation of the poetry that follows. For those who want an academic journey, Fatima’s Touch offers direct links through historians and hadith (traditional sayings of the Prophet). The sources are from historically reliable books and papers. For information and translation, Kahn called upon Islamic scholar Dr. Arthur Buehler, (PhD Harvard, recipient of Fulbright and Rockefeller grants,) who has been collecting and translating the material on Fatima for the last six years, and sharing it with her.