Search the Community

Did Imam Ali (a.s) really marry off his daughter Umm Kulthum to Omar the second caliph?! Explanation of the Shubha There's a narrative in which Imam Ali (a.s) married his daughter to the second caliph Omar. If the story is correct then it implies there weren't any enmity between them! otherwise the Imam wouldn't have married off Umm Kulthum to the caliph. Therefore all Shia say about the raid on the house of Lady Fatima (s.a), hitting the Lady and harming her which led to her untimely death, is not true! The Answer There are 3 theories regarding the marriage of Umm Kulthum with Omar: Theory 1: There is no such person as Umm Kulthum and the name is just a kunya for Lady Zainab (s.a). On some occasions, she is mentioned in history by the name of Umm Kulthum for example: It is said that when the captives of Ashura reached Kufa Umm Kulthum delivered an eloquent speech as if Imam Ali (as) had come back to life and stood before them.[1] Some sources have claimed that the tomb in Damascus belongs to Umm Kulthum but we already know it's the sacred tomb of Lady Zainab. In other parts of the Ashura event, Lady Zainab (s.a) is again mentioned as Umm Kulthum. There's also a hadith in which Lady Fatima says that her belongings are to be passed onto Umm Kulthum! Theory 2: Umm Kulthum is Abu-Bakr's daughter raised in Imam Ali's house. Because her mother, Asma Bint Umays was the wife of Jaffar at-Tayyar – Imam Ali's brother but married Abu-Bakr after Jaffar's martyrdom, and when Abu-Bakr passed away, she married Imam Ali (a.s). Because of her devotion to the Imam (a.s), she brought her two children from Abu-Bakr to the Imam's (a.s) house. Those two children were Muhammad ibn Abu-Bakr and Umm Kulthum. So, the girl Omar married to, was the daughter of Abu-Bakr and Asma bint Umays. Theory 3: Umm Kulthum is the real daughter of Imam Ali (as) and Lady Fatimah (s.a) beside Lady Zainab and married Omar --> This theory comes with many possibilities and disagreements that reduce its authenticity: The age of Umm Kulthum at the time of marriage, whether the marriage was consummated or not, also her fate after Omar whether she lived long or died young, and whether or not she had children with Omar are just some of the ambiguities regarding this character! Not just that! When we take a look at the Sunnite narratives about this story, we see that they have many obscene wordings that are not just offensive and disrespectful to Imam Ali (as) but also rude to Omar as the second caliph of the Sunnite! For example, most of them stated Imam Ali (as) -Ma'azAllah- put on makeup on his daughter and sent him to Omar which is just outrageous! Such cheap acts are far away from Imam Ali's (as) character. They haven't spared even their own caliph and depicted him as a lustful person! Both Sunnites and Shiites believe that touching non-mahram is forbidden but in their ahadith, the Sunnites narrate that when Omar saw Umm Kulthum, he kissed her or hugged her even bared her leg Ma'azAllah! Considering all these accusations alone, the Sunnite narratives are not to be trusted. Let's not speak about the issues with the chain of the transmitters! There are also some ahadith reflected in the Shiite sources regarding this marriage but they all assert that the marriage was out of duress! In the noble book of Kafi, there is a hadith in which Imam as-Sadiq (a.s) describes the marriage as "ghasb" to indicate that it happened with ikraah or compulsion. In another hadith of Imam as-Sadiq (a.s), it is stated that when Imam Ali (a.s) refused Omar's proposal, he went to al-Abbas the Imam's uncle, and threatened him that if they didn't give him Umm Kulthum he would buy two witnesses to accuse Ali (a.s) of thievery and have his right-hand cut! So, the Imam was compelled to accept the marriage. Anybody with a fraction of impartiality would know involuntary marriage has no value and is not a sign of friendship! [1] بلاغات النساء ص 23