Origins & Early Life

Fatima bint Musa (Arabic: فَاطِمَة بِنْت مُوسَىٰ, romanized: Fāṭima bint Mūsā), circa 790–816 CE, commonly known as Fatima al-Ma'suma (Arabic: فَاطِمَة ٱلْمَعْصُومَة, romanized: Fāṭima al-Maʿṣūma, lit. 'Fatima, the immaculate'), was the daughter of Musa al-Kazim (d. 799) and sister of Ali al-Rida (d. 818), the seventh and eighth Imams in Twelver Shia.

Pivotal Works & Achievements

A young Fatima left her hometown of Medina in about 816 to visit her brother al-Rida in Merv, but fell ill along the way and died in Qom, located in modern-day Iran. She is revered for her piety in Twelver Shia and her shrine in Qom is a major destination for pilgrimage. Fatima was born circa 790 CE in Medina to Musa al-Kazim, the seventh Imam in Twelver Shia. When Musa died in 799 in the prison of the Abbasid caliph Harun al-Rashid (r. 786–809), possibly poisoned, a significant group of his followers accepted the imamate of his son Ali al-Rida, brother of Fatima.

Enduring Legacy & Impact

In 816, al-Rida was summoned to Khorasan by the Abbasid caliph al-Ma'mun (r. 813–833), who designated him as the heir apparent in 817, possibly to mitigate the frequent Shia revolts. Fatima then set out to join her brother in Merv but fell ill along the way in...

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