First let us explore the facts regarding the city of Fatima in Portugal.

According to the Wikipedia: “The town of Fatima in Portugal was named after a Moorish princess.”

The Webster dictionary states that Moors were Muslims of the mixed Berber and Arab people inhabiting NW Africa that invaded Spain in the 8th century C.E. and occupied it until 1492.

The state Master Encyclopedia says: “In 711 CE, a Moorish Umayyad army from North Africa invaded Visigothic Christian Hispania. Under their leader Tariq ibn-Ziyad, they landed at Gibraltar and brought most of the Iberian Peninsula under Islamic rule in an eight-year campaign. Al-ʾAndalūs (Arabic الإندلس: Land of the Vandals) is the Arabic name given the Iberian Peninsula by its Muslim conquerors. From the 8th to the 15th centuries, parts of the Iberian Peninsula were ruled by the Moors (mainly Berber with some Arab) who had crossed over from North Africa.

The Webster dictionary clarifies that the Iberian Peninsula is a peninsula in SW Europe, comprising Spain and Portugal.

In addition to the Umayyad Sunni influence among the Berbers of North Africa, who entered the Iberian Peninsula, there were also certain Shi’ah presence in the area at the time, for instance:

“The Idrisids (Arabic : الأدارسة) were a Zaydi -Shia Arab dynasty of Morocco, ruling from 788 to 985 AD … The founder of the dynasty was Idris ibn Abdallah (788–791), who traced his ancestry back to Ali ibn Abi Talib and his wife Fatimah, daughter of the Prophet Muhammad. As a sharif Shiite he was persecuted by the Abbasids and fled to the Maghreb in 786, where he was taken in by the Berbers. … The new kingdom of Idris I represented the second autonomous Islamic state in Morocco, and the first in Iberia.” (The Wikipedia Encyclopedia)

The Encyclopedia Britannica in regard to the Fatimite or Fatimid or the al-Fātimiyyūn Dynasty states: “Political and religious dynasty that dominated an empire in North Africa … from ad 909 to 1171 … It took its name from Fāṭimah, the daughter of the Prophet Muḥammad, from whom the Fāṭimids claimed descent.”

Thus from the proven Islamic influence in the region, specially Shi’ah who love and honor Hadrat Fatima (PBUH) so very much, it is quite logical to conclude that the name of Hadrat Fatima (PBUH) was well known to the people of Portugal. But in regard to the Moorish princess story, there are couple of very important points to consider, firstly: there is absolutely no historical proof for the story, rather the story is only based upon a “legend”.

This is what the Webster dictionary says about the term “legend”: A nonhistorical or unverifiable story handed down by tradition from earlier times and popularly accepted as historical.

The second point which deserves attention is that many who have narrated this “legend”, such as the very well known American Archbishop of the Roman Catholic Church, Fulton John Sheen, have said that the Moorish princess who was named Fatima after the daughter of the Prophet of Islam, married a Catholic young man, became a Catholic and her name was changed to a Catholic name, but her husband loving her so much changed the name of his town to her Muslim name! One may ask: why her Muslim name? But interestingly the “legend” itself does not say this! It seems that even legends have not been safe from human distortions!!!

Here is what the StateMaster Encyclopedia confirms in regard to the “legend” of the Moorish princess: “Legend says that the name of the city derives from a Moorish princess from Alcácer do Sal named Fatima who, following her capture by Christian forces during the Moorish occupation of Portugal, was betrothed to the leader of those forces, Gonçalo Hermigues, converted to Catholicism, and was baptised before her marriage in 1158. Her baptismal name was Oureana. Legend also says that the name of the town Ourém derives from Oureana.”

Notice that “Legend also says that the name of the town Ourém derives from Oureana”; this means that according to this “legend” the city of Ourém in Portugal was named after the so-called Moorish princess, and not the town of Fatima!

SO IT CAN NOT BE VERIFIED THAT THE NAME OF THE VILLAGE WHERE THE SO CALLED APPARITIONS OCCURRED, WAS FATIMA, PRIOR TO THE ALLEGED EVENT, AND THUS IT SEEMS THAT THE VILLAGE WAS MOST PROBABLY NAMED FATIMA BECAUSE OF THE SO CALLED APPARITIONS. AND EVEN IF THE VILLAGE HAD THE ISLAMIC NAME FATIMA, PRIOR TO THE ALLEGED APPARITIONS, IT IS LOGICAL THAT THE NAME FATIMA WAS IN COMMEMORATION OF HADRAT FATIMA (PBUH) DUE TO THE ISLAMIC INFLUENCE IN THE REGION, AND AS PROVED ABOVE, NOT AFTER THE FORSAKEN NAME OF A LEGENDARY YOUNG GIRL.

Now let us explore the title by which the Christians claim that the lady of the so-called visions, had introduced herself: “Lady of Rosary”, i.e. “Lady of Prayer Beads”.

“There are differing views on the history of the rosary. According to tradition, the rosary was given to Saint Dominic in an apparition by the Blessed Virgin Mary in the year 1214 in the church of Prouille [in France]. This Marian apparition received the title of Our Lady of the Rosary.” (Wikipedia Encyclopedia cited from St. Dominic and the Rosary by Catherine Beebe) It is also worth noting that building statues titled “the lady of the rosary” started since the so called church of Prouille apparition, and not before then.

Therefore firstly, the prayer beads, or as the Catholics have called it: the rosary, which is being used by the Catholics, is a fairly new concept, and the prayers recited and counted by the rosary have also been developing by various Catholic figures ever since some one had claimed that the Rosary was given to him in a vision. It is also noteworthy to mention that many such new concepts in Christianity originated in or around the 13^th century C.E. when certain significant factors were in progress in Europe, such as the presence of Muslims in Europe, and also the Crusade Wars; i.e. many such concepts in Christianity originated in the period in which the Christians were being exposed to the Islamic teachings and culture. It is also noteworthy to mention that exposure to Islamic sciences and culture was the main factor which paved the way for the Renaissance in Europe; for more information in this regard, we cordially invite our friends to read the article: “Europe, Christianity and Islam” in this site: kindfather.com

Secondly thus, the title “Lady of Rosary” which the Catholic Church has been using for Hadrat Maryam -Mary- (PBUH) was neither Bestowed by Allah nor installed by His Prophet, Hadrat ‘Eesa -Eisa, Jesus- (PBUH), and it does not even go back to her life time, rather it is a new and innovated title which has only been around since the thirteenth century C.E., and it is based on another so-called apparition in a small French village.

The word Tasbih itself in Arabic means, praising, glorifying and worshipping Allah (SWT) and considering Him Pure from any thing like unto Him. The Tasbih of Fatima (PBUH) is a special set of prayers to Praise the One and Only Almighty, for which the Lady Fatima (PBUH) made prayer beads to count. This Tasbih has been named after her because her father, the Prophet Mohammad (PBUH&HP), by the command of Allah (SWT), over 1400 years ago taught her the specific statements of the Tasbih of Allah; and it has been narrated by all Muslims, Shi’ah and Sunni, ever since. The Prophet Mohammad (PBUH&HP) told her (PBUH) that the Divine Formula of the Tasbih is worth more than almost everything in the world, he told her to recite at the end of every prayer the Great Exaltation, Allah-o-Akbar 34 times, the Statement of Absolute Gratitude, Al-Hamd-o-lellah 33 times and the Invocation of Divine Glory, SobhaanAllah 33 times, totaling 100. This collective prayer is called the Tasbih of Fatima. It is also noteworthy to mention that the word Tasbih has been used for prayer beads ever since.

THEREFORE THE TASBIH OF FATIMA ZAHRA IS THE VERY FIRST SET OF PRAYER BEADS IN HISTORY, and ITS PRAYERS WERE ASSIGNED BY ALLAH HIMSELF THROUGH HIS LAST PROPHET OVER 1400 YEARS AGO, AND THUS HADRAT FATIMA (PBUH) HAS BEEN THE LADY OF TASBIH OR PRAYER BEADS FOR OVER FOURTEEN CENTURIES.

To be continued …