Did the Incident of the Breaking of Lady Fatimah al-Zahra’s Rib Occur?

Question:
What do the Ahl al-Bayt (peace be upon them) say about the incident of the breaking of Lady Fatimah al-Zahra’s (peace be upon her) rib — did it actually happen?

Answer:
Lady Fatimah (peace be upon her) was far too honored and revered by her family for such acts to occur — for her rib to be broken, her unborn child to be lost, or her house to be burned.

Imam al-Mu’ayyad Billah Yahya ibn Hamzah (peace be upon him) refuted this claim in his Majmū‘ [p. 201], describing the story as a fabrication.

No authentic statement from the Imams of the Prophet’s family confirms the occurrence of the breaking of the rib or the burning of the house.

What is established, however, is that ‘Umar ibn al-Khattab threatened and attempted to act in such a way to pressure the Commander of the Faithful (peace be upon him) into pledging allegiance to Abu Bakr. This was mentioned by Imam al-Mu’ayyad Billah Ahmad ibn al-Husayn al-Hārūnī and Imam al-Mutawakkil ‘Alā Allāh Ahmad ibn Sulaymān (peace be upon them).

Many historians and hadith transmitters — even outside the Zaydi tradition — have recorded the attempt, though the breaking of the rib and the burning of the house were not proven.

Al-Hafiz Abu ‘Abdillah al-‘Alawi narrated with his chain from Yahya ibn Salamah, who said:

“I said to Abu al-Husayn Zayd ibn ‘Ali: People claim that Fatimah was slapped.”

He replied: “She was far too honored by her family for that, O Abu Yahya!”
(Tasmiyat man rawā ‘an al-Imam Zayd ibn ‘Ali)

This, God willing, is a sufficient answer.

Answered by:
Ustadh al-Kāẓim al-Zaydī — may God grant him success.

اللهم صلّ على محمّد وعلى آل محمّد