TMbings and Difeat^119his daughter's material request by granting her the privilege of a confi-
dence from the divine: a spiritual tcaching that has come down to us
through the ages and mat each Muslim now adopts as his own at me heart
of his daily life. Fatimah, like her husband, Ali, was a model of piety, gen-
erosity, and love. She lived in the light of her father's spiritual teachings:
getting by o n little, asking everything of the One, and giving everything
of herself to o thers.
Years later, by her d ying father's side, she was to weep intensely when
he whispered in her ear that God was going to call him back to H im, that
it was time for him to depart. She smiled happily when, a few minutes
later, he told her in confidence-loving confidence seems to reveal the
essence of this father-daughter rclationship--that she was to be the first
in he r family to join him.
Aishah, the Prophet's wife, was also nurturcd by 1-fuhammad's exam-
ple and conversation. Everything led to spiritual edification, and she was
later to be an invaluable source of i.nfo rmation about the n.-!csscnger's per-
sonality, attitude in private life, and public commitments. She has told how
n.luhammad was attentive to her expectations and wishes when, while still
<Iuite young, she anived in his home in Medina. Play was part of their
lives, and Muhammad never refrained from sharing in it o r allowing her
to satisfy her curiosity, as fo r instance when a delegation from Abyssinia
visited him. The Abyssinians performed various games and traditional
dances in the courtyard of the Prophet'S house, and the Prophet stood on
the doorstep of his dwelling, thus allowing his wife to ",ratch the perform-
ance discreetly from behind his shoulder.^29 Time and time again, she
spoke of the particular narure of rus attentiveness £0 her, of his expres-
sions of tenderness, and of the fr eedom he allowed her in her daily life.
The contents of the Prophetic tnldicions she later repon ed shows to what
extent Muhammad spoke to h~r, conversed \1,-;th her, and expressed his
love and tenderness. In her presence, through the example of his behav-
io r toward his wife, he reformed the Muhajirun's and the Ansar's customs.
The two Quranic verses dealing with women's dress wer e revealed
around the second year of hijrah.JO The khintar was a piece of doth
""o me n wore on their heads, th rowing its ends on th eir backs: me Quran
o rdered i\'luslim women to draw the ends forwa rd over their chests, cov-
ering their throats. The Prophet's wives, like all other women, respected
that in junction; not until two years later was their specific statu s as "the