Umm Kulthum bint Ali
Umm Kulthum bint Ali (), was the granddaughter of the Islamic prophet Muhammad and the daughter of the fourth caliph Ali and Fatima bint Muhammad. Whether or not she married Umar is a controversial topic between Sunnis and Shia. She is given the epithet 'the Younger' to distinguish her from her older sister, Zaynab the Elder (Zaynab al-Kubra). Early life and family. She was born in 627 (6 AH) as the fourth child of Ali and of Muhammad's daughter, Fatimah. Her siblings were Hasan, Husayn and Zaynab. Muhammad gave her the kunya 'Umm Kulthum' because  she closely resembled his daughter, Umm Kulthum bint Muhammad, Zaynab's maternal aunt. First marriage. When Umm Kulthum was reportedly eleven years old, the caliph Umar proposed to her. Ali wanted his daughters to marry his brother Ja'far's sons, but Umar promised, "No man on the face of the earth will treat her better than I will." Ali protested that she had not yet reached puberty, but Omar commanded that she be presented to him. Ali gave his daughter a striped garment and instructed her: "Take this to the Commander of the Faithful and tell him: 'My father says , "If you like this garment, keep it; if you don't like it, return it."'" When Umm Kulthum brought this message to Omar, she reported, "He did not undo the garment nor look at anything except at me." He told her that he was pleased, and so Ali consented to the marriage. Omar gave his bride a dower of 40,000 "dirhams", and the marriage was consummated in November or December 638 (Dhu'l-Qaada 17 AH). Umar announced the marriage to his friends, who congratulated him. He then also said that he heard Muhammad say that "Every line and lineage is  cut off on the Day of Judgement except for my line and lineage". Upon hearing this, Umar desired to be in the lineage of Muhammad. They had two children, Zayd and Ruqayya. Ruqayya later married Ibrahim, a son of Sa'd ibn Abi Waqqas, by whom she had a daughter. Their third daughter Fatima married Abd al-Rahman, the son of Zayd ibn al-Khattab. One story from their married life tells how Umm Kulthum sent a gift of perfume to the Empress of Byzantium. The Empress sent back a "superb" necklace for Umm Kulthum. Omar believed that his wife should  not have conducted a private correspondence at the expense of the state postal service, so he reimbursed her for the cost of the perfume and placed the Empress's necklace in the state treasury. Nevertheless, it was said that Omar treated Umm Kulthum "with extreme honour and respect" because she was Muhammad's granddaughter. Subsequent marriages. After Omar's death in 644, Umm Kulthum married her young cousin, Ja'far's son Awn, for a dower of 4,000 "dirhams". Her brother Hasan remarked that he had never seen such passionate love as Umm Kulthum's for Awn. However, Awn died after  only a short time. After Awn's death, Ali married Umm Kulthum to Awn's brother Muhammad, again for 4,000 "dirhams". But Muhammad also died. After the death of her husband Muhammad, Umm Kulthum became one of the wives of Awn and Muhammad's eldest brother, Abdullah, after the death of her sister Zaynab "al-Kubra".. With respect to divorce the book of Muhammad Al-Munajjid discloses that Zaynab died while married to him (Abdullah bin Jafar). Umm Kulthum remarked: "I was not shy with <nowiki>[my mother-in-law]</nowiki> Asma bint Umays. Two of her sons died while  married to me, but I did not fear this for the third." Umm Kulthum had no children by any of her three latter marriages. Battle of Karbala. She is reported to have been present at the Battle of Karbala, during which her earrings were taken from her by an attacking soldier. Afterwards, Umm Kulthum, along with her sister Zaynab, gave a eulogy condemning the people of Kufa for abandoning her brother Husayn, who was killed in the battle. They also delivered many sermons (), condemning the assassination of Husayn and challenging the Umayyad authority. Death. The Umayyad Caliph Abd al-Malik  ibn Marwan () poisoned Umm Kulthum and her son Zayd. Eighty people attended their funeral, where Sa'id ibn al-As conducted the prayers, and the congregation included Abdullah ibn Omar and Abu Hurairah. It has been suggested that Abd al-Malik poisoned Zayd since Zayd was a descendent of Umar and Ali, who were the second and fourth caliphs, and could possibly threaten Abd al-Malik's caliphate. In addition, he also poisoned his mother. Umm Kulthum is buried in Baab Sagheer cemetery in Damascus, Syria . The Mausoleum of Umm Kulthum is located in Arrawiya village in Damascus. Fatimids believe that  she is also known as "Zaynab the Younger" and that she is buried at Sayyidah Zaynab Mosque, Damascus; whereas Zaynab the Elder lived at the end of her life in Cairo and was buried there at Al-Sayeda Zainab Mosque. Legacy. Umm Kulthum is widely honored by Shia Muslims and by Sunni Muslims.