Sayyidah Fu'ada bint Sayyid Nur, widely known as Umm Hashim, was a revered woman from the Al Sayyid Nur family of southern Iraq, a family traditionally…
Sayyidah Fu'ada bint Sayyid Nur, widely known as Umm Hashim, was a revered woman from the Al Sayyid Nur family of southern Iraq, a family traditionally regarded as being of noble Sayyid lineage. Her family had earlier migrated from the Middle Euphrates region and eventually settled in the al-Bu Salih area, now part of al-Islah District in Dhi Qar. Fu'ada grew up there alongside her brothers and became known among the surrounding communities for her piety, modesty, asceticism and good character. She married a man from the local area, but was widowed after a relatively short marriage and had no children. According to local family tradition, she thereafter devoted much of her life to worship and lived in considerable seclusion, leaving home only when necessary. A number of *karamat*, or extraordinary occurrences, came to be associated with her during her lifetime, contributing to the respect in which she was held by the people of the region. Sayyidah Fu'ada died in 1936 and was buried beside her father, Sayyid Nur, who had died in 1917. Following her death, further traditions of karamat became associated with her grave and increasing numbers of people began visiting it for ziyarah and to make du'a to Allah. Her family initially constructed a simple mud-brick tomb over the burial place, which was later rebuilt in brick as the number of visitors increased. The shrine remains a locally important place of ziyarah in the al-Islah area and is commonly known as the shrine of Alawiyya Fu'ada Umm Hashim.