“One of the defining tenets of Islam is the lack of images: Muslims do not worship idols or other images. Hence, there is no external image of the Prophet Muhammad’s daughter Fatimah for the purpose of worship. The image of Fatimah must therefore be imagined within the landscape of the human heart.
Fatimah is an archetype of the divine feminine revered by many Muslims, be they Sunni, Sufi or Shia. She symbolizes the radiance of the divine and the blood and bones of humanity for she is the perfect balance of light and matter, the image of the divine feminine model, the prototype of woman. As a bearer of religious authority, Fatimah mediates the human and divine and, for centuries, she has been an exemplary role model for women, as a political and social activist, fighting against oppression and injustice. Fatimah is the archetype of the suffering mother as well as the lady of celestial light. Relationship with Fatimah creates agency through identification with her sorrow as well as her piety. Today […], the image of Fatimah is still such a role model.”

Ref: Bridget Blomfield: “The Image of Fatimah” in Islamic Images and Ideas: Essays on Sacred Symbolism, edited by John Andrew Morrow. Jefferson, NC (2014).