‘To our mothers we owe half of our lineage’ (li-ummati-nā niṣf ansābi-nā). Thus the famous Fatimid court poet Ibn Hani' al-Andalusi (d. 362/973) sets to conclude an elegy for the death of the mother of one of his patrons. Obvious as it might seem, this statement is set within the context of acknowledging the virtues of mothers, who are to be praised in equal terms as the fathers. This affectionate and respectful laude echoes the virtues and importance of the most noble of all mothers, Fatima, whom the poet repeteadly hails as the mother of the Fatimid imams.

Within the context of tenth-century Sunni-Shi'i doctrinal debates, the Shi'is argued for the superiority of Fatima over 'A'isha, to be interpreted as mirroring the pre-eminence of 'Ali over Abu Bakr. When the tenth-century Isma'ili dā'ī Ibn al-Haytham was asked why he supported 'Ali's imamate instead of Abu Bakr's leadership, considering that the latter had given his daughter 'A'isha in marriage to Muhammad, the dā'ī replied by quoting the Qur'anic verse: ‘He is the One who created humankind from water, then He has established for it relationships of lineage (nasab) and marriage tie (ṣihr)’ (Qur. 25:54).