The marriage of Imam Ali and Lady Fatima (PBUT) occurred on Zual-Hijjah 1, 2 AH/May 25, 624. The marriage formula was recited by the Prophet (PBUH). According to scholars, there was an interval of ten months between the marriage formula of their marriage and their wedlock. According to sources of hadiths, before Imam Ali (PBUH), a number of Emigrants (Muhajirun) and Helpers (Ansar) expressed their tendency to marry Fatima (PBUH) to the Prophet (PBUH), but he refused their proposals.
According to one report, Lady Fatima's Mahr was five hundred Dirhams. The Prophet called this marriage heavenly and that God engaged Lady Fatima (PBUH) to Imam Ali (PBUH).
According to Ibn-e Shahrashub in Manaqib al-Abi Talib, at the time of Fatima and Ali's marriage, the Prophet went on the minbar and delivered a sermon, and then said, "God has ordered me to marry Fatima to Ali, and if Ali consents, I marry Fatima to him with a mahr of four hundred mithqals of silver". And Imam Ali (PBUH) expressed his consent.
Imam Ali (PBUH) sold his belongings and paid Lady Fatima's Mahr, however there are various opinions about what he sold. Some historians believe it was his armor, while others name sheepskin or a Yemeni shirt, or a camel. Regardless of what he sold, he took the money to the Prophet (PBUH). Without counting, the Prophet (PBUH) gave a bit of the money to Bilal and said, "Buy a nice perfume for my daughter with this money." He then gave Abu Bakr some of the money and said, "Buy the things my daughter needs with this money" and sent Ammar Yasir and a couple of other of his companions with him to approve the things that are bought. Al-Shaykh al-Tusi lists what was bought:
A shirt worth seven Dirhams
A kerchief worth four Dirhams
Black bathing gown sawn in Khaybar
Bed cloth sawn from palm leaves
Two mattresses with a thick layer of cotton on them, one filled with palm fiber and the other with wool.
Four leather cushions from Ta'if, filled with lemongrass (this plant has small leaves that have medical effects.)
A curtain from Wool
A mat woven in Hajar (it seems that Hajar refers to the metropolis of Bahrain. There also exists a village called Hajar near Medina)
Hand-Mill
Copper basin
Leather waterskin
Wooden bowl
A bowl for milking
A waterskin for water
A ewer with plaster
A green jar
A couple of vases
It is said that when Fatima (PBUH) saw a needy women after her wedding, she gave her new shirt and sufficed herself with a used shirt.
According to sources of hadiths, the Prophet called Bilal of Abyssinia and asked him to provide a sheep and five mudds (each mudd being equal to 707,616 grams) of barley to invite the Migrants and give them a walima (marriage banquet) on the occasion of Imam Ali and Fatima's marriage. He said, "Now that my daughter is marrying my paternal cousin, I would like to establish marriage banquets as one of the traditions of my Ummah."
After the banquet, the Prophet went to his house along with Ali and called for Lady Fatima. Fatima saw her husband with the Prophet. The Prophet said, "Come close" and she went. The Prophet took Fatima and Ali's hand and just as he was about to put them together, said: "I swear by God that I have not neglected you. I have cherished you and married you to the best person in my progeny. By God I have married you to the master and leader of the world and the hereafter and he is one of the lefteous... go to your home. May God bless you in this marriage and arrange your issues for you." Then he went to their house and prayed that God creates more bond in their hearts and bless their progeny.
The Prophet said to Asma bint-e Umays, "Bring me a bowl of water. She filled a bowl with water and took it to him. The Prophet took a handful of water and sprinkled it on Lady Fatima's head, and then another handful on her hands, and a bit on her neck and body and said, "Oh Lord, Fatima is of me and I am of Fatima. So cleanse her in the same way you have cleansed me from impurity." He told her to drink that water, wash her face with it, rinse her mouth and inhale the water. He asked for another bowl of water and did the same to Ali and said, "May God proximate your hearts and make it kind, and bless your descendants and arrange for your issues.
Becoming the Prophet's Neighbor
As days passed from Fatima's marriage, her absence became hard for the Prophet to bear. He therefore considered moving them to his own house, but one of the Prophet's companions named Haritha Ibn-e Nu'man offered his house, which was close to the house of the Prophet, so Lady Fatima and Imam Ali moved to Haritha's house.