Fatima was born in 659 AH (1260 or 1261) during the reign of her grandfather, Muhammad I. Her father, the future Muhammad II, was heir to the throne, and her mother, Nuzha, was a first cousin of his father.[6][7] She had a brother, the future Muhammad III (b. 1257[8]) and a half-brother, Nasr, whose mother was the second wife of his father, a Christian named Shams al-Duha.[9] Her father Muhammad was known as al-Faqih (a faqīh is an Islamic jurist), due to his erudition, education, and preference for learned men such as physicians, astronomers, philosophers, and poets.[6][10] He fostered intellectual activities in his children. Fatima became expert in the study of barnamaj, the biobibliographies of Islamic scholars, while her brothers, Muhammad and Nasr, studied poetry and astronomy respectively.[6] Like her brothers, she likely received her education privately in the royal palace complex, the Alhambra.[10]