Lady Fatimah al-Zahra' (a): Difference between revisions

According to explicit words of Shi’a and some Sunni scholars, the Prophet (s) gave Fadak to Fatima (s) during his life after revelation of the verse: “And give the relatives their right” (Surat al-Isra’:26)

According to Bukhari’s report, when Abu Bakr narrated from the Prophet (s) that prophets do not leave inheritance and what they leave is charity, Fatima (s) became angry with him and did not talk to him to the end of her life.

Ibn Qutayba writes, “After that Fatima became angry at them, Abu Bakar and ‘Umar came to her house for propitiating her; but when they asked for permission to enter the house, Fatima did not let them in. So they went to Ali and asked him for help. Ali took them to the house to Fatima; but Fatima turned his face away from them and did not reply their Salam. After that Abu Bakr talked, Fatima asked them, “If I narrate for you a hadith from the Prophet, will you acknowledge that and act according to it?” They said, “Yes.” Fatima said, “I implore you to God, did you hear the Prophet saying “Fatima’s happiness is my happiness and Fatima’s anger is my anger; so, whoever like Fatima, my daughter, had liked me and whoever make Fatima happy had made me happy and whoever make Fatima angry had made me angry?”” They replied, “Yes, we heard this from the Apostle of God.” Fatima said, “I call God and his angles as witnesses that you two have made me angry and did not made me happy and if I see the Prophet I will complain about you to him.” Abu Bakr started talking, but Fatima continued her words addressing him, “ By God, I will curse you after each prayer I perform.””

Her anger and annoyance is important because not only Shi’a but also Sunni narrators have quoted the Prophet (s), “Fatima is a part of my body, whoever make her angry has made me angry.” In addition, in this event the confiscators of Fadak denied her right publicly which implies that she had lied in her true claim that his father has given it to her in his life, although she was repelled from all impurities by God as Qur’an explicitly mentions in Surat al-Ahzab:33.

Sayyid Muhammad Baqir al-Sadr in his book “Fadak fi al-tarikh” (Fadak in history) counts raising the topic of Fadak by Fatima (s) as a political move.  He believes that Fadak is a symbol of a great goal and a full-scale revolution against the government of that time. The government which was founded in Saqifa by three people: Abu Bakr, ‘Umar and Abu ‘Ubaydat al-Jarrah. According to his analysis, the lady Fatima manifested her opposition to the government in 6 stages:

1- Sending  her representative to Abu Bakr for asking her inheritance (including Fadak and other things) and implying that Fadak was part of the inheritance before saying that the Prophet (s) gave it to her as a gift.

The author of A’lam al-nisa’ narrates from Ali b. Muhana’ al-‘Alawi that Abu Bakr and ‘Umar usurped Fadak from Fatima (s) because they were afraid that Ali (a) would become strong and struggle with them over caliphate.

In his book “Fadak fi al-tarikh”, Sayyid Muhammad Baqir al-Sadr writes “Starting the protest by Lady Fatima (s) had two important and positive elements:

- The emotional aspect: as the Prophet’s daughter, she was more influential eliciting emotions and reviving the memories of the Prophet (s).