Fadak

Jewish Khaybar In the seventh century CE, the Khaybar oasis was inhabited by Jewish tribes and agriculturalists who produced dates, cereals, and handicrafts including women blankets and palm leaf borders., the Prophet mentioned to Fatima that “O Fatima! Fadak was secured without deploying horses and Augustus. The land belongs exclusively to me, and I bequeath it to you to honor God’s commandment with regard to it. So, take it for yourself and your progeny.” Some Twelvers reject the authenticity of the hadith of inheritance, believing that it contradicts the Quran, where verses 19:6 and 27:16 describe how Zechariah and David both left a sort of inheritance. These superficial contradictions have also been noted by some contemporary authors. It is argued however that the inheritance in question is referring to ilm (knowledge) and wisdom of the book or prophethood in general as foreshadowed in 19:12 and mentioned in 35:32, "Then we caused to inherit the Book those We have chosen of Our servants", a concept reinforced through Shia and Sunni hadith literature. Likewise, it is narrated from al-Hasan that is "he inherits his prophethood and knowledge" and the same has been reported from Mujahid among other early mufassirūn. Nevertheless, Soufi writes that Abu Bakr's testimony is strong enough for Sunnis to make an exception to the Quranic rules of inheritance. Sermon of Fadak According to the versions of the sermons that circulated in the 9th century, Fatima challenges the ruling of Abu Bakr on the possession of Fadak. In protest, Fatima is said to have delivered a speech at the Prophet's Mosque, known as the Sermon of Fadak. Among other sources, this sermon appears in the Sunni ''Balaghat al-nisa', an anthology of eloquent speeches by Muslim women, though the attribution of this speech to Fatima is mostly rejected by Sunnis. The version of this speech in Balaghat upholds Ali as the rightful successor to Muhammad, chastises Abu Bakr for denying Fatima of her inheritance, as she adds,“”Is it in the Book that you [Abu Bakr] may inherit from your father and I cannot inherit from mine? “you have certainly come up with an odd thing!” (Q 19:27)” accuses him of (hadith) fabrication and using un Quranic verses, “ Is it in the Book that you [Abu Bakr] may inherit from your father and I cannot inherit from mine? “you have certainly come up with an odd thing!” (Q 19:27)” Moreover, Fatima adds that Muhammad could have not contradicted the Quran, in which verse 27:16 describes how Solomon inherited from his father David, and verse 19:6 is about how Zechariah prayed for a son who would inherit from him and from the House of Jacob. The quote follows, ““Are you seriously neglecting the Book of Allah by casting it behind your backs? While Allah, the glorious says, “Solomon inherited from David” (Q 27:16).” Verses 8:75 and 33:6 about the rights of every Muslim to inheritance are also quoted in the speech in Balaghat.'' Politics Madelung suggests that the caliphate of Abu Bakr was inherently inconsistent with maintaining the privileged status of Muhammad's kin and applying the Quranic rules of inheritance to them. Because Muhammad had become the owner of Fadak as the leader of the Muslim community, to inherit this property as a prerogative by the Banu Hashim might have implied their authority over the community, which is likely why Abu Bakr rejected Fatima's claims. This was the opinion of Jafri, and similar views are voiced by some others, while el-Hibri does not view the saga of Fadak as a mere financial dispute. Aslan suggests that Abu Bakr intended to strip the House of Muhammad from its privileged status, weaken its political might, and particularly undermine Ali's claim to the caliphate. Aslan also justifies Abu Bakr's efforts as partly rooted in his conviction that the caliphate must reside outside of Muhammad's clan and partly in the personal enmity between Abu Bakr and Ali. Some contemporary authors have noted the poor relations between the two men. Caliphates of Umar (), Uthman (), and Ali () The second caliph Umar expelled the Jewish residents of Fadak who then emigrated to Syria. However, unlike other Jews, the residents of Fadak were compensated by Umar after the valuation of their properties in recognition of their agreement with Muhammad to retain the ownership of half of the Fadak. Umar also altered Abu Bakr's inheritance policy by turning over Muhammad's small estate in Medina to his cousin Ali and his uncle Abbas. Fadak, however, remained under the control of Umar, though it was reportedly administered by Ali and Abbas. The third caliph Uthman also kept Fadak, though it is likely that he did not treat the land as a charitable property anymore but instead awarded it to two of his cousins, namely, Marwan and his brother. Veccia Vaglieri () differs here, writing that it was Mu'awiya I () who gifted Fadak to Marwan, who in turn gave it to his sons later. Madelung challenges her view, noting that the relationship between Mu'awiya and Marwan was not amicable enough to justify this gift. Mu'awiya indeed temporarily took away Fadak from Marwan during his caliphate. Ali, the fourth caliph and Muhammad's cousin, does not seem to have touched Fadak. Instead, he is recorded in Nahj al-balagha to have trivialized the matter during his caliphate, "Of course, all that we had in our possession under this sky was Fadak, but a group of people [Abu Bakr's party] felt greedy for it, and the other party [that of Ali] withheld themselves from it. God is, after all, the best arbiter. What shall I do: Fadak or no Fadak, while tomorrow this body is to go into the grave in whose darkness its traces will be destroyed..." A similar statement appears in Ali's alleged letter to Uthman ibn Hunayf, his agent in Basra, in which he complains that Fadak was confiscated because of greed and envy. The authenticity of the reports are heavily disputed Alternatively, the Shia Sharif al-Murtaza () contends that Ali might have practiced (religious dissimulation) by upholding the status quo for Fadak. Umayyad () and Abbasid () dynasties Mu'awiya I, the first Umayyad caliph, gave Fadak to Marwan as a fief and thereafter the estate changed hands numerous times during the Umayyad period. An exception is Umar II (), who returned Fadak to the descendants of Fatima during his caliphate, as parts of his efforts to address the injustices inflicted upon the Alids. The Umayyad Yazid II () later seized Fadak again. Early in the Abbasid period, al-Saffah () returned Fadak to Fatima's descendants, later to be undone by his successor al-Mansur (). The Abbasid caliph al-Mahdi () again returned Fadak but his son al-Hadi () confiscated the property. Later al-Ma'mun () yet again returned Fadak and it was taken back by al-Mutawakkil (), who awarded Fadak to the descendants of Umar. This cycle continued with al-Mu'tadid (), al-Muktafi (), and al-Muqtadir (). Notably, al-Ma'mun issued a decree recognizing Fatima's right to Fadak, arguing that, as Muhammad's daughter, Fatima must have known more about the intentions of Muhammad for Fadak compared to Abu Bakr. Khetia notes that al-Ma'mun thus implicitly criticized Abu Bakr, which did not please the (Sunni) jurists, who likely pressured al-Mutawakkil to later take back Fadak. In contrast, Veccia Vaglieri dismisses the caliph's arguments as weak. As descendants of Fatima and Ali, the Shia Imams viewed Fadak as a symbol of their usurped right of succession after Muhammad and their interpretation of verse 8:41 implied that Fadak should be at their disposal, similar to Muhammad. Jafri supports their interpretation of Fadak as an extension of the succession debate. ==Fadak in literature==

The dispute over Fadak soon become the subject of legends. Among these is the tale of the Abbasid Harun al-Rashid (), the famed caliph of Arabian Nights, appearing in the sixteenth-century work The Subtleties of People. In this story, Harun is depicted as regretting the oppression of Muhammad's family at the hands of his predecessors. He thus inquired about the boundaries of Fadak from a descendant of Fatima to return it to its rightful owners. The descendant of Fatima cautioned the caliph that Harun would no longer want to relinquish Fadak after learning about its borders. Harun pressed on nevertheless. To his indignation, the caliph was told that the first boundary of Fadak was Aden, the second was Samarkand, the third was the Maghrib, and the fourth was the Armenian Sea, encompassing virtually the entire empire of Harun. According to Virani, the fact that this claim is not pressed nor even cared for signifies that it is the Islamic world that needs Muhammad's family, not the reverse. == Conclusion ==

In Shia thought, Fadak is seen more than a land dispute. It as a historic event holds great importance as it signifies as a symbol of the struggle for the Imamate and the traitors upon of Prophet’s household’s (ahl al-bayt) rights. In the context of inheritance, the claim that Fatima inherited Fadak encapsulates as that she is the hero of the Prophet’s lineage, making this claim more than the land itself. The historic narrative of Fadak is not only connected to possession and dispossession. It can be thought of as a turning point because it served as a catalepsy for Shia jurists to formulate inheritance laws, inspired by Fatima’s claims to Fadak, emphasizing the bilateral decent (lineage theorists both male and female) rather than only strict patrilineal systems of the pre-Islamic era. Fatima’s claims carved out larger roles for female in family stricture, as the emerging Shi’i inheritance laws allowed property, money, and blood to move along female lines. Shia law prioritizes immediate nuclear family over distant male relatives, for example, Shia allows a daughter’s on to inherit the entire legacy while Sunni law prioritize paternal uncle to inherit majority of land. ==See also ==