Chapter 44: The Story of Fadak
A developed and fertile territory which was situated near Khayber and at a distance of 140 kilometres from Madina and was considered to be the stronghold of the Jews of the Hijaz, after the forts of Khayber, was called the village of Fadak. After destroying the strength of the Jews of Khayber, Wadi'ul Qura' and Tayma' and filling up, with the military force of Islam, the vacuum which was felt in the north of Madina, the Prophet thought of destroying the strength of the Jews of this area who were considered to be a danger to Islam and the Muslims.
He therefore sent an envoy named Muhit to the elders of Fadak. Yush'a bin Noon, who was the chief of the village, preferred peace and surrender to fighting, and the residents of that place agreed to place at the disposal of the Prophet half of the produce every year and to live under the protection of Islam and not to conspire against the Muslims. The Government of Islam, in its turn, guaranteed the security of their territory.
According to Islam the areas which are conquered through war and military power are the property of all the Muslims and their administration rests with the ruler of Islam. However, lands which fall into the hands of the Muslims, without any military operations pertain to the person of the Prophet and after he to the Imam.
He (i.e. the Prophet or Imam) exercises full authority over such lands and is entitled to gift them away or give them to lease. And one of the purposes for which he can utilize this property is that he may meet the lawful needs of his near ones out of this property in a respectable manner.1
On this basis the Prophet made a gift of Fadak to his dear daughter Lady Fatimah Zahrah. As the later circumstances go to show the Prophet had two things in view while making a gift of this property:
1. As expressly mentioned by the Prophet time and again the rulership of the Muslims was to rest, after his death, with Ali, the Commander of the Faithful and occupation of such a position necessitated incurring of heavy expenditure. Ali could, therefore, make maximum use of the income from Fadak to safeguard this position. It would appear that the organization of the caliphate had become aware of this precautionary measure and they, therefore, divested the Prophet's family of Fadak during the very early days of their assumption of authority.
2. It was necessary that after the death of the Prophet his family, consisting of his dear daughter Fatimah Zahrah and her sons Hasan and Husayn, should lead a respectable life and the dignity of the Prophet should remain secure. The Prophet made a gift of Fadak to his daughter to achieve this very end.
The Shi'ah traditionalists and exegets and some Sunni scholars write: "When the verse:
Give the kinsmen his due, and the needy, and the wayfarer........(Surah Isra, 17:26)
was revealed the Prophet called his daughter Fatimah and made over Fadak to her".2 And the narrator of this incident is Abu Sa'id Khadri who was one of the distinguished companions of the Prophet.
All the Shi'ah and the Sunni exegetes are agreed that this verse was revealed for the near relatives of the Prophet and the words 'the near ones' (kinsmen) are best applicable to his daughter. So much so that when a Syrian asked Imam Sajjad to introduce himself the Imam recited the aforesaid verse to make himself known to that man.
And this fact was so well known to the Muslims that the Syrian, while shaking his head in confirmation, said to the Imam: "On account of the special relationship which you enjoy with the Prophet, he was ordered by Allah to pay you your due".3
In short, all the scholars of Islam believe that this verse was revealed with respect to Fatimah Zahrah and her children. However, as regards the fact whether, at the time of revelation of this verse, the Prophet made over Fadak to his daughter, all the Shi'ah scholars are unanimous that he actually did so, and some Sunni scholars also agree with them.
When Mamun desired to return Fadak to the descendants of Zahrah he wrote a letter to one of the famous traditionalists (Abdullah bin Musa) to enlighten him on the subject. He wrote the above-mentioned hadith (which in fact tells about the occasion of the revelation of the verse) and sent it to him and consequently he (i.e. Mamun) returned Fadak to the descendants of Fatimah4 and wrote to his governor in Madina: "The Prophet of Islam made a gift of Fadak to his daughter Fatimah. This is an admitted fact and there is no difference about it amongst the descendants of Fatimah.5
When Mamun occupied a special chair to hear complaints and grievances the first application which came into his hand was one in which the writer had introduced himself as the defender of Lady Fatimah. Mamun read the application, wept a little, and said: "Who is her defender?" An old man stood up and introduced himself as her defender. The court of justice was then converted into a session of debate between the man and Mamun.
Eventually Mamun realized that he had lost the case. He, therefore, ordered the chief justice to write a deed with the heading: "Return of Fadak to the descendants of Zahrah". The deed was written and received the assent of Mamun. At this moment Da'bal Khuza'i who was present at the time of debate stood up and recited some verses.6
In order to prove that Fadak was the absolute property of Lady Fatimah Zahrah, Shi'ah do not stand in need of evidence produced above, because the most truthful person of Islam, Ali, the Commander of the Faithful, has clearly mentioned this fact in a letter written by him to Uthman bin Hunayf, the Governor of Basra. He writes: "Yes! Out of that which is under the sky, the only appreciable property available with us was Fadak. Some people felt jealous. Some great persons connived at this on account of some interests. And Allah is the best Judge".