DECLARATION THAT THE PROPHET SAID, ‘WE ARE NOT TO BE INHERITED’
Abu Hurairah narrated that the Messenger of Allah, peace be upon him, said: “My inheritance is not to be divided; neither Dinar nor Dirham. That which I leave behind after spending on my wives and wages for my workers is for charity.” The wording is that of Al-Bukhari.
‘A’ishah, the Mother of the Believers, narrated: Verily, when the Messenger of Allah passed away, the wives of the Prophet wanted to send ‘Uthman (May Allah be pleased with him) to Abu Bakr (May Allah be pleased with him) to ask him for their inheritance. ‘A’ishah said: Did not the Messenger of Allah say: “We are not to be inherited, that which we leave is for charity?”
She also narrated that Fatimah and Al-‘Abbas came to Abu Bakr (May Allah be pleased with him) asking for their inheritance from the Messenger of Allah and they at the time were seeking his land from Fadak and his share from Khaibar. Abu Bakr told them: I heard the Messenger of Allah, peace and blessings of Allah be upon him, say: “We are not to be inherited, that which we leave is for charity, only the family of Muhammad eats from this wealth.” Abu Bakr said: By Allah, I will not leave a matter that I saw the Messenger of Allah do with it, except that I would do it. The narrator said: Then Fatimah boycotted him and did not speak to him till she died.
‘A’ishah also narrated similar to what has preceded, with the addition that when she passed away ‘Ali buried her at night without informing Abu Bakr and prayed upon her. ‘Ali had a status with the people during the life of Fatimah. When she died the people condoned him, so he sought to make amends with Abu Bakr and to make Bai‘ah with him, as he had not made Bai‘ah with him earlier. He sent a word to Abu Bakr saying, “Come to us and no one else should come to us with you,” and he hated that ‘Umar would come to him for what he knew of his harshness.
‘Umar said: “By Allah, do not enter upon them alone.” Abu Bakr replied: “And what may they do to me? By Allah, I will certainly go to them.” Then Abu Bakr (May Allah be pleased with him) left to meet him and ‘Ali (May Allah be pleased with him) testified and said: “We indeed know of your virtues that Allah has given you. And we did not compete with you in the good that Allah has given you, however you had taken control of the matter. And we saw due to our kinship with the Messenger of Allah that we have a share in this affair.” ‘Ali continued to talk until Abu Bakr (May Allah be pleased with him) cried.
He replied: “By the One in Whose Hands is my soul, indeed I prefer to hold ties with the kinship of the Messenger of Allah more than keeping my own ties of kinship. And as for that which has occurred between you and I in (the matter of) this wealth then I did not stray from goodness in this regard. And I did not leave a matter that the Messenger of Allah performed except that I did it.” ‘Ali said: “Your time for the Bai‘ah is tonight.”
When Abu Bakr (May Allah be pleased with him) prayed Dhuhr he ascended the pulpit and testified and mentioned the affair of ‘Ali not attending the Bai‘ah as well as the excuse that he mentioned. ‘Ali (May Allah be pleased with him) testified and then venerated the right of Abu Bakr and mentioned his virtues and his precedence (in accepting Islam). He mentioned that competing with Abu Bakr was not what made him do what he did. Then he got up, came to Abu Bakr (May Allah be pleased with him) and made Bai‘ah with him. Thereafter the people turned to ‘Ali and said: “You have done well.” And the people became closer to ‘Ali when he recanted the matter with goodness.
So this is the Bai‘ah of ‘Ali (May Allah be pleased with him) with Abu Bakr (May Allah be pleased with him) after the death of Fatimah (May Allah be pleased with her) as an affirmation for the amendment that occurred between them. And it was the second, due to the Bai‘ah which we mentioned initially on the Day of Saqeefah as Ibn Khuzaimah narrated and Muslim Ibn Al-Hajjaj deemed authentic. ‘Ali did not boycott Abu Bakr in these six months, rather he used to pray behind him and attend his gatherings, and he rode with him to Dhul-Qassah as is going to be mentioned.
And it is mentioned in Saheeh Al Bukhari that Abu Bakr (May Allah be pleased with him) prayed ‘Asr after the death of the Messenger of Allah, then he exited the mosque and found Al-Hasan Ibn ‘Ali playing with children outside, and he carried him on his shoulders saying, “May my father be sacrificed for you! He looks like the Prophet, not similar to ‘Ali,” while Ali laughed. However, when the second Bai‘ah took place, some of the narrators believed that ‘Ali had not made the Bai‘ah before it, so he negated it. And the one who affirms takes precedence over the one that negates (a principle in the science of Fiqh) as preceded and has been established. And Allah (SWT) knows best.
As for Fatimah’s anger with Abu Bakr t, I don’t know the reason. If it was due to his prevention of her from what she asked of her inheritance, then he had already apologized with an excuse that has to be accepted, and that is what he narrated from her father the Messenger of Allah that he said, “We are not to be inherited, that which we leave is charity.” She was from those who follow the text of the legislator (Qur’an and Sunnah) which was not known to her before she asked for her inheritance, just as it was not known to the wives of the Prophet until ‘A’ishah, may Allah be pleased with her, informed them of it and they agreed with her upon that.
It should not be believed that Fatimah accused As-Siddeeq (May Allah be pleased with him) of what he informed her; she is above all that and he is far from that. How (could this be), when ‘Umar Ibn AlKhattab had agreed with him in narrating this Hadith and ‘Uthman Ibn ‘Affan, ‘Ali Ibn Abu Talib, Al- Abbas Ibn ‘Abdul-Mutalib, ‘Abdur-Rahman Ibn ‘Awf, Talhah Ibn ‘Ubaidullah, Az-Zubair Ibn Al‘Awwam, Sa‘d Ibn Abu Waqqas, Abu Hurairah, may Allah be pleased with them all, and ‘A’ishah ! as we are going to clarify later. And (even) if As-Siddiq (May Allah be pleased with him) was the only one who narrated it, it would become incumbent upon everyone on Earth to accept it and to follow him in that. If her anger was due to her request from As-Siddiq due to these lands (which) were for charity and not inheritance, then her husband would look into it. Moreover, Abu Bakr had already apologized by saying (the summary of which was), that as he was the Caliph of the Messenger of Allah, it was obligatory for him to act as the Messenger of Allah used to and to take charge of what the Messenger of Allah took charge of. It was for this reason he said: “And verily, I will not leave a matter that the Messenger of Allah used to perform with it (wealth) except that I do so.”
He said: Then Fatimah boycotted him and did not speak to him till she died. This boycotting and condition opened manifest evil for the sect of the Rafidah (the Shia sect), and (led to acts of) sheer ignorance. Due to this uncalled for incident, they entered into what didn’t concern them. If they were to understand the matters as they were then, they would have known the virtue of As-Siddiq and accepted from him his reasoning which is obligatory upon everyone to accept.
However, they are a humiliated party and a lowly sect. They hold onto the ambiguities, and they leave the matters which are clear and affirmed with the Imams of Islam, from the Companions, Tabi‘oon and those after them from the recognized scholars in all times and countries. Besides, the scholars from the people of the house (family of the Prophet) have admitted the authenticity of what Abu Bakr judged with in this regard. Zaid Ibn ‘Ali Ibn Al-Husain Ibn ‘Ali Ibn Abu Talib said: “As for me, if I were in the place of Abu Bakr, I would have ruled with what Abu Bakr ruled in Fadak.”
By Ibn Katheer
Comments
John Doe
23/3/2019Lorem ipsum dolor sit amet, consectetur adipisicing elit, sed do eiusmod tempor incididunt ut labore et dolore magna aliqua. Ut enim ad minim veniam, quis nostrud exercitation ullamco laboris nisi ut aliquip ex ea commodo consequat.
John Doe
23/3/2019Lorem ipsum dolor sit amet, consectetur adipisicing elit, sed do eiusmod tempor incididunt ut labore et dolore magna aliqua. Ut enim ad minim veniam, quis nostrud exercitation ullamco laboris nisi ut aliquip ex ea commodo consequat.
John Doe
23/3/2019Lorem ipsum dolor sit amet, consectetur adipisicing elit, sed do eiusmod tempor incididunt ut labore et dolore magna aliqua. Ut enim ad minim veniam, quis nostrud exercitation ullamco laboris nisi ut aliquip ex ea commodo consequat.