The author examines in this book the opinion adopted by the...

The author examines in this book the opinion adopted by the authorities which came to power after the death of the Prophet, peace be upon him and his household, concerning this inheritance. It is a study of the .point of view of the rulers and their attitudes towards this problem, as well as the point of view of those who were wronged and whose rightful claim to their usurped property was ignored; these are the people of the household of the Prophet, peace be upon them all.

The Sayyid has composed another work on wilayah (authority of the Imams), which relates on the one hand to the study of Fadak, and on the other to the fundamentals of Islamic faith. In this work, he attempts to answer two questions: How did Shi`ism originate and how did the Shi`ah community arise? This book was originally written as an introduction to another work entitled Tarikh al Imamiyyah wa aslalhim min ash-Shi'ah (A History of the Imam's and their Shi `ah Predecessors), written by Dr.

`Abdullah Fayyad. The Sayyid's introduction was later extracted from `the book and published separately in several editions. He has written several other works on the fundamental of Islamic belief, other than the work under consideration, including a book on the al Mahdi, and the present study. Similarly, in usul al fiqh (Fundamentals of Jurisprudence), which is the author's primary field of specialisation, he has written a number of works.

All his books appeared in closely successive editions, a fact which proves much more than can be expressed here concerning the eminent place which the author occupies as a scholar. Among the many works of the author is the present study, small in its size, but large in its significance and scope, a book of great benefit. This treatise was first written as an introduction to the author's book al-Fatawa al-wadihah (Clear Legal Opinions) and published with it.

Later, however, it was detatched and published separately. When we decided to bring out this profound study in an English translation, we saw fit to let the book itself and our brief introduction to some of the author's works suffice to introduce him to English readers. God, praised be He, has provided Dr. Mahmoud Ayoub, a professor at the University of Toronto, Canada, to undertake the task of translation.

We pray God, praised and exalted be He, to make of this book a source of blessing and benefit. We pray also that he prolong the life of His Eminence, the author, and grant success to the translator.