It was necessary that after the death of the Prophet his family...

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 Fatimah[^4] 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.