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Shiavault - a Vault of Shia Islamic Books Misbah-uz-Zulam, Roots of the Karbala’ Tragedy A Discussion About the Phrase of ‘She Frowned’ (Ghadhibat) It should be noted that the words of ‘she frowned’ are found in a tradition of Sahih Bukhari, which means ‘she became angry’ or ‘she frowned’.

Doubtlessly, it was an occasion which called for frowning or anger, because, in her opinion, Fadak was her property which was confiscated by the first Caliph, but it is extremely shameless that Qadi Sanaullaah, in his Saiful Malool, translated it as, “she felt ashamed”! Is this an occasion for feeling ashamed? Lady Fatima was considering Fadak her own property and had approached the court for the return of a property, which she claimed as hers.

His Eminence, Ali (a.s.) and other witnesses too had, seeing her claim as genuine, testified in her favor. Thereafter also, the members of the holy family considered Fadak as the property of Fatima and that is why this property had been, on a number of times, returned to Ahlul Bayt by the Umayyad Caliph, Umar bin Abdul Aziz as well as other Caliphs of Bani Abbas.

In short, it nowhere appears that either Fatima or anyone else from Ahlul Bayt had ever thought that confiscation of Fadak was an act of justice or fairplay. In such circumstances, if Lady Fatima became displeased and angry with Abu Bakr, it was not out of place, because whenever someone is angry with anybody he or she expresses his or her anger and does not become ashamed! The tradition of Bukhari shows that Lady Fatima stopped talking to Abu Bakr.

Similarly, it is seen from Sharh Ibn Abil Hadid[^1] that Lady Fatima had desired in her will that Abu Bakr should not even attend her funeral prayer. These narrations show that Lady Fatima had become very angry with Abu Bakr and do not show that ‘she was ashamed’.

The reason why Qadi Sanaullaah had to create such unrelated meaning appears to be that he was aware of the Prophet’s words: “One who hurts Fatima, hurts Allah and His Messenger.” Hence he felt the need, because of his love for Abu Bakr, of translating ‘she frowned’ (Ghazabat) as ‘she felt ashamed’ (Nadimat). O Allah! Please save us from those who misinterpret the words of the Prophet! Justice-loving people should ponder how Ghazabat here can mean Nadimat.

The truth is that the Qadi had, by creating such extraordinary meaning, wanted to help Ahlul Sunnat people in a big way.