Upon the death of the Prophet (ص) on Rabi’ I 2 or 12, 11 A.

Upon the death of the Prophet (ص) on Rabi’ I 2 or 12, 11 A.H./May 31st or June 12th, 632 A.D., his daughter Fatima declared her claim to inherit Fadak as the estate of her father. The claim was rejected by Abu Bakr on instigation from Omer ibn al-Khattab on the grounds that Fadak was public property and arguing that the Prophet had “no heirs”.

Sources report that Ali together with Umm Ayman testified to the fact that Muhammad granted it to Fatima when Abu Bakr required Fatima to summon witnesses for her claim. Various primary sources contend that Fadak was gifted by Muhammad to Fatima, drawing on the Qur'an as evidence. These include narrations of Ibn 'Abbas who argued that when the Qur'anic verse on giving rights to kindred was revealed, Muhammad called to his daughter and gifted the land of Fadak to her.

Various scholars commenting on the Qur'an, Surat Al-Hashr (Chapter 59), verse 7, write that the Angel Gabriel came to the Prophet (ص) and commanded him to give the appropriate rights to “Thul Qurba” (near kin).

So take what the Messenger assigns to you, and abstain from what he withholds from you. And fear Allah, for Allah is strict in punishment (59:7). When asked by the Prophet (ص) about who those “Thul Qurba” were referred to in that verse, Gabriel replied: “Fatima” and that by “rights” was meant “Fadak”, upon which Muhammad called Fatima and presented Fadak to her. When Omer became caliph, the value of the land of Fadak along with its dates was, according to some account, 50,000 dirhams.

Ali again claimed Fatima’s inheritance during Omer's era but was denied with the same argument as in the time of Abu Bakr. Omer, however, restored the estates in Medina to `Abbas ibn `Abd al-Muttalib and Ali, as representatives of Muhammad's clan, the Banu Hashim. During Othman's caliphate, Marwan ibn al-Hakâm, his cousin, was made trustee of Fadak.