Mukhtasar Muslim

Narrated from Umm al-Mu’minin Aisha Siddiqa (may Allah be pleased with her) that Lady Fatimah al-Zahra (may Allah be pleased with her), the daughter of the Messenger of Allah (peace and blessings be upon him), sent someone to Abu Bakr al-Siddiq (may Allah be pleased with him) to ask for her inheritance from the property which Allah had given to the Messenger of Allah (peace and blessings be upon him) in Madinah and Fadak, and from what remained of the fifth (khums) of Khaybar. Abu Bakr al-Siddiq (may Allah be pleased with him) said that the Noble Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him) said: “We (the Prophets) do not leave inheritance; whatever we leave behind is charity. And the family of Muhammad (peace and blessings be upon him) will eat from this property. By Allah! I will not change anything of the charity of the Messenger of Allah (peace and blessings be upon him) from the state it was in during the time of the Messenger of Allah (peace and blessings be upon him), and I will do with it what the Messenger of Allah (peace and blessings be upon him) used to do.” Thus, Abu Bakr al-Siddiq (may Allah be pleased with him) refused to give anything to Lady Fatimah al-Zahra (may Allah be pleased with her), so she became angry and stopped meeting Abu Bakr al-Siddiq (may Allah be pleased with him) and did not speak to him until she passed away. (Imam Nawawi, may Allah have mercy on him, said that this abandonment of meeting was not the one which is forbidden in Shariah, and that is when one does not greet at the time of meeting or does not reply to the greeting.) And she lived only six months after the Messenger of Allah (peace and blessings be upon him) (some said eight months, or three months, or two months, or seventy days; in any case, she passed away on the third of Ramadan, 11 AH). When she passed away, her husband Ali (may Allah be pleased with him) buried her at night and did not inform Abu Bakr al-Siddiq (may Allah be pleased with him) (from this it is known that burying at night is permissible, but daytime is preferable if there is no excuse), and Ali (may Allah be pleased with him) led the funeral prayer over her. And as long as Lady Fatimah al-Zahra (may Allah be pleased with her) was alive, people loved Ali (may Allah be pleased with him) because of her; when she passed away, Ali (may Allah be pleased with him) saw that people had turned away from him, so he considered it appropriate to reconcile with Abu Bakr (may Allah be pleased with him) and to pledge allegiance to him, and several months had passed and he had not yet pledged allegiance to Abu Bakr al-Siddiq (may Allah be pleased with him). Ali (may Allah be pleased with him) called Abu Bakr al-Siddiq (may Allah be pleased with him) and sent word that he should come alone and no one should come with him, because he disliked the coming of Umar (may Allah be pleased with him). Umar (may Allah be pleased with him) said to Abu Bakr al-Siddiq (may Allah be pleased with him): “By Allah! Do not go to them alone.” Abu Bakr al-Siddiq (may Allah be pleased with him) said: “What will they do to me? By Allah, I will go alone.” So Abu Bakr (may Allah be pleased with him) went to them, and Ali (may Allah be pleased with him) recited the testimony (as is recited at the beginning of a sermon), then said: “O Abu Bakr (may Allah be pleased with him)! We have recognized your virtue and what Allah has given you (i.e., the caliphate), and we do not envy the blessing which Allah has given you (i.e., the caliphate and rule), but you did this matter alone? And we thought that we also had a right in it because of our close relationship to the Messenger of Allah (peace and blessings be upon him).” Then Ali (may Allah be pleased with him) kept talking to Abu Bakr al-Siddiq (may Allah be pleased with him) until Abu Bakr al-Siddiq (may Allah be pleased with him) was moved to tears. When Abu Bakr al-Siddiq (may Allah be pleased with him) began to speak, he said: “By Him in Whose hand is my soul, the regard for the kinship of the Messenger of Allah (peace and blessings be upon him) is dearer to me than my own kinship. And regarding the matters in which there was disagreement between me and you (i.e., Fadak, Nadhir, and the fifth of Khaybar, etc.), I did not abandon the truth, nor did I leave any action which I saw the Messenger of Allah (peace and blessings be upon him) doing; I did exactly that.” Ali (may Allah be pleased with him) said to Abu Bakr (may Allah be pleased with him): “Alright, today at noon we will pledge allegiance to you.” When Abu Bakr (may Allah be pleased with him) finished the Zuhr prayer, he ascended the pulpit and delivered a sermon, and mentioned the story of Ali (may Allah be pleased with him), his delay in pledging allegiance, and the excuse he had presented, and then prayed for forgiveness. And Ali (may Allah be pleased with him) delivered a sermon and mentioned the virtue of Abu Bakr (may Allah be pleased with him) and said: “My delay in pledging allegiance was not because I envied Abu Bakr (may Allah be pleased with him) or denied his greatness and virtue, but we thought that we also had a share in the matter of the caliphate, which was done alone without consultation, and for this reason our hearts were grieved.” Upon hearing this, the Muslims were pleased and all said to Ali (may Allah be pleased with him): “You have done the right thing.” From that day, when he adopted the correct course, the Muslims again inclined towards Ali (may Allah be pleased with him).