 Audhu billahi min ash-shaytani r-rajim Bismillah ar-Rahman ar-Rahim Allahumma salli ala Muhammadin wa alaim Muhammad As-salamu alaikum dear viewers and welcome to the show on Imam Hussain TV where we are exploring various aspects of the life and legacy of lady Fatima Tzahra As-salam and inshallah today we'll be looking at the concept and the idea and the story of Fedek and the usurpment of Fedek and how lady Fatima As-salam responded to this usurpment of course because we know it was one of the greatest depressions and injustice is done to say the Fatima As-salam in her life and inshallah today we'll be exploring that in greater detail and inshallah to help me explore this topic is Sheikh Mohammed al-Halli As-salam Thank you so much for joining us once again so inshallah when we talk about the idea of Fedek I think we're quite well aware generally of the story and what happened but in terms of discussing it specifically I think some people might be weary of this discussion because they feel that it will cause disunity given the figures involved how would you respond to this? Bismillah ar-Rahman ar-Raheem al-hamdulillahi rabbil al-alameen wa salli allahumma wa sallim ala Muhammadin wa al-alihi al-taherin wa al-la'natu ala ala ada'im ajma'in min ala ala qiyam yawm ad-din it is of course something that we have to tackle and address this concern because there will always be voices at the time of Fatima that we're going through at the moment and commemorating these important days of the remembrance of Allah through the tragedy of Sayyidina Fatima I look at it through a number of perspectives, through a number of ways Number one, when I discuss Fedek or the attack on the house of Fatima or what happened to Amir al-Mu'mineen after the Holy Prophet's martyrdom it is not a historical event in my eyes it's something that's connected to Aqidah, theology, jurisprudence, sociology, spirituality it is a mixture of events when I discuss Fedek, I'm not talking about something that happened 1400 years ago it has a lot of connotations to what is going on today in terms of economy, in terms of who should we obey and understanding of the Quran as well so we cannot really isolate an event and say it's happened in the past let's figure it, let's move on and the evidence for this is the Quran itself if we had this kind of viewpoint where we say whatever happened in the past let bygones or bygones and discuss just what's happening at the moment the Quran focuses a lot on history Quran discusses for example the stories of the prophets in 72 occasions the name Far'a'un is mentioned 72 in the Quran you look at the nations that were destroyed by Allah the non-prophetic stories people like for example Luqman or you have the story of Ashab al-Kahf and so on if we're supposed to somehow say but this might hurt some individuals it might not be accepted by some let's just leave it you know like the story of Khidr and Musa a.s it will hurt some people because Khidr killed a 14 year old boy the Quran says well that's it you have to deal with it seek lessons from it we can't just say oh but people will think what kind of barbarism is this no let's understand it what does it actually mean that's number one number two the reasons why I have to discuss Fadak and what happened to Sayyid al-Fatima is that she herself spoke out about it the Ahl al-Bayt spoke out about it so if they spoke out about these things shouldn't we also don't we look at the Ahl al-Bayt as role models as individuals whom we try to emulate if they spoke out against injustice we have to do the same the third reason why it's important to discuss Fadak and what happened to Sayyid al-Fatima is that if we don't talk about it now we have future generations will be lost and we'll have no idea, no clue because we somehow stop talking about these subjects from the member or on TV or on our websites, on social media because we are worried about the reaction of others we have a responsibility to pass on the legacy of Sayyid al-Fatima and what happened to her because it has connotations to our lives willaya and para'a are part of Fura'a deen it is not something that we can suspend for a certain period of time of course we have to do it in a particular way that our Ulema and our Raja specifically have instructed and we are under their guidance on how these topics have to be discussed in a matter which of course presents the facts and leaves people to make a decision about really what happened and who is to blame and who is actually responsible and the fourth point that I would like to highlight is the Ahl al-Bayt have said that we are followers that yafroona li farahina wa yahzamuna li huznina happy for their happy occasions and sad for their sad occasions just like how we commemorate the 10th of Muharram just like how we honour Amir al-Mu'minin we have to honour Sayyid al-Fatima and we have to remember what happened to her I think it's very interesting discussing Fedek because generally when it comes to theological and historical debates between the two sects of Islam we speak about Fedek a lot of people ask the question that Fedek is just a land what's the big deal why did Sayyid al-Fatima care so much about this land so getting into this more in depth what exactly was the land and what did it represent what benefits did it have I think it's a very interesting question when people say it was just a land it is interesting because some scholars unfortunately from our brothers other schools have utilised this point to weaken the image of Sayyid al-Fatima in the minds of people by saying that for example Ibn Taymiyyah in Minhajus Sunnah he attacks Sayyid al-Fatima and says she acted the same way as the hypocrites acted she wanted land, she wanted this dunya she didn't obey the caliphs of her time we have another respected scholar who loves the Ahl al-Bayt but unfortunately mentioned something Tahir al-Qadri Tahir al-Qadri well known in Pakistan and even in many places in the west he comes forward and says Sayyid al-Fatima made a mistake she should not have demanded for some land Fadak they and others have not understood Fadak they think it's a piece of land but Fadak is principle Fadak is huge Fadak is about fighting justice Fadak is about God's law principle it is, it's a matter of principle not at that time but all throughout the history now when we look at Fadak we recognize that it's a piece of land that is about 160 kilometers from the city of Medina of course in modern day Hajjahs and it was a very rich fertile land covered with date palms and gardens and farms and so on it was rich in water sources and people say it was as rich as far as the palm trees as kufa that's how it was of course the Jewish community had lived there until the time of the second Khalifa Umar al-Khattab who told them to leave and he asked them to pay 50,000 dirhams each if they wanted to stay in the land of Fadak now the major event was the year 7 after Hajjah of course the battle of Khaybar the prophet of Islam and the Muslims were victorious and we know the brilliant work of the brave Imam Ali al-Salam and the battle of Khaybar there were only two places that were left that you know who surrendered to the holy prophet and the people of Fadak who were 12 kilometers away from Khaybar they heard at that moment when those two places that were left to the prophet and they came to the prophet and said look we want to have peace with you we don't want you to attack us and this is the land this is all for you it's not something that we're going to demand anything for so it's known in Islamic economics as fey because the verse in surat al-Hashir 6 to 7 says what Allah gave to his messenger out of you know not cavalry nor need to fight for it is fey and it belonged entirely to the holy prophet now according to our teachings and numerous other sources when Allah swt revealed chapter 17 verse 26 wa atid al-Qurba haqqa give your family what they deserve that jibra'id said to Rasulullah give Fatima the land of Fadak and she made a number of people witnesses that she owned the land of Fadak she placed some of her workers there and she received the annual income which she gave most of it for charity now somebody may ask the question 1726 this atid al-Qurba haqqa are there scholars from our brothers who have actually said that this was revealed because Rasulullah gave Fadak to Fatima yes, ibn kathir al-amma jala ad-dina suyuti hakim al-Hasakani al-Rawandi are individuals from the Ahlu Sunnah who have said that this verse was revealed to command the prophet to give Fadak to Fatima al-ayashi al-sadoq al-qummi and you have for example prominent companions ibn abbas abisa aida al-khodari amongst others who noted and narrated this is the case but remember Fadak had such an incredible income or source of income we are told that it was worth 100,000 dinars at that time at least in terms of its value and whoever owned it would have been quite powerful in that sense because today we realize if you are a tycoon that means you have land you have businesses in modern day that's how people are powerful and they make influences so the ruling establishment after the sad demise of the holy prophet recognized this that's why they usept it I think that's very interesting because one thing people forget about Fadak like you mentioned was how much it helped the economy and how much money it was bringing in and of course it's not about the idea of money but that's ultimately where the power lies so if someone wants to stay in power they would need Fadak to help them but that could be used to overthrow them and give Imam Ali Al-Islam his rightful place as leader but specifically in terms of do you serpent what exactly happened how did they just steal it from Fadak you are absolutely right in the sense that this commentator of Nahjub Al-Aghat Ibn Abil Hadid Al-Mu'atazali who is a Mu'atazalite non-shia is a famous commentator of Nahjub Al-Aghat when he comes to discuss Fadak he told me that if the land of Fadak was not usurped and if they had given it back to Fatima then they knew the next thing would be Khilafa and that was certainly something that was documented and observed and certainly agreed by many people the workers of Sayyida Fatima Al-Islam were driven out from the land and simply without any notice without any consideration without any warning whatsoever the land was sadly confiscated and taken away by the first Khalifa Abu Bakr supported by the second Khalifa Umar and the ruling establishment at that time and of course what is interesting to note is today if you have somebody who is in possession of something if somebody has something already in Islamic law what you have to do is to try you have to provide evidence if you believe that they are not the owners not that Fatima or whoever is the owner has to provide evidence that that's hers so for example if I'm holding this piece of paper and you come to me and say you know what that's mine you have to show evidence I don't have to show evidence this is mine in Islamic law the fact that I have it is sufficient to mean that it's mine of course it could well be yours but you've got to show proof you've got to show me that it is yours and that's unfortunately something that did not happen in that incidence you know how quick after Rasool Allah that basic Islamic laws were put to the side today you know one of the lessons I want to maybe throw in these lessons in our lives people say okay this person is a believer he's practicing, he prays he goes for Hajj, he goes Ziyarah he goes Majalis but he's stolen this amount from me or he's taken a loan and he's not willing to give it back to me for example we have, we deal with these cases and they wonder you know why they're doing the salah, they're doing this how can they do this I don't get it, they're religious there is one thing you know having a beard or coming to mosque or showing that you're religious another, actually putting it in practice when push comes to shove Imam Sadaq Ali Salaam has this wonderful line, truly amazing he says when you look at someone don't look at how much they pray or how long their sajdah is look at whether they are truthful truthful are they trustworthy can you trust them in society and do they utter the truth or are they liars the conduct is what matters ultimately this is a problem we have in modern day era when people see Muslims committing barbaric acts violence terrorism in the name of Islam oh but they're Muslim, we can't say anything about them they read Quran they're good in that sense it means nothing if you're not going to put the Islamic principles in practice then you're deceiving yourself you're deceiving Allah SWT but at the end of the day you're not at all practicing what you are supposed to be doing so in essence that's what happened after the holy prophet of Islam Islamic teachings were put on the side it's about ego, it's about materialism it's about power and I think one thing we missed out on was the fact that if I'm not mistaken one of the caliphs miscoated the prophet and said that the prophet said he does not leave behind inheritance if I'm not mistaken so this is also leading on to the next point which is how Al-Aqsa responded when it comes to the issue of inheritance which is actually a point I guess used by some scholars from our brother in other sects in Islam who speak about the fact that the prophets don't in fact leave behind inheritance so therefore she couldn't have inherited a Fedek how did she respond to that it's very important for my dear brothers sisters and all respected viewers to understand this next few points carefully because sometimes when you read the biography of Sayyid al-Fatima or you hear a Majlis you're not sure chronologically how things worked and maybe it's not clear about the case that is presented or what actually happened so that Sayyid al-Fatima you know fought for her rights you know when we have a court case today the lawyer presents evidence one after the other and it's quite well structured Sayyid al-Fatima in my understanding had a three pronged approach towards dealing with this injustice it's important for us to understand all three and what she did in every stage of the way the first thing she did was that she wanted to prove that this land of Fedek is hers so it belonged to her it was given to her by Rasulullah and now her workers been driven out and so she sought to do that how did she do that? she bought the very people who were witnesses so they were Imam Ali al-Salam Asmaa bin Tawmais Asmaa bin Tawmais was a tremendous personality because she was married to Ja'far al-Tayyar Ja'far al-Tayyar the brother of Imam Ali al-Salam was martyred in the Battle of Mu'ta and then she marries the first Khalifa Abu Bakr and at this time she's married to the first Khalifa yet she stood with Sayyid al-Fatima against her husband because she was a witness that Rasulullah gave Fedek to Zahra Asmaa bin Tawmais Um Aiman Imam Al-Hasan al-Hussein are all presented as people who were witnesses now to me just a Muslim just Amir al-Mu'mini just Al-Hasan even the other two in fact just Fatima it's enough because people recognize they were the manifestations of truth they were the embodiment of Haqq and for any one of them to come and testify I mean come on a few years before they had heard Ayatul Tatheer they had seen the Prophet raise them they had seen the Prophet say they are the best of the best and yet when they all collectively give the testimony that this land belongs to Fatima nor a single testimony was accepted why? I think it's very interesting because it's almost a power play as well because having that scene of the family of the Prophet coming to the new Khalifa to prove their case switches the narrative completely just to say well you know obviously we're in power now even the family of the Prophet is coming to us to almost subconsciously recognize our authority they didn't recognize the authority sorry not recognize the authority the narrative almost shows it puts a subconscious narrative in the minds of the people that their authority is now recognized what they wanted to do was not to leave any stone unturned there was any way to demonstrate that justice has to be sought they looked for it and so you know sometimes there is volume and you sit at home and you say oh there's so much volume okay what are you doing about it you know go out there and change make that difference make that change and so say the Fatima would want to do that yes the idea that they have to come yes they're now the establishment they have to go and you know take their rights from them it's not that they're saying you're the establishment they're saying okay you've taken our lands they could have as well have been any Muslims have come and taken the lands and say the Fatima would have done the same thing brought these people as witnesses and so she did what was interesting is that when she did bring those witnesses initially according to narration he said you speak the truth and he agreed so he took this piece of paper on his way he was walking and he was met by the second Khalifa who looked at him and said what is this so this is testimony of these individuals that Fadak belongs to Fatima so the second Khalifa took it and tore it and spat on it and said no way that it is not something that can happen so what was interesting was that Sayyida Fatima is known as as Sadiqa at Tahira and yet even with those titles that the Prophet had given he was pushed aside now this did not deter Sayyida Fatima for moving on but just for information purposes just for people to know it's fascinating I found in history that the Prophet had given land to other Sahaba in his time that was not taken back that's very interesting so let me give you an example Abdulrahman bin Awf and Abu Bakr that belonged to Bani Nazir Hamza ibn al-Nu'man was given Wadi al-Qura Furat ibn Hayyan was given land in Yamama none of these land was taken away after the death of the Prophet after the Shad of the Prophet none of them and so that's something that is very interesting the second area that Sayyida Fatima worked towards is to say okay if you're not going to accept that this land belonged to me then at least you must accept its inheritance as you mentioned so inheritance was second not first you have to understand how it worked so how did she do this well she didn't only ask Fafadik by the way there was other inheritance that was due to her for example there was an area known as the seven kind of walls that belonged to the Holy Prophet three fortified castles fortified castles in Khaybar and a third of an area known as Wadi al-Qura these belong to the Prophet and so she came and said not only should Fadik be my inheritance but part of these as well the response of course was this statement they call the narration that says that we the Prophet apparently said that we are Prophets we do not inherit that which has been given to us as Sadaqa or that we leave as Sadaqa for the people so she responded with great courage determination and fantastic eloquence in her famous Khutba khutba al-Fadakia which is much more than Fadak by the way has a lot of reasons why we do certain practices and so on and it's a khutba that has to be read and contemplated upon in every occasion of Fatamiya this honoring of Sayyid al-Fatima sallam over these weeks of Fatamiya is a opportunity to read her legacy and to reflect upon these particular statements of hers including her famous Salman she had a number of Salmans but this was a famous one in the statement she argued Allah says in the Quran in chapter 4 verse number 11 you seekum allahu fi awladikum mislu hadzal mislu hadzal on theain that everybody is entitled to inheritance why should I not be because Quran is general about inheritance isn't it waritha Sulaimanu Dawood that Sulaiman inherited Dawood I should also be inheriting my father and she argued that this narration that prophets do not inherit is not accepted why because it's only Abu Bakr who narrated it it's a khabar which means it's only narrated by one individual and all of them they're saying we had Abu Bakr say it cannot be something that we consider a major law and a major action and this hadith has been rejected by the ahl al-bayt alaykum as-salam one final point about this inheritance thing and I know much can be said about this is that if the prophet did not leave inheritance why did his wife wives inherit a question to everyone why did his wives such as Ayesha and Hafsan others inherit or misalima why what did they inherit well they inherited part of the chambers that they lived in they all and later of course wrongly some of the wives of the prophet would not allow Imam al-Hasan to be buried next to Rasulullah because they said that belongs to us this is wrongly but the point is they inherited the prophet why any of their inheritance was not taken away from them so this is clear that it was a targeted thing against Sayyid al-Fatima as-salam and they did not wish Fadak in the hands of Sayyid al-Fatima because of political reasons that we knew we discussed where they are and the final area of approach that Sayyid al-Fatima three problems to remember on fighting Fadak or getting back Fadak is that when Fadima al-Hasan says to them in his sermon who knows about the Quran you do or I I am in the household that the Quran was revealed in and the one praised in the Quran telling me about the Quran I am telling you the Quran says inheritance now how did she do it? she said I am entitled to Khums inheritance the idea of the Khums that I am entitled to because the Quran says in Surah Al-Enfal and they know that I am not worthy of anything so at least Fadak should be considered as part of Khums and that's why later on Omar ibn Abdul Aziz maybe about 100 years later or less actually would return back Fadak or would want to return back Fadak to Ahl al-Bayt al-Alim salamated for a few years because he realized that all this evidence exists and that Sayyid al-Fatima tried on different ways and by the way she would go around narration says she would be riding a donkey and you know with her children to the houses of the companions and she would speak to them reminding them about all this lest they say that no one warned us lest they say you know what it was and something that we were told about it's all about giving the hujjah and the proof in the last two or three minutes that we have left tell us why is Fadak crucial today well if today we come forward and we somehow accept that what was done in Fadak is okay and we legitimize and are happy with the actions of the caliphs in usurping the land of Fadak then what we have said and I realize some people may not be comfortable with this but this is the truth if you reflect on it is that we have attacked Fatima and basically we're saying that we're wrong if we today somehow don't support what she stood for then it's a demonstration of lack of love it's the opposite actually she stood there demanding it for a reason let's not forget and I genuinely believe this if a poor person had come knocked on the door Fadak here is a lady who gave her wedding dress on her wedding night here is a lady who gave an expensive necklace to a poor here is a lady who for three days gave all their foods and did not have anything to break their fast why would she not give Fadak Fadak was not about materialism was not about this world whatsoever these are Ahlul Bayd who have detached themselves from this dunya they want servitude to Allah the lesson to learn from Fadak is that we see today a lot of oppression we see rights of people taking away number one we should not be people who practice lulam on others if we unfortunately have usurped something from someone else even if we have usurped their reputation remember it's not only physical sometimes we've destroyed someone's somehow image in society that is usurping their haq we have to work to restore it apologize and do whatever is necessary we see around the world oppression that's happening in places such as for example China Uighurs and Muslim Uighurs we see oppression happening in Yemen we see oppression happening in Pakistan and Afghanistan and Iraq and Syria and other places silence is not an option especially for people around countries where you can't speak out you can't contact your local congressmen women in America or MPs in this country or parliamentarians whatever is necessary writing letters, campaigning financially assisting and helping to stand against lulam is the message of the Ahl al-Bayt is the ethos from the 10th of Muharram is what Sayyid al-Fadim A.S. wanted to ingrain and inculcate in our spirits in our hearts and at the same time we have to realize we are responsible as protectors and defenders of Ahl al-Bayt theologically the subject of Fadak means a lot to us why? because it highlights the battle of the truth and it highlights how Wilaya extends throughout centuries and Wilaya for us is a red line we will necessarily have a discussion with our brothers others we sit with them we can pray with them and so on and visit their places the brotherhood relationship in that sense but we cannot compromise when it comes to the aspects to do with Ahl al-Bayt including Sayyid al-Fadim A.S. and this is key for our future generations to understand that we have to be the ambassadors of Ahl al-Muhammad in ensuring that what happened to them is preserved and is presented to the masses Thank you so much that was a very inspiring conclusion by the guest Sheikh Mardal Halli of course in these episodes we are exploring the life and legacy of Fatima Zahra A.S and in the next episode and the final episode of this series we will be looking at the Salah of Fatima and what we can learn from this fantastic lady We'll see you then As-salamu Alaikum Warahmatullahi Wabarakat