Fadak, and Six Months

After the Prophet's death ﷺ, Fatimah asked Abu Bakr, now the caliph, for her inheritance from what her father had left, including his share of Fadak and Khaybar. Abu Bakr answered that the Prophet ﷺ had said, "We are not inherited from; what we leave is charity," and that he would not leave undone anything he had seen the Prophet ﷺ do with that property. Fatimah was displeased and did not speak to him about it again until she died (Sahih al-Bukhari 3093).

This is one of the points on which Muslims read history differently. Sunni scholars hold that Abu Bakr was bound by a hadith that other senior Companions, including 'Ali and al-'Abbas, also confirmed knowing (Sahih al-Bukhari 3094), and that he spent from that property on the Prophet's family as the Prophet ﷺ had. Shi'a scholars hold that Fadak was Fatimah's by right and that she was wronged. Both honour her; the difference deserves to be discussed with knowledge and respect.

Fatimah lived about six months after her father, as he had told her. 'Ali buried her at night. Abu Bakr had said, "By the One in whose hand is my soul, the kin of the Messenger of Allah ﷺ are dearer to me to keep ties with than my own kin" (Sahih al-Bukhari 4240-4241). She was the first of his family to follow him.