Shiite Narration: Fadak includes Africa, Aden, Armenia and Samarqand!

 بسم الله الرحمن الرحيم

In the Name of Allah, the Rahman, the Merciful

سبوح قدوس رب الملائكة والروح

Holy, Holy, Lord of the Angels and the Spirit

يا نبي سلام عليك

Peace be upon you, O Prophet

The Islamic doctrine that Prophets of God do not leave behind an inheritance of material wealth but rather an inheritance of knowledge is questioned and challenged by the Shiites, especially in relation to the problem of Fadak.

They cite the Ayah of the Holy Quran in which is the supplication of the Prophet Zechariah:

فَہَبۡ لِیۡ مِنۡ لَّدُنۡکَ وَلِیًّا

یَّرِثُنِیۡ وَیَرِثُ مِنۡ اٰلِ یَعۡقُوۡبَ

Grant me a successor from Yourself

To inherit from me and to inherit from the House of Jacob

(Surah 19, Ayah 5 & 6)

Concerning this Ayah, a Hadith is attributed to the Prophet Muhammad, peace be upon him:

رحمَ اللهُ أَخِي زكريَّا ما كان عليهِ من ورَثَةِ مالِهِ حينَ يقولُ هَبْ لِي مِنْ لَدُنْكَ وَلِيًّا يَرِثُنِي وَيَرِثُ مِنْ آلِ يَعْقُوبَ

May Allah have mercy on my brother Zechariah, for he was in charge of his inheritance of wealth when he said, “Grant me from Yourself an heir who will inherit me and inherit from the House of Jacob.” (Tafsir al-Tabari, v.15, p.459)

But this narration is mursal, as al-Hasan al-Basri, may Allah have mercy on him, is narrating directly from the Prophet, peace be upon him, without any mention of the Sahabi in the sanad. Furthermore, this narration does not actually say that Yahya, peace be upon him, or anyone else inherited wealth from Zechariah, peace be upon him, but only that the latter made the prayer mentioned in the Quran (Surah 19:5-6) while he possessed an inheritance of wealth. Subsequent narrations brought out by Ibn Jarir al-Tabari from the Prophet, peace be upon him, which are also marasil, do not have the word “his wealth” (Tafsir al-Tabari, v.15, p.460):

Nor does it make any sense for Zechariah, a righteous Prophet and Priest, to pray fervently to Allah merely for someone to inherit his material wealth. Rather, the Sunni interpretation is sounder that he prayed for someone to inherit him in Prophethood and knowledge, as has been mentioned by al-Hasan al-Basri, Mujahid bin Jabr and al-Suddi, may Allah have mercy on them.

According to a Shiite narration, the third Abbasid ruler al-Mahdi once asked the seventh Imam Musa al-Kazim, may Allah have mercy on him, about the boundaries of Fadak:

 

فقال له المهدي يا أبا الحسن حدها لي فقال حد منها جبل احد وحد منها عريش مصر وحد منها سيف البحر وحد منها دومة الجندل فقال له كل هذا

قال نعم يا أمير المؤمنين هذا كله إن هذا كله مما لم يوجف على أهله رسول الله صلى الله عليه وآله بخيل ولا ركاب فقال كثير وأنظر فيه

Al-Mahdi said to him, “O Abul-Hasan, define its boundaries for me.” He replied, “One boundary is Mount Uhud, another is Arish of Egypt, another is the coast, and another is Dumat al-Jandal.” Al-Mahdi asked, “All of these?” He said, “Yes, O Commander of the Faithful, all of these. All of this was not conquered by the Messenger of Allah (peace and blessings be upon him and his family) with horses or camels.” Al-Mahdi said, “That is a lot. I will look into it.” (Usul al-Kafi, Manshurat al-Fajr, Beirut, Lebanon, v.1, p.349)

Incidentally, according to this narration Imam Musa al-Kazim addressed the Abbasid ruler al-Mahdi as “Amir ul-Muminin” which nullifies the Imamiyyah doctrine that only the Twelve Imams are commanders of the faithful.

The Twelver Shiites must therefore accept that Fadak was not the relatively small oasis north of Medina, but is in fact the entire territory between Mount Uhud to the south, Arish in Egypt to the west, Dumat al-Jandal to the north and some coast to the east. Some Shiite polemicists argue that the boundaries of Fadak as demarcated by the seventh Imam Musa al-Kazim merely uses the name Fadak figuratively to describe the right of Ahl al-Bayt to a much larger domain. But this explanation is insufficient since the narration has Imam Musa saying:

كله مما لم يوجف على أهله رسول الله صلى الله عليه وآله بخيل ولا ركاب

“All of this was not conquered with cavalry and camel during the time of the Messenger of Allah, blessing upon his and his family.”

The implication is that according to this narration attributed to Imam Musa al-Kazim, Fadak really does compose all the territory demarcated, including Arish which is in the north of the Sinai Peninsula, in modern-day Egypt. In other words, all of that territory supposedly came into the possession of the Prophet, peace be upon him, as Fay—territory and wealth that is captured without combat. Yet, all historians are agreed that Arish in Egypt was never captured during the time of the Prophet, peace be upon him, rather the Muslims took possession of it during the Caliphate of Umar al-Faruq, may Allah be pleased with him.

Another Shiite narration, in which the fifth Abbasid ruler, Harun al-Rashid, offers to hand over Fadak to Imam Musa, has the latter demarcating its boundaries, extending them from Aden in Yemen in the south, Armenia in the north, Africa in the west and Samarqand in the east!

ان هارون الرشيد كان يقول لموسى بن جعفر

خذ فدكا حتى أردها إليك فيأبى حتى ألح عليه فقال لا آخذها إلا بحدودها قال وما حدودها قال ان حددتها لم تردها قال بحق جدك إلا فعلت قال اما الحد الأول فعدن فتغير وجه الرشيد وقال أيها قال والحد الثاني سمرقند فأربد وجهه والحد الثالث إفريقية فاسود وجهه وقال هيه قال والرابع سيف البحر مما يلي الجزر وأرمينية قال الرشيد فلم يبق لنا شئ فتحول إلى مجلسي قال موسى قد أعلمتك انني إن حددتها لم تردها فعند ذلك عزم على قتله

Harun al-Rashid said to Musa bin Jafar, “Take Fadak, I will return it to you.” But he refused until al-Rashid persisted. Then Musa said, “I will only take it with its boundaries.” Harun asked, “And what are its boundaries?” Musa replied, “If I define them, you will not return it.” Harun said, “By the right of your grandfather, I will do it.” Musa said, “The first boundary is Aden.” Al-Rashid’s face changed, and said, “What?!” “The second boundary is Samarqand.” Al-Rashid's face darkened, and he said, “The third boundary is Africa.” Al-Rashid’s face turned black, and he said, “Ah!”, (Musa) said, “And the fourth is the coast towards the islands and Armenia.” Al-Rashid said, “Then we have nothing left” and turned to his council. Musa said, “I told you that if I define its boundaries, you will not return it.” At that point, al-Rashid resolved to kill him. (Manaqib Al Abi Talib, Dar al-Adwa, v.4, p.346)

Since the Shiites love to debate the problem of Fadak, this ancient land dispute, Sunni Muslims who engage them ought to make as a precondition for any such debate or discussion the demarcation of the actual boundaries of Fadak. Is it merely an oasis in the north of Arabia, or it is a massive territory extending from Africa to Samarqand, and from Armenia to Aden?