is charity (1). She therefore took offense at him, and soon afterward fell ill (2).
Ismāʿīl ibn Abī Khālid narrated from al-Shaʿbī, who said:
When Fāṭimah became ill, Abū Bakr came and asked permission to enter. ʿAlī said, “Fāṭimah, Abū Bakr is at the door seeking leave to see you.” She asked, “Would you like me to let him in?” He replied, “Yes.”
—I said: She followed the sunnah, for she did not allow anyone into her husband’s house without his consent.—
So she gave him permission. He entered and sought to win her approval, saying, “By Allah, I have abandoned home, wealth, family, and clan solely to earn the pleasure of Allah and His Messenger, and your pleasure, O People of the House.” He continued to speak kindly to her until she was satisfied (3).
She passed away five months—or thereabouts—after the Prophet ﷺ (4). She lived twenty-four or twenty-five years, while the majority opinion is that she lived twenty-nine years. The first view
(1) Reported by al-Bukhari, 6/139 and 141 (Book of the Fifth-Share), 7/259 (Book of Military Expeditions, chapter on the affair of Banu al-Nadir), and 12/4 (Book of the Obligatory Duties, beginning). — Also by Muslim, no. 1759 (Book of Jihad and Expeditions, chapter: “The Prophet said: ‘We are not inherited from; whatever we leave is sadaqa’”), through the isnad of al-Zuhri, from Urwa ibn al-Zubayr, from Aisha. Fatima the daughter of the Messenger of Allah sent to Abu Bakr al-Siddiq asking for her share of her father’s estate from what Allah had granted him of the lands of Madina, Fadak, and the remainder of the one-fifth of Khaybar. Abu Bakr replied: “The Messenger of Allah said: ‘La nurathu, ma tarakna sadaqa’ (We are not inherited from; whatever we leave is charity). The family of Muhammad only draws upon this property for its maintenance. By Allah, I shall not alter anything of the Messenger’s charity from the way it was in his lifetime; I shall manage it exactly as he did.” Abu Bakr therefore refused to hand anything over to Fatima; whereupon she was upset with him and avoided speaking to him until she died, six months after the Messenger of Allah … (full hadith).
(2) “Taʿallalat”: i.e. she withdrew from him and busied herself elsewhere.
(3) Reported by Ibn Saʿd, al-Tabaqat, 8/27, with a sound chain although it is mursal. Ibn Hajar cites it in Fath al-Bari, 6/139, attributing it to al-Bayhaqi and remarking that, despite its being mursal, the chain up to al-Shaʿbi is authentic.
(4) As mentioned earlier in Aisha’s report, she (Fatima) passed away six months after him, peace and blessings be upon him.