And I call you all to witness that I have restored it to the condition it was in during the time of the Messenger of Allah, peace and blessings be upon him. (1)
Al-Layth said: ʿUmar ibn ʿAbd al-ʿAzīz began with his own household—he took whatever was in their possession and declared their assets to be usurpations. Alarmed, the Umayyads hurried to his aunt Fāṭimah bint Marwān, and she sent word to him: “A matter has weighed heavily upon me.”
She came to him by night, and he helped her dismount. Once she was seated, he said, “Aunt, you have the prior right to speak.”
She replied, “Speak, Commander of the Believers.”
He said, “Allah sent Muhammad, peace and blessings be upon him, as a mercy, not as a punishment, and then chose for him what is with Him. He left the people with a river whose water they drank equally. Then Abū Bakr arose and left the river as it was; after him ʿUmar, who acted just as his companion had. Thereafter, canals were cut off from it—by Yazīd, Marwān, ʿAbd al-Malik, al-Walīd, and Sulaymān—until the matter reached me, and now the great river has dried up. It will never quench its people until it returns to the state it once had.”
She said, “That is enough; I shall not raise anything with you.” She then returned and conveyed his words to them.
And Maimūn ibn Mihrān related: I heard ʿUmar ibn ʿAbd al-ʿAzīz say, “Even if I were to remain among you for fifty years, I would still not be able to complete justice for you. Indeed, I wish to address a matter that concerns the public…"
(1) Reported by Abu Dawud, no. 2972, in the Book of Taxation and Governorship, chapter: “The private portions (safaya) of the Messenger of Allah from the spoils.” Its transmitters are all reliable.
Yaqut states in Muʿjam al-Buldan that Fadak remained in the hands of Fatima’s descendants during the caliphate of ʿUmar b. ʿAbd al-ʿAziz. When Yazid b. ʿAbd al-Malik came to power he confiscated it, and it stayed with the Umayyads until the caliphate of Abu l-ʿAbbas al-Saffah, who handed it over to al-Hasan b. al-Hasan b. ʿAli b. Abi Talib. The latter managed it and distributed its revenues among the descendants of ʿAli b. Abi Talib. When al-Mansur became caliph and the sons of al-Hasan rebelled, he took it back. Al-Mahdi, son of al-Mansur, restored it to them, but Musa al-Hadi seized it once more, and it remained withheld by his successors until the reign of al-Maʾmun. A representative of the descendants of ʿAli b. Abi Talib then demanded its return; al-Maʾmun ordered a deed in their favour, which was drafted and read before him. The poet Diʿbil thereupon recited:
“The face of time has burst into smiles / Now that the Hashimite Maʾmun has returned Fadak.”
See also al-Bukhari, 7/377: Book of Military Expeditions, chapter on the expedition of Khaybar; Book of Jihad, chapter on the obligation of the khums (one-fifth); Book on the Virtues of the Companions, chapter on the merits of the Prophet’s relatives; and Book of Inheritance, chapter on the Prophet’s saying: “We are not inherited from; what we leave is charity.” Muslim, no. 1759, Book of Jihad and Expeditions, has the same statement: “We are not inherited from; what we leave is charity.”