Abū Bakr said, “I heard the Messenger of Allah ﷺ affirm: ‘We prophets are not inherited from; whatever we leave behind is charity, and only the family of Muhammad may take their living allowance from that wealth.’” He then added, “By Allah, I will never omit anything I saw the Messenger of Allah ﷺ do in this matter without doing the like of it.” Because of this, Fāṭimah kept away from him and did not speak to him until she passed away. Imām Aḥmad transmitted the report likewise from ʿAbd al-Razzāq, from Maʿmar. (1)

Aḥmad also narrated—through Yaʿqūb ibn Ibrāhīm, from his father, from Ṣāliḥ ibn Kaysān, from al-Zuhrī, from ʿUrwah, from ʿĀʾishah—that after the death of the Messenger of Allah ﷺ, Fāṭimah asked Abū Bakr for her inheritance from what Allah had granted His Messenger. Abū Bakr replied that the Messenger of Allah ﷺ had said, “We prophets are not inherited from; whatever we leave behind is charity.” Fāṭimah became upset, shunned Abū Bakr, and continued to avoid him until she died. He added: “Fāṭimah lived six months after the passing of the Messenger of Allah ﷺ …” and went on to relate the rest of the ḥadīth. Such are the words of Imām Aḥmad. (2)

Al-Bukhārī (3) likewise recorded this narration in the “Book of Expeditions” of his Ṣaḥīḥ, from Ibn Bukayr (4), from al-Layth, from ʿUqayl, from al-Zuhrī, from ʿUrwah, from ʿĀʾishah, and he added: When Fāṭimah died, ʿAlī buried her at night and did not inform Abū Bakr, and he led the funeral prayer over her. While Fāṭimah was alive, the people held ʿAlī in high esteem, but after her death he sensed a change in their attitude. He therefore sought reconciliation with Abū Bakr and wished to give him the pledge of allegiance, for he had not done so during those months. ʿAlī sent word to Abū Bakr: “Come to us—let no one accompany you.” He disliked ʿUmar’s coming, knowing ʿUmar’s sternness. ʿUmar said, “By Allah, you shall not enter upon them alone.” Abū Bakr replied, “What could they possibly do to me? By Allah, I will go to them.” So Abū Bakr—may Allah be pleased with him—set out. ʿAlī pronounced the testimony of faith and said, “We recognize your virtue and what Allah has granted you, and we begrudge you no good that Allah has bestowed upon you. Yet you acted independently in this affair, whereas because of our closeness to the Messenger of Allah ﷺ we thought we should have had a share.” ʿAlī continued speaking until Abū Bakr wept—may Allah be pleased with him—and said, “By Him in Whose hand is my soul, maintaining the kinship of the Messenger of Allah ﷺ is dearer to me than maintaining my own. As for the dispute that has arisen between us over these funds, I have not deviated from what is right, nor have I neglected to do anything the Messenger of Allah ﷺ did without following him in it.”

When Abū Bakr—may Allah be pleased with him—had performed the ẓuhr prayer, he ascended the pulpit, praised Allah, spoke of ʿAlī’s delay in pledging allegiance, and presented the excuse ʿAlī had offered. ʿAlī—may Allah be pleased with him—then declared the testimony of faith and magnified the right