Conflict Between Hazrat Fatima And Hazrat Abu Bakr And Its Resolution
The incident seems acceptable from a holistic viewpoint. The chain of transmission holds a secondary value when studying historical narrations ( other than Hadith narrations ) unless it is obvious that the narration seems fabricated. Such historical narrations need to be studied in the light of Established History, Quran, Sunnah and in the light of holistic framework of history which is complemented by logic and common sense. There can be mistakes committed by any person other than a prophet even in religious matters in his/her capacity as a human being. This mistake can be an honest mistake in misinterpreting an application of a practical matter, it is quite a natural phenomenon. The same appears to be the case here. What Abu Bakr (rta) did was in line with Quranic Directive. Umar (rta), Usman(rta) and Ali (rta) they all followed the same policy with regards to Fadak so there was no disagreement with regards to application of this principle at a state level. A misunderstanding of a matter has no bearing on piety of someone, they are mutually exclusive things. It is possible that Fatima (rta) overreacted and became emotional in the beginning and even carried this grudge for some time but later on may be she made peace with the situation and realized her mistake in this regard. The action of Abu Bakr (rta) on the other hand indicates his love for the family of the Prophet (sws) and how he went an extra mile to gain pleasure of the daughter of the Prophet (sws)–All without compromising the principle of Quran regarding fadak (i.e. maal-e-fai ).