It is quoted by the biographers that during the battle of Badr, Abul ‘As b. Rabi’, the nephew of Khadijah and husband of Zaynab, the daughter of the Prophet142, was in the army of the polytheists and was arrested by the Muslims and brought to Madinah after the battle. When the people of Makkah heard about this, they sent some money as ransom to free their relatives who were prisoners. Zaynab, who was in Makkah, also sent something as ransom to Madinah consisting of some goods and a necklace to free her husband and this necklace was an heir-loom of Sayyidah Khadijah that she had given to her daughter on the night of her marriage.
When the Prophet saw the necklace, he was deeply moved and told the Muslims, “If you permit I will release Abul As and return this ransom back.”
The Muslims replied, “May our lives and wealth be your ransom O Prophet! Certainly we permit it.” The Prophet released Abul ‘As without any ransom amount and sent the necklace with him to Zaynab in Makkah.
The renowned scholar of the Ahlus Sunnah, Ibne Abil Hadid says, “I related the above report to my teacher Abu Ja’far Yahya b. Abi Zayd al-Naqib to which he replied, “But ‘Umar and Abu Bakr were not present when this incident took place, nor did they witness this episode from the Prophet so as to learn this lesson of mercy, so that they too could please the heart of Fatimah by bestowing Fadak to her with mercy and favour. Otherwise they would have asked the Muslims to return back Fadak to her. So was the status of Fatimah less in the eyes of the Prophet than her sister Zaynab? Fatimah was the mistress of the women of both worlds! In fact, this grant was to be given when it was not even proven that Fadak was the inheritance received by Fatimah, or that the Prophet had gifted it to her (in his lifetime).”
I asked my teacher Abu Ja’far al-Naqib, “But according to the tradition related by Abu Bakr, Fadak was from among the rights of Muslims, and thus it was not lawful for Abu Bakr to take it from the Muslims and give it to Fatimah.”
Abu Ja’far replied, “But then the ransom of Abul ‘As too had become a right of the Muslims, and at that moment the Prophet took it from them and returned it to Zaynab.”
I said, “The Prophet of Allah was the master of the shari’ah, and there was no other command upon his command while Abu Bakr did not enjoy the same status.”
He replied, “Then could Abu Bakr not have requested the Muslims to return Fadak back to Fatimah as the Prophet desired from the Muslims to return the ransom back to Zaynab the wife of Abul ‘As? If Abu Bakr had told the Muslims that, ‘O Muslims! This is the daughter of your Prophet and has come to claim some palms trees (Fadak), then do you accept this and permit (us) to give it to Fatimah do you think that the Muslims would have refused? Certainly not!”
I replied, “The honourable judge, Abul Hasan ‘Abdul Jabbar b. Ahmad had the same opinion.”
Al-Naqib said, “In reality those two men did not deal with Fatimah in a courteous manner and with fair conduct, although according to the religion (and its teachings), they acted fairly.”
House of Sorrows Translation of Baytul AhzanShaikh Abbas Al – Qummi