One day, Fuzzaal Ibn Hasan Ibn Fuzzaal al-Kufi (refer Qamoos al-Rijal, vol. 4 pg 313), a companion of Imam Jafar Sadiq (a.s.), was walking through the streets of Kufa with his friend.
He saw Abu Hanifa surrounded by people who were posing religious questions.
Fuzzaal decided to approach Abu Hanifa with some questions of his own, despite protests to the contrary by his friend, who warned him that Abu Hanifa was an intelligent person. Fuzzaal poses as a ‘Sunni’ Muslim with a Shia brother.
(We reproduce excerpts of the debate relevant to the discussion.)
Abu Hanifa: Tell your (Shia) brother that Ayesha and Hafsa by virtue of being the wives of the Prophet (s.a.w.a.) received their chambers as inheritance and in turn offered their portion of inheritance to their respective fathers for burial.
Fuzzaal: I told him the same thing but he shot back saying – you Muslims believe that the Prophet (s.a.w.a.) did not leave behind any inheritance, which is why Fadak was not granted to Fatima (s.a.) his only daughter at the time.
Even if we consider the chambers as inheritance, the fact remains that the Prophet (s.a.w.a.) had nine wives at the time of his demise. So every wife had equal right over that property and without the permission of other wives Abu Bakr and Umar should not have been buried. If we divide the inheritance equally among nine wives then each person will be entitled to no more than a span and not a burial place like Abu Bakr and Umar have taken for themselves.
After listening to this argument, Abu Hanifa resigned himself to defeat and vented his frustration on Fuzzaal by ordering his companions: Get him out of here he is a Shia.
- Al-Ehtejaaj, p 207