Attack on Fatima's house

The house of Fatima, daughter of the Islamic prophet Muhammad, was purportedly attacked shortly after the death of Muhammad in 11 AH (632 CE). The attack is said to have been instigated by his successor, Abu Bakr, and led by Umar, another senior companion. The purpose of the attack was to arrest Fatima's husband, Ali, who had withheld his pledge of allegiance to Abu Bakr. Her injuries during the raid are said to have caused her miscarriage and death six months later.

The above claims are brought forward by the Shia and categorically rejected by the Sunni, the two largest branches of Islam. On the one hand, Shia historians list some Sunni sources that corroborate these allegations, claiming that sensitive information about the incident has been censored by Sunni scholars who were concerned with the righteous presentation of companions. In turn, Sunni Islam holds that Fatima died from grief after the death of Muhammad and that her child died in infancy of natural causes. Following her passing, Abu Bakr was excluded from the private funeral of Fatima, and she was buried discreetly at night. Fatima has been compared to Mary, the mother of Jesus, especially in Shia Islam. In view of Fatima's place in Islam, these allegations are highly controversial, with beliefs primarily split along sectarian lines between Sunni and Shia denominations.