Journal of Arabic Language & Literature

The Power of Meaning Production and Doctrinal-Semantic Outputs in the Fadakiyyah Sermon of Fatimah al-Zahra (SA): A Structural-Stylistic Approach

Document Type : Original Article

Author

Mohamad Hassan Amraei

Assistant Professor, Department of Arabic Language and Literature, Lorestan University, khoramabad, Iran

https://doi.org/10.22067/jall.2026.98227.1647
Abstract
The Fadak Sermon is one of the most significant sources of the intellectual and literary heritage of Ahl al-Bayt (peace be upon them) in the early Islamic period. In this sermon, Fatimah al-Zahra (peace be upon her) defended her usurped rights and addressed fundamental issues, including the Imamate, the Prophetic heritage, and the status of Ahl al-Bayt. She also articulated the foundations of authentic Muhammadan Islam brought by her father, the Prophet Muhammad (peace be upon him). Through a sophisticated rhetorical structure, she employed rhythmic, semantic, and syntactic devices to enrich the text and convey her profound grief following her father’s death and the confiscation of Fadak. This study provides a stylistic analysis of the renowned Fadak Sermon to examine its structural organization and reveal aspects of its artistic and stylistic aesthetics. The research adopts a stylistic analytical approach, focusing on the textual structure of the sermon and its artistic and stylistic potential. It examines Fatimah al-Zahra’s perspective as reflected in the sermon and explores how its stylistic features express the usurpation of her rights in the immediate aftermath of the Prophet’s death. The findings show that Fatimah al-Zahra employed both verbal and nominal sentences in her argumentative discourse, while predominantly relying on verbal sentences. The sermon contains 318 verbal sentences compared with 126 nominal sentences. Furthermore, past-tense verbs constitute approximately 73.60% of the text, reflecting a distinctive retrospective strategy. This prominent use of verbal sentences corresponds to the sermon’s communicative purposes and overall atmosphere, particularly exhortation, guidance, protest, and argumentation supported by Qur’anic evidence. Thus, the sermon effectively integrates linguistic form with rhetorical purpose, reinforcing both its argumentative force and emotional impact.

Keywords

Islamic Era
the Sermon of Fadak
Fatimah al-Zahra (SA)
Stylistics
Subjects
Al-Quran                                                                
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