Most of us think that the Sermon of Fadak is merely an argumentative speech to prove the right of Lady Fatimah (as) over the land of Fadak. Although the conflicts over Fadak was one of the contexts that led to the delivery of this sermon, the speech is replete with lofty content of Islamic teachings regarding the philosophy of religious rituals.
After the demise of Prophet Muhammad (pbuh&hf), Lady Fatima's property known as Fadak was seized by the fist Caliph. Fadak was a village located to the north of Medina, at the distance of two days travel. This land at first belonged to a Jewish tribe but was given to the Prophet (pbuh&hf) as part of a peace treaty. According to historical facts, Prophet Muhammad (pbuh&hf) gifted this prosperous land to his beloved daughter during his life time. Shortly after the demise of Prophet Muhammad (pbuh&hf), the first Caliph seized the property in order to put a financial pressure on Imam Ali (as), Lady Fatimah (as) and their supporters who were largely supported by the revenue of Fadak. The Caliph claimed that the Prophet had told him personally that he would not leave any heritage. Following the false claim of the Caliph, Lady Fatimah (as) went to Prophet's mosque and delivered a speech which is known as Sermon of Fadak. The Sermon of Fadak appears in a number of sources, including Balaghat al-Nisa (Eloquent Sayings of Women).
Regardless of clear proofs explained by Lady Fatima in this sermon to reject the caliphate of Abu-Bakr and substantiate Imam Ali's right to caliphate and her right to take back her property, we see lofty content on the philosophy of Islamic practices in this sermon. As I could not condense all of the phrases stated in this regard, I would confine the article to a particular phrase on Salat. Regarding Salat, Lady Fatima (as) said,
Allah made prayer (Salat) a means of freeing yourselves from arrogance.
The point is that Lady Fatima delivered this speech for the Muslims who were present to offer their Salat in the mosque. She mentioned the fact that offering Salat is not the ultimate goal for Muslims; rather, Allah wants Muslim to free themselves from arrogance. What we can understand form her speech is that Salat is a means like other religious practices not a goal. Lady Fatima clearly warned Muslims that if their devotion to religious practices does not influence their personal and social growth, there would be no Salat for them. Does Allah reward the prayer of Muslims who remained silent when they saw that the caliphate of Prophet was usurped?