Allah's Apostle said, "Surely! Everyone of you is a
guardian and is responsible for his charges: The Imam
(ruler) of the people is a guardian and is responsible for
his subjects; a man is the guardian of his family
(household) and is responsible for his subjects; a woman
is the guardian of her husband's home and of his children
and is responsible for them; and the slave of a man is a
guardian of his master's property and is responsible for
it. Surely, everyone of you is a guardian and responsible
for his charges."
That while he was included in a delegation of Quraish
staying with Muawiya, Muawiya heard that 'Abdullah bin 'Amr
had said that there would be a king from Qahtan tribe,
whereupon he became very angry. He stood up, and after
glorifying and praising Allah as He deserved, said, "To
proceed, I have come to know that some of you men are
narrating things which are neither in Allah's Book, nor
has been mentioned by Allah's Apostle . Such people are
the ignorant among you. Beware of such vain desires that
mislead those who have them. I have heard Allah's Apostle
saying, 'This matter (of the caliphate) will remain with
the Quraish, and none will rebel against them, but Allah
will throw him down on his face as long as they stick to
the rules and regulations of the religion (Islam).'"
Allah's Apostle said, "Do not wish to be like anyone,
except in two cases: (1) A man whom Allah has given wealth
and he spends it righteously. (2) A man whom Allah has
given wisdom (knowledge of the Quran and the Hadith) and
he acts according to it and teaches it to others."
The Prophet said, "If somebody sees his Muslim ruler
doing something he disapproves of, he should be patient,
for whoever becomes separate from the Muslim group even
for a span and then dies, he will die as those who died in
the Pre-lslamic period of ignorance (as rebellious
sinners). (See Hadith No. 176 and 177)
The Prophet said, "A Muslim has to listen to and obey
(the order of his ruler) whether he likes it or not, as
long as his orders involve not one in disobedience (to
Allah), but if an act of disobedience (to Allah) is
imposed one should not listen to it or obey it. (See
Hadith No. 203, Vol. 4)
The Prophet sent an army unit (for some campaign) and
appointed a man from the Ansar as its commander and
ordered them (the soldiers) to obey him. (During the
campaign) he became angry with them and said, "Didn't the
Prophet order you to obey me?" They said, "Yes." He said,
"I order you to collect wood and make a fire and then
throw yourselves into it." So they collected wood and made
a fire, but when they were about to throw themselves into,
it they started looking at each other, and some of them
said, "We followed the Prophet to escape from the fire.
How should we enter it now?" So while they were in that
state, the fire extinguished and their commander's anger
abated. The event was mentioned to the Prophet and he
said, "If they had entered it (the fire) they would never
have come out of it, for obedience is required only in
what is good." (See Hadith No. 629. Vol. 5)
The Prophet said, "O 'Abdur-Rahman! Do not seek to be a
ruler, for if you are given authority on your demand then
you will be held responsible for it, but if you are given
it without asking (for it), then you will be helped (by
Allah) in it. If you ever take an oath to do something and
later on you find that something else is better, then you
should expiate your oath and do what is better."
Allah's Apostle said, "O 'Abdur-Rahman bin Samura! Do
not seek to be a ruler, for if you are given authority on
your demand, you will be held responsible for it, but if
you are given it without asking for it, then you will be
helped (by Allah) in it. If you ever take an oath to do
something and later on you find that something else is
better, then do what is better and make expiation for your
oath."
The Prophet said, "You people will be keen to have the
authority of ruling which will be a thing of regret for
you on the Day of Resurrection. What an excellent wet
nurse it is, yet what a bad weaning one it is!"
Two men from my tribe and I entered upon the Prophet.
One of the two men said to the Prophet, "O Allah's
Apostle! Appoint me as a governor," and so did the second.
The Prophet said, "We do not assign the authority of
ruling to those who ask for it, nor to those who are keen
to have it."
I heard the Prophet saying, "Any man whom Allah has
given the authority of ruling some people and he does not
look after them in an honest manner, will never feel even
the smell of Paradise."
I saw Safwan and Jundab and Safwan's companions when
Jundab was advising. They said, "Did you hear something
from Allah's Apostle?" Jundab said, "I heard him saying,
'Whoever does a good deed in order to show off, Allah will
expose his intentions on the Day of Resurrection (before
the people), and whoever puts the people into
difficulties, Allah will put him into difficulties on the
Day of Resurrection.'" The people said (to Jundab),
"Advise us." He said, "The first thing of the human body
to purify is the abdomen, so he who can eat nothing but
good food (Halal and earned lawfully) should do so, and he
who does as much as he can that nothing intervene between
him and Paradise by not shedding even a handful of blood,
(i.e. murdering) should do so."
Anas bin Malik said to a woman of his family, "Do you
know such-and-such a woman?" She replied, "Yes." He said,
"The Prophet passed by her while she was weeping over a
grave, and he said to her, 'Be afraid of Allah and be
patient.' The woman said (to the Prophet). 'Go away from
me, for you do not know my calamity.'" Anas added, "The
Prophet left her and proceeded. A man passed by her and
asked her, 'What has Allah's Apostle said to you?' She
replied, 'I did not recognize him.' The man said, 'He was
Allah's Apostle."' Anas added, "So that woman came to the
gate of the Prophet and she did not find a gate-keeper
there, and she said, 'O Allah's Apostle! By Allah. I did
not recognize you!' The Prophet said, 'No doubt, patience
is at the first stroke of a calamity.'"
A man embraced Islam and then reverted back to Judaism.
Mu'adh bin Jabal came and saw the man with Abu Musa.
Mu'adh asked, "What is wrong with this (man)?" Abu Musa
replied, "He embraced Islam and then reverted back to
Judaism." Mu'adh said, "I will not sit down unless you
kill him (as it is) the verdict of Allah and His Apostle
Abu Bakra wrote to his son who was in Sijistan: 'Do not
judge between two persons when you are angry, for I heard
the Prophet saying, "A judge should not judge between two
persons while he is in an angry mood."
A man came to Allah's Apostle and said, "O Allah's
Apostle! By Allah, I fail to attend the morning
congregational prayer because so-and-so (i.e., Muadh bin
Jabal) prolongs the prayer when he leads us for it." I had
never seen the Prophet more furious in giving advice than
he was on that day. He then said, "O people! some of you
make others dislike (good deeds, i.e. prayers etc). So
whoever among you leads the people in prayer, he should
shorten it because among them there are the old, the weak
and the busy (needy having some jobs to do). (See Hadith
No. 90, Vol. 1)
That he had divorced his wife during her menses. 'Umar
mentioned that to the Prophet. Allah's Apostle became
angry and said, "He must take her back (his wife) and keep
her with him till she becomes clean from her menses and
then to wait till she gets her next period and becomes
clean again from it and only then, if he wants to divorce
her, he may do so."
Hind bint 'Utba bin Rabia came and said. "O Allah's
Apostle! By Allah, there was no family on the surface of
the earth, I like to see in degradation more than I did
your family, but today there is no family on the surface
of the earth whom I like to see honored more than yours."
Hind added, "Abu Sufyan is a miser. Is it sinful of me to
feed our children from his property?" The Prophet said,
"There is no blame on you if you feed them (thereof) in a
just and reasonable manner.
When the Prophet intended to write to the Byzantines,
the people said, "They do not read a letter unless it is
sealed (stamped)." Therefore the Prophet took a silver
ring----as if I am looking at its glitter now----and its
engraving was: 'Muhammad, Apostle of Allah'
That when he went to 'Umar during his Caliphate. 'Umar
said to him, "Haven't I been told that you do certain jobs
for the people but when you are given payment you refuse
to take it?" 'Abdullah added: I said, "Yes." 'Umar said,
"Why do you do so?" I said, "I have horses and slaves and
I am living in prosperity and I wish that my payment
should be kept as a charitable gift for the Muslims." 'Umar
said, "Do not do so, for I intended to do the same as you
do. Allah's Apostles used to give me gifts and I used to
say to him, 'Give it to a more needy one than me.' Once he
gave me some money and I said, 'Give it to a more needy
person than me,' whereupon the Prophet said, 'Take it and
keep it in your possession and then give it in charity.
Take what ever comes to you of this money if you are not
keen to have it and not asking for it; otherwise (i.e., if
it does not come to you) do not seek to have it yourself.'
"
Narrated 'Abdullah bin 'Umar: I have heard 'Umar
saying, "The Prophet used to give me some money (grant)
and I would say (to him), 'Give it to a more needy one
than me.' Once he gave me some money and I said, 'Give it
to a more needy one than me.' The Prophet said (to me),
'Take it and keep it in your possession and then give it
in charity. Take whatever comes to you of this money while
you are not keen to have it and not asking for it; take
it, but you should not seek to have what you are not
given. ' "
I witnessed a husband and a wife who were involved in a
case of Lian. Then (the judgment of) divorce was passed. I
was fifteen years of age, at that time.
(the brother of Bani Sa'ida) A man from the Ansar came
to the Prophet and said, "If a man finds another man
sleeping with his wife, should he kill him?" That man and
his wife then did Lian in the mosque while I was present.
A man came to Allah's Apostle while he was in the
mosque, and called him, saying, "O Allah's Apostle! I have
committed illegal sexual intercourse." The Prophet turned
his face to the other side, but when the man gave four
witnesses against himself, the Prophet said to him, "Are
you mad?" The man said, "No." So the Prophet said (to his
companions), "Take him away and stone him to death. "
Allah's Apostle said, "I am only a human being, and you
people (opponents) come to me with your cases; and it may
be that one of you can present his case eloquently in a
more convincing way than the other, and I give my verdict
according to what I hear. So if ever I judge (by error)
and give the right of a brother to his other (brother)
then he (the latter) should not take it, for I am giving
him only a piece of Fire." (See Hadith No. 638, Vol. 3).
Allah's Apostle said on the Day of (the battle of)
Hunain, "Whoever has killed an infidel and has a proof or
a witness for it, then the salb (arms and belongings of
that deceased) will be for him." I stood up to seek a
witness to testify that I had killed an infidel but I
could not find any witness and then sat down. Then I
thought that I should mention the case to Allah's Apostle
I (and when I did so) a man from those who were sitting
with him said, "The arms of the killed person he has
mentioned, are with me, so please satisfy him on my
behalf." Abu Bakr said, "No, he will not give the arms to
a bird of Quraish and deprive one of Allah's lions of it
who fights for the cause of Allah and His Apostle."
Allah's Apostle I stood up and gave it to me, and I bought
a garden with its price, and that was my first property
which I owned through the war booty.
The people of Hijaz said, "A judge should not pass a
judgment according to his knowledge, whether he was a
witness at the time he was the judge or before that" And
if a litigant gives a confession in favor of his opponent
in the court, in the opinion of some scholars, the judge
should not pass a judgment against him till the latter
calls two witnesses to witness his confession. And some
people of Iraq said, "A judge can pass a judgement
according to what he hears or witnesses (the litigant's
confession) in the court itself, but if the confession
takes place outside the court, he should not pass the
judgment unless two witnesses witness the confession."
Some of them said, "A judge can pass a judgement depending
on his knowledge of the case as he is trust-worthy, and
that a witness is Required just to reveal the truth. The
judge's knowledge is more than the witness." Some said, "A
judge can judge according to his knowledge only in cases
involving property, but in other cases he cannot." Al-Qasim
said, "A judge ought not to pass a judgment depending on
his knowledge if other people do not know what he knows,
although his knowledge is more than the witness of
somebody else because he might expose himself to suspicion
by the Muslims and cause the Muslims to have unreasonable
doubt. "
Safiya bint (daughter of) Huyai came to the Prophet (in
the mosque), and when she returned (home), the Prophet
accompanied her. It happened that two men from the Ansar
passed by them and the Prophet called them saying, "She is
Safiya!" those two men said, "Subhan Allah!" The Prophet
said, "Satan circulates in the human body as blood does."
The Prophet sent my father and Mu'adh bin Jabal to
Yemen and said (to them), "Make things easy for the people
and do not put hurdles in their way, and give them glad
tiding, and don't let them have aversion (i.e. to make
people to hate good deeds) and you both should work in
cooperation and mutual understanding" Abu Musa said to
Allah's Apostle, "In our country a special alcoholic drink
called Al-Bit', is prepared (for drinking)." The Prophet
said, "Every intoxicant is prohibited. "
The Prophet appointed a man from the tribe of Bani
Asad, called Ibn Al-Utabiyya to collect the Zakat. When he
returned (with the money) he said (to the Prophet), "This
is for you and this has been given to me as a gift." The
Prophet stood up on the pulpit (Sufyan said he ascended
the pulpit), and after glorifying and praising Allah, he
said, "What is wrong with the employee whom we send (to
collect Zakat from the public) that he returns to say,
'This is for you and that is for me?' Why didn't he stay
at his father's and mother's house to see whether he will
be given gifts or not? By Him in Whose Hand my life is,
whoever takes anything illegally will bring it on the Day
of Resurrection by carrying it over his neck: if it is a
camel, it will be grunting: if it is a cow, it will be
mooing: and if it is a sheep it will be bleating!" The
Prophet then raised both his hands till we saw the
whiteness of his armpits (and he said), "No doubt! Haven't
I conveyed Allah's Message?" And he repeated it three
times.
Salim, the freed salve of Abu Hudhaifa used to lead in
prayer the early Muhajirin (emigrants) and the companions
of the Prophet in the Quba mosque. Among those (who used
to pray behind him) were Abu Bakr, 'Umar, Abu Salama, and
Amir bin Rabi'a.
Marwan bin Al-Hakam and Al-Miswar bin Makhrama told him
that when the Muslims were permitted to set free the
captives of Hawazin, Allah's Apostle said, "I do not know
who amongst you has agreed (to it) and who has not. Go
back so that your 'Urafa' may submit your decision to us."
So the people returned and their 'Urafa' talked to them
and then came back to Allah's Apostle and told him that
the people had given their consent happily and permitted
(their captives to be freed).
Narrated Muhammad bin Zaid bin Abdullah bin 'Umar:
Some people said to Ibn 'Umar, "When we enter upon our
ruler(s) we say in their praise what is contrary to what
we say when we leave them." Ibn 'Umar said, "We used to
consider this as hypocrisy."
Allah's Apostles said, "The worst of all mankind is the
double-faced one, who comes to some people with one
countenance and to others, with another countenance."
Hind (bint 'Utba) said to the Prophet "Abu Sufyan is a
miserly man and I need to take some money of his wealth."
The Prophet said, "Take reasonably what is sufficient for
you and your children "
(the wife of the Prophet) Allah's Apostle heard some
people quarreling at the door of his dwelling, so he went
out to them and said, "I am only a human being, and
litigants with cases of dispute come to me, and someone of
you may happen to be more eloquent (in presenting his
case) than the other, whereby I may consider that he is
truthful and pass a judgment in his favor. If ever I pass
a judgment in favor of somebody whereby he takes a
Muslim's right unjustly, then whatever he takes is nothing
but a piece of Fire, and it is up to him to take or
leave."
(the wife of the Prophet) 'Utba bin Abi Waqqas said to
his brother Sa'd bin Abi Waqqas, "The son of the slave
girl of Zam'a is from me, so take him into your custody."
So in the year of Conquest of Mecca, Sa'd took him and
said. (This is) my brother's son whom my brother has asked
me to take into my custody." 'Abd bin Zam'a got up before
him and said, (He is) my brother and the son of the slave
girl of my father, and was born on my father's bed." So
they both submitted their case before Allah's Apostle.
Sa'd said, "O Allah's Apostle! This boy is the son of my
brother and he entrusted him to me." 'Abd bin Zam'a said,
"This boy is my brother and the son of the slave girl of
my father, and was born on the bed of my father." Allah's
Apostle said, "The boy is for you, O 'Abd bin Zam'a!" Then
Allah's Apostle further said, "The child is for the owner
of the bed, and the stone is for the adulterer," He then
said to Sauda bint Zam'a, "Veil (screen) yourself before
him," when he saw the child's resemblance to 'Utba. The
boy did not see her again till he met Allah.
The Prophet said, "If somebody on the demand of a judge
takes an oath to grab (a Muslim's) property and he is liar
in it, he will meet Allah Who will be angry with him". So
Allah revealed,:--
'Verily! those who purchase a small gain at the cost of
Allah's Covenant and their oaths..' (3.77) 'Al-Ashath came
while Abdullah was narrating (this) to the people.
Al-Ashath said, "This verse was revealed regarding me and
another man with whom I had a quarrel about a well. The
Prophet said (to me), "Do you have any evidence?' I
replied, 'No.' He said, 'Let your opponent take an oath.'
I said: I am sure he would take a (false) oath." Thereupon
it was revealed: 'Verily! those who purchase a small gain
at the cost of Allah's Covenant....' (3.77) (See Hadith
No. 72, Vol 6).
The Prophet heard the voices of some people quarreling
near his gate, so he went to them and said, "I am only a
human being and litigants with cases of disputes come to
me, and maybe one of them presents his case eloquently in
a more convincing and impressive way than the other, and I
give my verdict in his favor thinking he is truthful. So
if I give a Muslim's right to another (by mistake), then
that (property) is a piece of Fire, which is up to him to
take it or leave it." (See Hadith No. 281 )
The Prophet came to know that one of his companions had
given the promise of freeing his slave after his death,
but as he had no other property than that slave, the
Prophet sold that slave for 800 dirhams and sent the price
to him.
Allah's Apostle sent an army unit headed by Usama bin
Zaid and the people criticized his leadership. The Prophet
said (to the people), "If you are criticizing his
leadership now, then you used to criticize his father's
leadership before. By Allah, he (Usama's father) deserved
the leadership and used to be one of the most beloved
persons to me, and now his son (Usama) is one of the most
beloved persons to me after him. " (See Hadith No. 745,
Vol. 5)
The Prophet sent (an army unit under the command of)
Khalid bin Al-Walid to fight against the tribe of Bani
Jadhima and those people could not express themselves by
saying, "Aslamna," but they said, "Saba'na! Saba'na! "
Khalid kept on killing some of them and taking some others
as captives, and he gave a captive to everyone of us and
ordered everyone of us to kill his captive. I said, "By
Allah, I shall not kill my captive and none of my
companions shall kill his captive!" Then we mentioned that
to the Prophet and he said, "O Allah! I am free from what
Khalid bin Al-Walid has done," and repeated it twice.
There was some quarrel (sighting) among Bani 'Amr, and
when this news reached the Prophet, he offered the Zuhr
prayer and went to establish peace among them. In the
meantime the time of 'Asr prayer was due, Bilal pronounced
the Adhan and then the Iqama for the prayer and requested
Abu Bakr (to lead the prayer) and Abu Bakr went forward.
The Prophet arrived while Abu Bakr was still praying. He
entered the rows of praying people till he stood behind
Abu Bakr in the (first) row. The people started clapping,
and it was the habit of Abu Bakr that whenever he stood
for prayer, he never glanced side-ways till he had
finished it, but when Abu Bakr observed that the clapping
was not coming to an end, he looked and saw the Prophet
standing behind him.
The Prophet beckoned him to carry on by waving his
hand. Abu Bakr stood there for a while, thanking Allah for
the saying of the Prophet and then he retreated, taking
his steps backwards. When the Prophet saw that, he went
ahead and led the people in prayer. When he finished the
prayer, he said, "O Abu Bakr! What prevented you from
carrying on with the prayer after I beckoned you to do
so?" Abu Bakr replied, "It does not befit the son of Abi
Quhafa to lead the Prophet in prayer." Then the Prophet
said to the people, "If some problem arises during
prayers, then the men should say, Subhan Allah!; and the
women should clap." (See Hadith No. 652, Vol. 1)
Abu Bakr sent for me owing to the large number of
casualties in the battle of Al-Yamama, while 'Umar was
sitting with him. Abu Bakr said (to me), 'Umar has come to
my and said, 'A great number of Qaris of the Holy Quran
were killed on the day of the battle of Al-Yamama, and I
am afraid that the casualties among the Qaris of the Quran
may increase on other battle-fields whereby a large part
of the Quran may be lost. Therefore I consider it
advisable that you (Abu Bakr) should have the Qur'an
collected.' I said, 'How dare I do something which Allah's
Apostle did not do?' 'Umar said, By Allah, it is something
beneficial.' 'Umar kept on pressing me for that till Allah
opened my chest for that for which He had opened the chest
of 'Umar and I had in that matter, the same opinion as
'Umar had." Abu Bakr then said to me (Zaid), "You are a
wise young man and we do not have any suspicion about you,
and you used to write the Divine Inspiration for Allah's
Apostle. So you should search for the fragmentary scripts
of the Quran and collect it (in one Book)." Zaid further
said: By Allah, if Abu Bakr had ordered me to shift a
mountain among the mountains from one place to another it
would not have been heavier for me than this ordering me
to collect the Qur'an. Then I said (to 'Umar and Abu
Bakr), "How can you do something which Allah's Apostle did
not do?" Abu Bakr said, "By Allah, it is something
beneficial." Zaid added: So he (Abu Bakr) kept on pressing
me for that until Allah opened my chest for that for which
He had opened the chests of Abu Bakr and 'Umar, and I had
in that matter, the same opinion as theirs.
So I started compiling the Quran by collecting it from
the leafless stalks of the date-palm tree and from the
pieces of leather and hides and from the stones, and from
the chests of men (who had memorized the Quran). I found
the last verses of Sirat-at-Tauba: ("Verily there has come
unto you an Apostle (Muhammad) from amongst yourselves--'
(9.128-129) ) from Khuzaima or Abi Khuzaima and I added to
it the rest of the Sura. The manuscripts of the Quran
remained with Abu Bakr till Allah took him unto Him. Then
it remained with 'Umar till Allah took him unto Him, and
then with Hafsa bint 'Umar.
Narrated Abu Laila bin 'Abdullah bin Abdur-Rahman bin
Sahl:
Sahl bin Abi Hathma and some great men of his tribe
said, 'Abdullah bin 'Sahl and Muhaiyisa went out to
Khaibar as they were struck with poverty and difficult
living conditions. Then Muhaiyisa was informed that
Abdullah had been killed and thrown in a pit or a spring.
Muhaiyisa went to the Jews and said, "By Allah, you have
killed my companion." The Jews said, "By Allah, we have
not killed him." Muhaiyisa then came back to his people
and told them the story. He, his elder brother Huwaiyisa
and 'Abdur-Rahman bin Sahl came (to the Prophet) and he
who had been at Khaibar, proceeded to speak, but the
Prophet said to Muhaiyisa, "The eldest! The eldest!"
meaning, "Let the eldest of you speak." So Huwaiyisa spoke
first and then Muhaiyisa. Allah's Apostle said, "The Jews
should either pay the blood money of your (deceased)
companion or be ready for war." After that Allah's Apostle
wrote a letter to the Jews in that respect, and they wrote
that they had not killed him. Then Allah's Apostle said to
Huwaiyisa, Muhaiyisa and 'Abdur-Rahman, "Can you take an
oath by which you will be entitled to take the blood
money?" They said, "No." He said (to them), "Shall we ask
the Jews to take an oath before you?" They replied, "But
the Jews are not Muslims." So Allah's Apostle gave them
one-hundred she-camels as blood money from himself. Sahl
added: When those she-camels were made to enter the house,
one of them kicked me with its leg.
Narrated Abu Huraira and Zaid bin Khalid Al-Juhani:
A bedouin came and said, "O Allah's Apostle! Judge
between us according to Allah's Book (Laws)." His opponent
stood up and said, "He has said the truth, so judge
between us according to Allah's Laws." The bedouin said,
"My son was a laborer for this man and committed illegal
sexual intercourse with his wife. The people said to me,
'Your son is to be stoned to death,' so I ransomed my son
for one hundred sheep and a slave girl. Then I asked the
religious learned men and they said to me, 'Your son has
to receive one hundred lashes plus one year of exile.' "
The Prophet said, "I shall judge between you according to
Allah's Book (Laws)! As for the slave girl and the sheep,
it shall be returned to you, and your son shall receive
one-hundred lashes and be exiled for one year. O you,
Unais!" The Prophet addressed some man, "Go in the morning
to the wife of this man and stone her to death." So Unais
went to her the next morning and stoned her to death.
That Abu Sufyan bin Harb told him that Heraclius had
called him along with the members of a Quraish caravan and
then said to his interpreter, "Tell them that I want to
ask this (Abu Sufyan) a question, and if he tries to tell
me a lie, they should contradict him." Then Abu Sufyan
mentioned the whole narration and said that Heraclius said
to the inter Peter, "Say to him (Abu Sufyan), 'If what you
say is true, then he (the Prophet) will take over the
place underneath my two feet.' "
The Prophet employed Ibn Al-Utbiyya to collect Zakat
from Bani Sulaim, and when he returned (with the money) to
Allah's Apostle the Prophet called him to account, and he
said, "This (amount) is for you, and this was given to me
as a present." Allah's Apostle said, "Why don't you stay
at your father's house or your mother's house to see
whether you will be given gifts or not, if you are telling
the truth?" Then Allah's Apostle stood up and addressed
the people, and after glorifying and praising Allah, he
said: Amma Ba'du (then after) I employ some men from among
you for some job which Allah has placed in my charge, and
then one of you comes to me and says, 'This (amount) is
for you and this is a gift given to me.' Why doesn't he
stay at the house of his father or the house of his mother
and see whether he will be given gifts or not if he was
telling the truth by Allah, none of you takes anything of
it (i.e., Zakat) for himself (Hisham added: unlawfully)
but he will meet Allah on the Day of Resurrection carrying
it on his neck! I do not want to see any of you carrying a
grunting camel or a mooing cow or a bleating sheep on
meeting Allah." Then the Prophet raised both his hands
till I saw the whiteness of his armpits, and said, "(No
doubt)! Haven't I conveyed Allah's Message!"
The Prophet said, "Allah never sends a prophet or gives
the Caliphate to a Caliph but that he (the prophet or the
Caliph) has two groups of advisors: A group advising him
to do good and exhorts him to do it, and the other group
advising him to do evil and exhorts him to do it. But the
protected person (against such evil advisors) is the one
protected by Allah.' "
We gave the oath of allegiance to Allah's Apostle that
we would listen to and obey him both at the time when we
were active and at the time when we were tired and that we
would not fight against the ruler or disobey him, and
would stand firm for the truth or say the truth wherever
we might be, and in the Way of Allah we would not be
afraid of the blame of the blamers. (See Hadith No. 178
and 320)
The Prophet went out on a cold morning while the
Muhajirin (emigrants) and the Ansar were digging the
trench. The Prophet then said, "O Allah! The real goodness
is the goodness of the Here after, so please forgive the
Ansar and the Muhajirin." They replied, "We are those who
have given the Pledge of allegiance to Muhammad for to
observe Jihad as long as we remain alive."
I witnessed Ibn 'Umar when the people gathered around
'Abdul Malik. Ibn 'Umar wrote: I gave the Pledge of
allegiance that I will listen to and obey Allah's Slave,
'Abdul Malik, Chief of the believers according to Allah's
Laws and the Traditions of His Apostle as much as I can;
and my sons too, give the same pledge.'
I gave the Pledge of allegiance to the Prophet that I
would listen and obey, and he told me to add: 'As much as
I can, and will give good advice to every Muslim.'
When the people took the oath of allegiance to 'Abdul
Malik, 'Abdullah bin 'Umar wrote to him: "To Allah's
Slave, 'Abdul Malik, Chief of the believers, I give the
Pledge of allegiance that I will listen to and obey
Allah's Slave, 'Abdul Malik, Chief of the believers,
according to Allah's Laws and the Traditions of His
Apostle in whatever is within my ability; and my sons too,
give the same pledge."
The group of people whom 'Umar had selected as
candidates for the Caliphate gathered and consulted each
other. Abdur-Rahman said to them, "I am not going to
compete with you in this matter, but if you wish, I would
select for you a caliph from among you." So all of them
agreed to let 'Abdur-Rahman decide the case. So when the
candidates placed the case in the hands of 'Abdur-Rahman,
the people went towards him and nobody followed the rest
of the group nor obeyed any after him. So the people
followed 'Abdur-Rahman and consulted him all those nights
till there came the night we gave the oath of allegiance
to 'Uthman. Al-Miswar (bin Makhrama) added: 'Abdur-Rahman
called on me after a portion of the night had passed and
knocked on my door till I got up, and he said to me, "I
see you have been sleeping! By Allah, during the last
three nights I have not slept enough. Go and call
Az-Zubair and Sa'd.' So I called them for him and he
consulted them and then called me saying, 'Call 'Ali for
me." I called 'Ali and he held a private talk with him
till very late at night, and then 'Al, got up to leave
having had much hope (to be chosen as a Caliph) but
'Abdur-Rahman was afraid of something concerning 'Ali.
'Abdur-Rahman then said to me, "Call 'Uthman for me." I
called him and he kept on speaking to him privately till
the Mu'adhdhin put an end to their talk by announcing the
Adhan for the Fajr prayer. When the people finished their
morning prayer and that (six men) group gathered near the
pulpit, 'Abdur-Rahman sent for all the Muhajirin
(emigrants) and the Ansar present there and sent for the
army chief who had performed the Hajj with 'Umar that
year. When all of them had gathered, 'Abdur-Rahman said,
"None has the right to be worshipped but Allah," and
added, "Now then, O 'Ali, I have looked at the people's
tendencies and noticed that they do not consider anybody
equal to 'Uthman, so you should not incur blame (by
disagreeing)." Then 'Abdur-Rahman said (to 'Uthman), "I
gave the oath of allegiance to you on condition that you
will follow Allah's Laws and the traditions of Allah's
Apostle and the traditions of the two Caliphs after him."
So 'Abdur-Rahman gave the oath of allegiance to him, and
so did the people including the Muhajirin (emigrants) and
the Ansar and the chiefs of the army staff and all the
Muslims.
We gave the oath of allegiance to the Prophet under the
tree. He said to me, "O Salama! Will you not give the oath
of allegiance?" I replied, "O Allah's Apostle! I have
already given the oath of allegiance for the first time."
He said, (Give it again) for the second time.
A bedouin gave the Pledge of allegiance to Allah's
Apostle for Islam and the bedouin got a fever where upon
he said to the Prophet "Cancel my Pledge." But the Prophet
refused. He came to him (again) saying, "Cancel my
Pledge.' But the Prophet refused. Then (the bedouin) left
(Medina). Allah's Apostle said: "Medina is like a pair of
bellows (furnace): It expels its impurities and brightens
and clears its good."
who was born during the lifetime of the Prophet that
his mother, Zainab bint Humaid had taken him to Allah's
Apostle and said, "O Allah's Apostle! Take his Pledge of
allegiance (for Islam)." The Prophet said, "He ('Abdullah
bin Hisham) is a little child," and passed his hand over
his head and invoked Allah for him. 'Abdullah bin Hisham
used to slaughter one sheep as a sacrifice on behalf of
all of his family.
A bedouin gave the Pledge of allegiance to Allah's
Apostle for Islam. Then the bedouin got fever at Medina,
came to Allah's Apostle and said, "O Allah's Apostle!
Cancel my Pledge," But Allah's Apostle refused. Then he
came to him (again) and said, "O Allah's Apostle! Cancel
my Pledge." But the Prophet refused Then he came to him
(again) and said, "O Allah's Apostle! Cancel my Pledge."
But the Prophet refused. The bedouin finally went out (of
Medina) whereupon Allah's Apostle said, "Medina is like a
pair of bellows (furnace): It expels its impurities and
brightens and clears its good.
Allah's Apostle said, "There will be three types of
people whom Allah will neither speak to them on the Day of
Resurrection nor will purify them from sins, and they will
have a painful punishment: They are, (1) a man possessed
superfluous water (more than he needs) on a way and he
withholds it from the travelers. (2) a man who gives a
pledge of allegiance to an Imam (ruler) and gives it only
for worldly benefits, if the Imam gives him what he wants,
he abides by his pledge, otherwise he does not fulfill his
pledge; (3) and a man who sells something to another man
after the 'Asr prayer and swears by Allah (a false oath)
that he has been offered so much for it whereupon the
buyer believes him and buys it although in fact, the
seller has not been offered such a price." (See Hadith No.
838, Vol. 3)
Allah's Apostle said to us while we were in a
gathering, "Give me the oath (Pledge of allegiance for:
(1) Not to join anything in worship along with Allah, (2)
Not to steal, (3) Not to commit illegal sexual
intercourse, (4) Not to kill your children, (5) Not to
accuse an innocent person (to spread such an accusation
among people), (6) Not to be disobedient (when ordered) to
do good deeds. The Prophet added: Whoever amongst you
fulfill his pledge, his reward will be with Allah, and
whoever commits any of those sins and receives the legal
punishment in this world for that sin, then that
punishment will be an expiation for that sin, and whoever
commits any of those sins and Allah does not expose him,
then it is up to Allah if He wishes He will punish him or
if He wishes, He will forgive him." So we gave the Pledge
for that. (See Hadith No. 17, Vol. 1)
The Prophet used to take the Pledge of allegiance from
the women by words only after reciting this Holy
Verse:--(60.12) "..that they will not associate anything
in worship with Allah." (60.12) And the hand of Allah's
Apostle did not touch any woman's hand except the hand of
that woman his right hand possessed. (i.e. his captives or
his lady slaves).
We gave the Pledge of allegiance to the Prophet and he
recited to me the verse (60.12). That they will not
associate anything in worship with Allah (60.12). And he
also prevented us from wailing and lamenting over the
dead. A woman from us held her hand out and said,
"Such-and-such a woman cried over a dead person belonging
to my family and I want to compensate her for that crying"
The Prophet did not say anything in reply and she left and
returned. None of those women abided by her pledge except
Um Sulaim, Um Al-'Ala', and the daughter of Abi Sabra, the
wife of Al-Muadh or the daughter of Abi Sabra, and the
wife of Mu'adh.
A bedouin came to the Prophet and said, "Please take my
Pledge of allegiance for Islam." So the Prophet took from
him the Pledge of allegiance for Islam. He came the next
day with a fever and said to the Prophet "Cancel my
pledge." But the Prophet refused and when the bedouin went
away, the Prophet said, "Medina is like a pair of bellows
(furnace): It expels its impurities and brightens and
clears its good."
'Aisha said, "O my head!" Allah's Apostle said, "If
that (i.e., your death) should happen while I am still
alive, I would ask Allah to forgive you and would invoke
Allah for you." 'Aisha said, "O my life which is going to
be lost! By Allah, I think that you wish for my death, and
if that should happen then you would be busy enjoying the
company of one of your wives in the last part of that
day." The Prophet said, "But I should say, 'O my head!' I
feel like calling Abu Bakr and his son and appoint (the
former as my successors lest people should say something
or wish for something. Allah will insist (on Abu Bakr
becoming a Caliph) and the believers will prevent (anyone
else from claiming the Caliphate)," or "..Allah will
prevent (anyone else from claiming the Caliphate) and the
believers will insist (on Abu Bakr becoming the Caliph)."
It was said to 'Umar, "Will you appoint your
successor?" Umar said, "If I appoint a Caliph (as my
successor) it is true that somebody who was better than I
(i.e., Abu Bakr) did so, and if I leave the matter
undecided, it is true that somebody who was better than I
(i.e., Allah's Apostle) did so." On this, the people
praised him. 'Umar said, "People are of two kinds: Either
one who is keen to take over the Caliphate or one who is
afraid of assuming such a responsibility. I wish I could
be free from its responsibility in that I would receive
neither reward nor retribution I won't bear the burden of
the caliphate in my death as I do in my life."
That he heard 'Umar's second speech he delivered when
he sat on the pulpit on the day following the death of the
Prophet 'Umar recited the Tashahhud while Abu Bakr was
silent. 'Umar said, "I wish that Allah's Apostle had
outlived all of us, i.e., had been the last (to die). But
if Muhammad is dead, Allah nevertheless has kept the light
amongst you from which you can receive the same guidance
as Allah guided Muhammad with that. And Abu Bakr is the
companion of Allah's Apostle He is the second of the two
in the cave. He is the most entitled person among the
Muslims to manage your affairs. Therefore get up and swear
allegiance to him." Some people had already taken the oath
of allegiance to him in the shed of Bani Sa'ida but the
oath of allegiance taken by the public was taken at the
pulpit. I heard 'Umar saying to Abu Bakr on that day.
"Please ascend the pulpit," and kept on urging him till he
ascended the pulpit whereupon, all the people swore
allegiance to him.
A woman came to the Prophet and spoke to him about
something and he told her to return to him. She said, "O
Allah's Apostle! If I come and do not find you?" (As if
she meant, "...if you die?") The Prophet said, "If you
should not find me, then go to Abu Bakr."
Abu Bakr said to the delegate of Buzakha. "Follow the
tails of the camels till Allah shows the Caliph
(successor) of His Prophet and Al-Muhajirin (emigrants)
something because of which you may excuse yourselves "
I heard the Prophet saying, "There will be twelve
Muslim rulers (who will rule all the Islamic world)." He
then said a sentence which I did not hear. My father said,
"All of them (those rulers) will be from Quraish."
Allah's Apostle said, "By Him in Whose Hands my life
is, I was about to order for collecting fire wood and then
order someone to pronounce the Adhan for the prayer and
then order someone to lead the people in prayer and then I
would go from behind and burn the houses of men who did
not present themselves for the (compulsory congregational)
prayer. By Him in Whose Hands my life is, if anyone of you
had known that he would receive a bone covered with meat
or two (small) pieces of meat present in between two ribs,
he would come for 'Isha' prayer." (See Hadith No. 617,
Vol. 1)
Who was Ka'b's guide from among his sons when Ka'b
became blind: I heard Ka'b bin Malik saying, "When some
people remained behind and did not join Allah's Apostle in
the battle of Tabuk.." and then he described the whole
narration and said, "Allah's Apostle forbade the Muslims
to speak to us, and so we (I and my companions) stayed
fifty nights in that state, and then Allah's Apostle
announced Allah's acceptance of our repentance."