The Prophet’s achievements in Medina part 2

11. Priding on lineages

Islam has prohibited the priding on lineages for it leads the split of the Islamic brotherhood. People in Islam are equal as the dents of a comb; no one has preference to another except by piety and good deeds.

Once Uqbah bin Basheer al-Asadi had the honor of meeting Imam Abu Ja’far al-Baqir (a.s.) and began praising himself and his lineage. The imam said to him, “Do not pride on your lineage before us. Allah has exalted by faith that whom people used to call ‘mean’ if he was faithful, and lowered by disbelief that whom people used to call ‘noble’ if he was an unbeliever. There is no preference for one to another except by piety.”[50]

Instead of priding on one’s ancestors one should pride on good deeds and assistance to others.; 

Lights from the Islamic civilization

The Prophet (a.s.) undertook the best and most appropriate systems that assured security and settlement to his nation. We have talked about some of them in the previous chapters and now we talk about some others.

Freedom

Islam has adopted full freedom for man because it is as the air to his lungs and without it a sound life cannot be realized. The freedoms that Islam has declared are the following:

1. The freedom of religion

The freedom of religion is a part from the Islamic mission. The Prophet’s plan was to inform of the principles and values of his mission to the society and they were free to believe in them if they wanted and to reject if they wanted. Allah has said addressing His prophet, (And say: The truth is from your Lord, so let him who pleases believe, and let him who pleases disbelieve),[51] and said, (Therefore, do remind, for you are only a reminder. You are not a warder over them),[52] and, (We know best what they say, and you are not one to compel them; therefore remind him by means of the Qur’an who fears My threat).[53] There would be no harm to Islam if the Jews and the Christians insisted to remain on their religions. Allah also has said to His messenger, (will you then force men till they become believers?)[54]

Goldzieher says, “Islam, in order to be a universal power, followed an intelligent policy. In the first ages, embracing Islam was not obligatory. Those, who believed in monotheism and took their laws from Divine Books like the Jews, the Christians, and the Zoroastrians could, if they paid the certain tribute, enjoy the freedom of rites and the protection of the Islamic state. Islam had gone with this policy to far distances. In India, for example, the old rites were practiced in the temples under the Islamic rule.”[55]

Dozy mentions the importance of the Islamic leniency when talking about the conquest of Andalusia. He says, “The conditions of the Christians under the Islamic rule did not lead to complaint as to what they were before. Add to that that the Arabs had much leniency. They did not weary anyone in the affairs of religion…and the Christians did not neglect this favor of the Arabs, but they approved the Arabs’ leniency and justice and preferred their rule to the rule of the Germans and the French.”[56]   

Islam has obliged all Muslims to regard the right of others in their beliefs. No one is permitted to force anyone to embrace Islam. Allah has said, (There is no compulsion in religion; truly the right way has become clearly distinct from error).[57] If a Muslim wants to argue with someone of another belief, he has to show him irrefutable evidences on Islam and show him through logic and clear proofs the defects of that someone’s belief. Either he submits to the truth or otherwise a Muslim has no right to use pressure and force to impose his own beliefs on him.

From the manifestations of the full freedom that Islam has given to the followers of the other religions is that it does not impose on them the application of the Islamic rulings especially in the personal law, but they can refer to the rulings of their religions.

However, history has never mentioned that Prophet Muhammad (a.s.) had killed, punished, or imprisoned a follower of another religion or prevented him from practicing his rites.

2. The freedom of thought

Islam has opened all horizons of thinking before the mind and invited it to set out in the universe and use all its activities to ponder on everything there and think deeply of all what Allah had created which would lead to the absolute faith in Allah the Almighty.

The freedom of thought, which Islam has invited to, calls for the intellectual development and the release from every superstitions and illusions that were widespread in the society of Mecca where idolatry was the most significant thing in that life of deviation. Allah has said, (And certainly We have created for hell many of the jinn and the men; they have hearts with which they do not understand, and they have eyes with which  they do not see, and they have ears with which they do not hear; they are as cattle, nay, they are worse. These are the heedless ones).[58]

The Prophet (a.s.) invited the Meccan people to waken their minds and free their thinking from all their bad habits and thought and from imitating their fathers blindly. Allah has said, (And when it is said to them: Follow what Allah has revealed, they say: Nay! we follow what we found our fathers upon. What! And though their fathers had no sense at all, nor did they follow the right way?)[59]

Allah the Almighty ordered His prophet to address his people, who followed their idols in error, saying, (Say: Have you then considered that what you call upon besides Allah, would they, if Allah desire to afflict me with harm, be the removers of His harm, or (would they), if Allah desire to show me mercy, be the withholders of His mercy? Say: Allah is sufficient for me; on Him do the reliant rely).[60]

3. Civil freedom

It means the giving of the full freedom to the individual in the field of work on condition that his work should not be impermissible in Islam such as the making of instruments of amusement, wines, and the like.

From the other fields of the civil freedom is the freedom of abode that every individual has the right to choose for himself an abode to live in on condition that it should not be ill-gotten. He is also free to live in any country he likes except that when his emigration is to non-Muslim country and that it is feared for him that he may lose his faith and become deviant; therefore, this emigration is impermissible to him.

Governors and officials

When Islam had become strong and its state firm, the Prophet began sending governors and officials to the provinces and the villages that had embraced Islam.

The task of governors

The task of the governors whom the Prophet (a.s.) sent to the Muslim towns was as the following:

1. To teach the rulings of Islam, like the rulings of prayer, fasting, hajj, zakat, the enjoining of good and forbidding of wrong, the Holy Qur'an, spreading the good morals and manners, and virtues among people.

2. Collecting the Islamic taxes and spending them on the poor of that town, besides the other public interests.

3. Deciding the disputes among people and solving their problems according to the rulings of Islam.

4. Watching the market; the Prophet (a.s.) paid much attention to the economic life of people. Those, who sold foods without weights or measures, were whipped at the time of the Prophet (a.s.), for the selling of foods must undergo certain measures and weights.[61] The Prophet (a.s.) employed Sa’eed bin al-Aas to watch the market of Mecca after the conquest[62] for fear of usurious dealings. 

The Prophet’s covenant to governors

The Prophet (a.s.) had assigned to Amr bin Hazm, who was his governor on Yemen, this covenant in which he said,

“In the name of Allah, the Beneficent, the Merciful. This a communiqué from Allah and His messenger. O you who believe be loyal to the covenant! This is a covenant from Prophet Muhammad the messenger of Allah to Amr bin Hazm when he sent him to Yemen. He ordered him of the fear of Allah in all his affairs for (surly Allah is with those who keep their duty unto Him and those who are doers of good). He ordered him to follow the truth as Allah had ordered him, and to bring good news about goodness, order them to do it (goodness), teach them the Qur'an and make them understand it, and forbid them that no man should touch the Qur'an except when he is pure, and to inform people of their rights and their duties, and to be lenient to them in the truth and severe to them in injustice (when one of them commits injustice) because Allah hates injustice and prohibits it. He says, (surely the curse of Allah is on the unjust).[63] And to bring people good news about the Paradise and its deeds and warn them against the Fire and its deeds, and befriend people until they fully understand the religion, and teach people the ruling of the hajj and its rites and obligation and what Allah has ordered, and the Major Hajj.”[64]

The Prophet’s covenant to Mu’ath

The Prophet (a.s.) made a covenant to his governor Mu’ath and ordered him to fulfill its terms. It has been narrated in two forms. Here is the first one: 

“O Mu’ath, I recommend you of the fear of Allah, the truthfulness in speaking, the fulfillment of covenants, giving deposits back (to their owners), avoiding betrayal, being merciful to the orphan, observance of neighbors, controlling of anger, being lenient, offering of greetings and soft speech, keeping to faith, understanding the Qur'an, the love of the afterlife, the fear of Judgment (of the afterlife), good deeds, and not relying on wishes, and beware of abusing a Muslim, disbelieving a truthful one, believing a liar, or disobeying a just ruler.

O Mu’ath, remember your Lord at every rock and tree, and make to every sin a repentance; secretly when secretly and openly when openly. Visit the sick, and hurry to satisfy the needs of widows and the weak. Sit with the poor and the wretched. Be fair to people against yourself, say the truth, and do not fear, in the way of Allah, a blame of any blamer.”[65]

The second narration:

“O Mu’ath, teach them the Book of Allah, and educate them with the good morals. Regard people according to their positions whether good or bad. Apply the order of Allah to them and do not flatter anyone as to His orders and wealth, because it is neither your authority nor is it your wealth. Give deposits back to their owners in all cases whether little or much. Keep on leniency and pardoning except in the leaving of the truth that an ignorant one may say: you have left the right of Allah. Apologize to the people of everything that you may commit a fault in it until they pardon you. Deaden the affairs of the pre-Islamic age except that which Islam has passed, and show all matters of Islam whether small or big. Let the prayer be most of your attention because it is the head of Islam after the acknowledgment of the religion (faith). Remind the people of Allah and the Last Day and follow preachment for it is better to them in the doing of what Allah likes. Then, send among them educators, and worship Allah Whom you shall return to, and do not fear, in the way of Allah, a blame of any blamer.

And I recommend you of the fear of Allah, the truthfulness in speaking, the fulfillment of covenants, giving deposits back (to their owners), avoiding betrayal, (I recommend you of) soft speaking, offering of greetings, observance of neighbors, being merciful to the orphan, doing good deeds, not relying on wishes, the love of the afterlife, the fear of Judgment (of the afterlife), , keeping to faith, understanding the Qur'an, controlling of anger, and being lenient.

Beware of abusing a Muslim, obeying a sinner, disobeying a just ruler, disbelieving a truthful one, or believing a liar. Remember your Lord at every rock and tree, and make to every sin a repentance; secretly when secretly and openly when openly.”

Deposing of governors

The Prophet (a.s.) was too careful in watching the conducts of his governors. When he saw that the public complain at a governor for his bad administration or bad morals, he deposed him. Once, he deposed his governor on Bahrain, al-Ala’ bin al-Hadhrami, because the delegation of the bani Abdul Qays complained against him, and he appointed in place of him Aban bin Sa’eed and said to him, “Be kind to Abdul Qays and regard their notables.”[66]

The Prophet (a.s.) often called his governors and officials to account. Once, he appointed a man from al-Azd on charities. 

The man said, “This if for you and this has been given to me as gift…”

The Prophet (a.s.) was angry at the man’s saying and he said to him, “What about one whom we employ in what Allah has entrusted us with and he says: this has been gifted to me? Would he not sit in his father and mother’s house and see whether it is gifted to him or not? By Whom in His hand my soul is, we do not employ a man in something of what Allah has entrusted us with except that he shall come on the Day of Judgment carrying it on his neck; if it is a camel, it shall grumble, and if it is a cow, it shall moo, and if it is a yew, it shall bleat.” Then the Prophet (a.s.) raised his hands toward the heaven and said two or three times, “O Allah, I have informed him.”[67]

When the Prophet’s attention to the honesty of governors and officials was spread among Muslims, they (governors and officials) refrained from accepting gifts. Historians mention that the Prophet (a.s.) sent Abdullah bin Rawahah every year to the Jews of Khaybar to estimate the fruit of their date-palms. Their villages were from the most important villages in Hijaz as to production. The Jews wanted to bribe him. They collected to him some of their women’s jewels and said to him, “This is to you, but you lessen (the estimation) to us and overlook in division.”

He angrily said, “O community of Jews, you are the most hated of Allah’s people to me, but this does not make wrong you. And as for the bribe you offer to me, it is ill-gotten that we do not eat.” 

The Jews were astonished at his honesty and they said, “On this the heavens and the earth have been established.”[68]

The salaries of officials

Islam has cared much for the conditions of the state officials. It has paid much attention to make them in no need of what people possess. The Prophet (a.s.) appointed Etab bin Usayd a wali on Mecca and gave him one dirham a day where one dirham equaled the price of a sheep and a bottle of oil or honey. Etab declared his satisfaction saying, “…the messenger of Allah gives me one dirham a day, and now I am in need of no one.”[69] 

The Prophet (a.s.) also assigned certain quantities of food instead of money for some of his governors. When he appointed Qays bin Malik al-Arhabi on Hamadan, he assigned to him two hundred sa’s[70] of the corn of Nasar, and two hundred sa’s of raisins of Khaywan (in Yemen) and to be paid for his children after him as well.[71] 

The Prophet (a.s.) sent governors to all the towns and villages that had believed in Islam. For example, he sent al-Muhajir bin Umayyah a wali on Sana’a’, Ziyad bin Labeed on Hadhramaut, Adiy bin Hatim on Tay, Etab bin Usayd on Mecca, Sa’d bin Abdullah bin Rabee’ah on Ta’if,[72] Amr bin Hazm al-Ansari on Najran, Bathan, the deputy of Khosrau, on Yemen, and after his death, the Prophet (a.s.) appointed his son Shahr bin Bathan a wali on Sana’a.[73]