Saturday, April 23, 2011

PROPHETIC TRADITIONS ON BELIEVERS’ APPROACH TO THE RULERS

1-‘Abd Allah ibnMas‘ud reported that the Prophet (s.a.w.) said: “You will see after me taking place many things undesirable [at the hands of the rulers]’; then the people asked the Prophet (s.a.w.) as to what he advised them to do in that situation. The Prophet (s.a.w.) said: ‘Pay unto them [the rulers] their right and invoke Allah concerning your right”

2-‘Abd Allah ibn ‘Abbas reported that the Prophet (s.a.w.) said: “He who finds in his leader something he dislikes must remain patient. Verily, he who came out of his loyalty to the ruler even to a little extent died death of ignorance”.

3-‘Ubadah ibnSamit reported that the Prophet (s.a.w.) uttered and we pledged allegiance to the Prophet (s.a.w.) for complete loyalty (al-sam‘wa al-ta‘ah) in all situations, and for keeping away from conflict with the ruler except that there is very clear blasphemy on the part of the rulers (kufranbawahan).
Reference: Al-Bukhari, Muhammad ibnIsma‘il, Sahih (Dar Ihya’ al-Turath al-‘Arabi, Beirut, 1400 A.H.), Vol. 4, pp. 312-313, kitab al-Fitan, Report No. (1) 7052, (2) 7053-7054, and (3) 7056.

4-Abu Hurayrah reports that the Prophet (s.a.w.) said: “He who obeyed me actually obeyed Allah; he who obeyed my governor (amiri which originally signifies leader) actually obeyed me; he who disobeyed my governor actually disobeyed me”.

5-Anas ibn Malik reports that the Prophet (s.a.w.) said: “Listen to and obey the leader appointed for you even though he is an ugly abyssinian slave”.

6-‘Abd Allah ibnMas‘ud reports that the Prophet (s.a.w.) said: “Total obedience to the leader is obligatory for Muslim as long as the leader did not command to commit sin. If Muslims were commanded to do wrong obedience to the leader is no more in place”.

7-‘Ali ibnAbiTalib reports that once the Prophet (s.a.w.) sent a small contingent of army under the leadership of a combatant from Ansar, advising the soldiers to obey their leader. During the expedition when once the contingent leader got angry with his subordinates due to some reasons, he asked: Did the Prophet (s.a.w.) not command you to obey me? When the people confirmed it, he ordered them to prepare a big fire and enter it. They refused to enter the fire on the ground that they followed the Prophet (s.a.w.) with a view to protecting themselves from the fire. Upon their return to Madinah the whole event was reported to the Prophet (s.a.w.) who said: “Had you entered the fire, you would never have come out of it. Obedience to the leader is indeed only in the matter of what is good (ma‘ruf)”.
Reference:Al-Bukhari, Muhammad ibnIsma‘il, Sahih (Dar Ihya’ al-Turath al-‘Arabi, Beirut, 1400 A.H.), Vol. 4, pp. 328-330, kitab al-Ahkam, Report No. (5) 7137, (6) 7142, (6) 7144, and (7) 7145.

8-‘Abd Allah ibn ‘Umar reports that the Prophet (s.a.w.) said: “Listening and obedience to the leader is compulsory as long as the people are not commanded to commit what is sin. If the people were to do what is wrong, there is no listening and obedience to the leader”.

9-Abu Hurayrah reports that the Prophet (s.a.w.) said: “He who obeyed me indeed obeyed Allah; he who disobeyed me indeed disobeyed Allah. He who obeyed the leader indeed obeyed me; he who disobeyed the leader indeed disobeyed me. The leader is indeed a shield behind which war is fought and victory achieved. If the leader commanded the people to uphold piety and observed justice, he would certainly be rewarded; if he did something wrong, he is accountable to Allah”.
Reference: Al-Bukhari, Muhammad ibnIsma‘il, Sahih (Dar Ihya’ al-Turath al-‘Arabi, Beirut, 1400 A.H.), Vol. 2, p. 347, kitab al-Jihad wa al-Siyar, Report No. (8) 2955, and (9) 2957.

Note: These reports (1-9) are also available in Muslim, ibn al-Hajjaj al-Qushayri, Sahih (Dar Ihya’ al-Turath al-‘Arabi, Beirut, 2000), pp. 828-832, kitab al-Imarah, Report Nos. 1834-1844.

Prof. Dr. Israr Ahmad Khan
Department of Qur’an and Sunnah Studies
Kulliyyah of Islamic Revealed Knowledge and Human Sciences
International Islamic University Malaysia
Tel: 03-61965538
H/P: 017-6801375
Email Add: israr53@yahoo.com; israr@iium.edu.my

2 comments:

Anonymous Devil said...

I remember a verse in Quran that says something like pledging allegiance to our leader comes third after Allah, and His prophet. So, yes, loyalty to leader is crucial indeed. It is unfortunate when most of the times the leaders themselves fail to repay our loyalty and faith towards them.

Faridah said...

Xlanx: isu hadis loyalty kpd ketua ni timbul sebab ramai org Muslim setuju NATO mengebom Libya (atau menghapuskan diktator2 di negara Muslim).Kita memang tak sokong ri rejim kejam tapi membenarkan tentera asing yang kufur melanyak negara kita pun tak betul juga.Lebih baik rakyat bangkit lawan sendiri dan pilih pemimpin yg adil dan beriman, kan? Tengok2 nak hapuskan seorang diktator, beratus ribu civilians mati tak tentu pasal.Negara musnah, harta negara dapat ke musuh.