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NO DIFFERENCE BETWEEN A GOVERNOR AND A SUBJECT
Abu Ubayda commanded
the Muslim armies fighting in Syria during the early years
of the Caliphate of 'Umar. It was during one of those fightings
that when night fell, the two sides retreated to rest. The
Muslims suffered from lack of provisions. However, Abu Ubayda
was brought fresh bread and cold, fresh water. He asked:
—
Is there fresh bread and cold, fresh water like this on
the tables of our fighting brothers, or have you offered
me such a table just because I am the commander?
— We set aside that bread and water for you, o Commander,
they answered.
This answer made Abu Ubayda angry and, pushing the table
away, he commented:
— I cannot conceive of a behavior worse in the sight of
God Almighty than sitting at a table different from what
is offered to our brothers shedding their blood in the way
of God in the same lines with us. I could not sit at such
a special table even if I were the Caliph, not a commander.
Bediuzzaman
Said Nursi, the famous Muslim scholar and thinker, who launched
a major Islamic movement in Turkey in the second quarter of
this century, offered this challenge to those who deny the
Prophethood of Muhammad, upon him be peace and blessings:
'Consider
how, eradicating their evil and savage customs and immoral
qualities to which they were so fanatically attached, he equipped
and adorned the desperate, wild and unyielding peoples of
the seventh-century Arabian peninsula with all the praiseworthy
virtues, and made them teachers of all the world and masters
to, especially, the civilized nations. His was not an outward
domination; rather, he conquered their minds, spirits, hearts,
and souls. He became the beloved of hearts, the teacher of
minds, the trainer of souls, and the ruler of spirits.
'You
know that despite all the advanced techniques and methods,
modern communities are unable to remove permanently so small
a vice as cigarette smoking. However, the Prophet Muhammad,
upon him be peace and blessings, with apparently little effort
over a very short period of time removed numerous ignoble
habits from large communities in whom those habits were long
ingrained, and in their place implanted and inculcated noble
qualities in such a way that they became inherent in their
nature. To those who refuse to see the testimony of the blessed
age of the Prophet, upon him be peace and blessings, we present
as a challenge any part of today's civilized world. Let them
go there with hundreds of philosophers, sociologists, psychologists
and pedagogues and educators, and strive for a hundred years.
I wonder whether they will be able to achieve in that period
a hundredth part of what the Prophet Muhammad achieved in
a year.'
Abu
Bakr, in the early days of his Caliphate, managed on the wage
he earned by milking the cattle of one of his neighbors. Some
time later, some Companions led by 'Umar made him this offer:
'As the Commander-in-chief of the Muslims, you have much work
to do. Therefore, give up milking cattle and let us assign
a fixed salary for your needs as Caliph.'
Abu
Bakr spent from this salary for his living expenses and stored
any surplus in a pot. He told those around his death-bed to
hand that pot over to the one nominated to replace him as
Caliph.
'Umar
was chosen after Abu Bakr. During his rule, Islam spread as
far as Afghanistan in the east and Caucasia in the north.
One evening during the holy month of Ramadan, 'Umar was a
guest of one of the Companions. When he was offered a sherbet
of honey, he refused it, saying:
'I can
drink this only when all of the people, the responsibility
of governing whom I shoulder, have become so rich that they
can drink the sherbet of honey with their meals.'
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