The Companions at the Peace Treaty
of al HudaibiyahBriefly the story is as follows:
In the sixth year after the Hijrah (emigration of the Prophet from Mecca
to Madinah), the Messenger of Allah with one thousand and four hundred of
his Companions marched towards Mecca to do the Umrah. They camped in "Dhi
al-Halifah" where the Prophet (saw) ordered his Companions to put down
their arms and wear the Ihram (white gowns worn especially for the purpose
of the pilgrimage and the Umrah), then they dispatched al-Hady (an
offering for sacrifice) to inform Quraysh that he was coming as a visitor
to do the Umrah and not as a fighter. But Quraysh, with all its arrogance,
feared that its reputation would be dented if the other Arabs heard that
Muhammad had entered Mecca by force. Therefore, they sent a delegation
led by Suhayl ibn Amr ibn Abd Wadd al-Amiri to see the Prophet and ask him
to turn back that year, but said that they would allow him to visit Mecca
for three days the year after. In addition to that, they put down some
harsh conditions, which were accepted by the Messenger of Allah as the
circumstances warranted such acceptance, and as revealed to him by his
God, Glory and Might be to Him.
A few of the Companions did not like the Prophet's action and opposed him
very strongly, and Umar ibn al-Khattab came and said to him, "Are you not
truly the Prophet of Allah?" He answered,"Yes, I am." Umar asked, "Are we
not right and our enemy wrong?" The Prophet answered, "Yes." Umar asked,
"Why do we then disgrace our religion?" The Messenger of Allah (saw) said,
"I am the Messenger of Allah and I will never disobey Him and He is my
support." Umar asked, "Did you not tell us that we would come to the House
of Allah and go around it?" The Prophet answered, "Yes, and did I tell you
that we were coming this year?" Umar answered, "No." The Prophet said,
"Then you are coming to it and going around it." Umar later went to Abu
Bakr and asked him, "O Abu Bakr, is he not truly the Prophet of Allah?" He
answered, "Yes." Umar then asked him the same questions he had asked the
Messenger of Allah, and Abu Bakr answered him with the same answers and
added, "O Umar he is the Messenger of Allah, and he will not disobey his
God, Who is his support, so hold on to him."
When the Prophet had finished signing the treaty, he said to his
Companions "Go and slaughter (sacrifices) and shave your heads." And by
Allah one of them stood up until he had said it three times. When nobody
obeyed his orders, he went to his quarters, then came out and spoke to no
one, and slaughtered a young camel with his own hands, and then asked his
barber to shave his head. When the Companions saw all that, they went and
slaughtered (sacrifices), and shaved one another, until they nearly killed
one another [4].
This is the summary of the story of peace treaty of al-Hudaibiyah, which
is one of the events whose details both the Shia and Sunnah agree upon,
and it is cited by many historians and biographers of the Prophet such as
al-Tabari, Ibn al-Athir, Ibn Saad, al-Bukhari and Muslim.
I stopped here, for I could not read this kind of material without feeling
rather surprised about the behaviour of those Companions towards their
Prophet. Could any sensible man accept some people's claims that the
Companions, may Allah bless them, always obeyed and implemented the orders
of the Messenger of Allah (saw), for these incidents expose their lies,
and fall short of what they want! Could any sensible man imagine that such
behaviour towards the Prophet is an easy or acceptable matter or even an
excusable one! Allah, the Almighty, said:
But no! By your God! They do not believe (in reality) until they make you
a judge of that which has become a matter of disagreement among them, and
then do not and any straightness in their hearts as to what you have
decided and submit with entire submission. (Holy Qur'an 4:65)
Did Umar ibn al-Khattab succumb to them and find no difficulty in
accepting the order of the Messenger (saw)? Or was he reluctant to accept
the order of the Prophet? Especially when he said, "Are you not truly the
Prophet of Allah? Did you not tell us? ..." etc, and did he succumb after
the Messenger of Allah gave him all these convincing answers? No he was
not convinced by his answers, and he went and asked Abu Bakr the same
questions. But did he succumb after Abu Bakr answered him and advised him
to hold on to the Prophet? I do not know if he actually succumbed to all
that and was convinced by the answers of the Prophet (saw) and Abu Bakr!
For why did he say about himself, "For that I did so many things..". Allah
and His Messenger know the things which were done by Umar.
Furthermore, I do not know the reasons behind the reluctance of the rest
of the Companions after that, when the Messenger of Allah said to him, "Go
and slaughter [sacrifices] and shave your heads." Nobody listened to his
orders even when he repeated them three times, and then in vain.
Allah, be praised! I could not believe what I had read. Could the
Companions go to that extent in their treatment of the Messenger. If the
story had been told by the Shia alone, I would have considered it a lie
directed towards the honourable Companions. But the story has become so
well known that all the Sunni historians refer to it. As I had committed
myself to accept what had been agreed on by all parties, I found myself
resigned and perplexed. What could I say? What excuse could I find for
those Companions who had spent nearly twenty years with the Messenger of
Allah, from the start of the Mission to the day of al-Hudaibiyah, and had
seen all the miracles and enlightenment of the Prophethood? Furthermore
the Qur'an was teaching them day and night how they should behave in the
presence of the Messenger, and how they should talk to him, to the extent
that Allah had threatened to ruin their deeds if they raised their voices
above his voice.
- [4].
- Sahih, Bukhari, Book of al Shurut, Chapter: Al Shurut fi
al Jihad vol 2 p 122
The Companions and the Raziyat Yawm al Khamis
(The Calamity of Thursday)Briefly the story is as follows:
The Companions were meeting in the Messenger's house, three days before he
died. He ordered them to bring him a bone and an ink pot so that he could
write a statement for them which would prevent them from straying from the
right path, but the Companions differed among themselves, and some of them
disobeyed the Prophet and accused him of talking nonsense. The Messenger
of Allah became very angry and ordered them out of his house without
issuing any statement.
This is the story in some details:
Ibn Abbas said: Thursday, and what a Thursday that was! The Messenger's
pain became very severe, and he said, "Come here, I will write you a
document which will prevent you from straying from the right path." But
Umar said that the Prophet was under the spell of the pain, and that they
had the Qur'an which was sufficient being the Book of Allah. Ahl al-Bayt
then differed and quarrelled amongst themselves, some of them agreeing with
what the Prophet said, while others supported Umar's view. When the debate
became heated and the noise became louder, the Messenger of Allah said to
them, "Leave me alone."
Ibn Abbas said: The disaster was that the disagreement among the
Companions prevented the Messenger from writing that document for them
[5].
The incident is correct and there is no doubt about its authenticity, for
it was cited by the Shii scholars and their historians in their books, as
well as by the Sunni scholars and historians in their books. As I was
committed to consider the incident, I found myself bewildered by Umar's
behaviour regarding the order of the Messenger of Allah. And what an order
it was! "To prevent the nation from going astray", for undoubtedly that
statement would have had something new in it for the Muslims and would
have left them without a shadow of doubt.
Now let us leave the points of view of the Shia, that is that the
Messenger wanted to write the name of Ali as his successor, and that Umar
realized this, so he prevented it. Perhaps because they do not convince us
initially with that hypothesis. But can we find a sensible explanation to
this hurtful incident which angered the Messenger so much that he ordered
them to leave, and made Ibn Abbas cry until he made the stones wet from
his tears and called it a "great disaster"? The Sunnis say that Umar
recognized that the Prophet's illness was advancing, so he wanted to
comfort him and relieve him from any pressure.
This type of reasoning would not be accepted by simple-minded people, let
alone by the scholars. I repeatedly tried to find an excuse for Umar. but
the circumstances surrounding the incident prevented me from finding an
excuse. Even if I changed the words "He is talking nonsense" - God forbid
- to "the pain has overcome him", I could not find any justification for
Umar when he said, "You have the Qur'an, and it is sufficient being the
Book of Allah." Did he know the Qur'an better than the Messenger of Allah,
for whom it was revealed? Or was the Messenger of Allah - God forbid -
unaware of what he was? Or did he seek, through his order, to create
division and disagreement among the Companions - God forbid. Even if the
Sunni reasoning was right, then the Messenger of Allah would have realized
the good will of Umar and thanked him for that and perhaps asked him to
stay, instead of feeling angry at him and telling them to leave his house.
May I ask why did they abide by his order when he asked them to leave the
room and did not say then that he was "talking nonsense"? Was it because
they had succeeded in their plot to prevent the Prophet from writing the
document, so that there was no need for them to stay any longer? Thus, we
find them creating noise and difference in the presence of the Messenger,
and divided into two parties: one agreeing with the Messenger of Allah
about writing that document, while the other agreed with Umar "that he was
talking nonsense".
The matter is not just concerned with Umar alone, for if it was so, the
Messenger of Allah would have persuaded him that he could not be talking
nonsense and that the pain could not overcome him in matters of the
nation's guidance and of preventing it from going astray. But the
situation became much more serious, and Umar found some supporters who
seemingly had a prior agreement on their stand, and so they created the
noise and the disagreement among themselves and forgot, or perhaps
pretended to forget, the words of Allah - the Most High:
O You who believe! Do not raise your voices above the voice of the
Prophet, and do not speak loud to him as you speak loud to one another,
lest your deeds become null while you do not perceive (Holy Qur'an 49:2).
In this incident they went beyond raising their voices and talking loud to
accusing the Messenger of Allah of talking nonsense - God forbid - then
they increased their noise and differences until it became a battle of
words in his presence.
I think the majority of the Companions were with Umar, and that is why the
Messenger of Allah found it useless to write the document, because he knew
that they would not respect him and would not abide by the command of
Allah by not raising their voices in his presence, and if they were
rebellious against the command of Allah, then they would never obey the
order of His Messenger.
Thus, the wisdom of the Messenger ruled that he was not to write the
document because it had been attacked during his lifetime, let alone after
his death.
The critics would say that he was talking nonsense, and perhaps they would
doubt some of the orders he passed whilst on his death-bed, for they were
convinced that he was talking nonsense.
I ask Allah for forgiveness, and renounce what has been said in the
presence of the holy Messenger, for how could I convince myself and my
free conscience that Umar ibn al-Khattab was acting spontaneously, whereas
his friends and others who were present at the incident cried until their
tears wet the stones, and named the incident "the misfortune of the
Muslims". I therefore decided to reject all the justifications given to
explain the incident, and even tried to deny it so that I could relax and
forget about the tragedy, but all the books referred to it and accepted
its authenticity but could not provide sound justification for it.
I tend to agree with the Shii point of view in explaining the incident
because I find it logical and very coherent.
I still remember the answer which al-Sayyid Muhammad Baqir al-Sadr gave me
when I asked him, "How did our master Umar understand, among all the
Companions what the Messenger wanted to write, namely the appointment of
Ali as his successor- as you claim - which shows that he was a clever
man?"
Al-Sayyid al-Sadr said: Umar was not the only one who anticipated what the
Messenger was going to write. In fact most of the people who were present
then understood the situation the same way as Umar did, because the
Messenger of Allah had previously indicated the issue when he said, "I
shall leave you with two weighty things: the Book of Allah and the members
of my Family (Ahl al-Bayt) and their descendants, if you follow them, you
will never go astray after me." And during his illness he said to them,
"Let me write you a document, if you follow its contents, you will never
go astray." Those who were present, including Umar, understood that the
Messenger of Allah wanted to reiterate, in writing, what he had already
said in Ghadir Khum, and that was to follow the Book of Allah and Ahl
al-Bayt and that Ali was the head of it. It was as if the holy Prophet
(saw) was saying, "Follow the Qur'an and Ali." He said similar things on
many occasions, as has been stated by many historians.
The majority of Quraysh did not like Ali because he was young and because
he smashed their arrogance and had killed their heroes; but they did not
dare oppose the Messenger of Allah, as they had done at the "Treaty of
al-Hudaibiyah', and when the Messenger prayed for Abdullah ibn Abi al-
Munafiq, and on many other incidents recorded by history. This incident
was one of them, and you see that the opposition against writing that
document during the Prophets illness encouraged some of those who were
present to be insolent and make so much noise in his presence.
That answer came in accordance with what the saying meant. But Umar's
statement, "You have the Qur'an, and it is sufficient, being the Book of
Allah" was not in accordance with the saying which ordered them to follow
the Book of Allah and the Household [Ahl al-Bayt] together. It looks as if
he meant to say, "We have the Book of Allah, and that is sufficient for
us, therefore there is no need for Ahl al-Bayt." I could not see any
other reasonable explanation to the incident other than this one, unless
it was meant to say, 'Obey Allah but not His Messenger." And this argument
is invalid and not sensible. If I put my prejudices and my emotions aside
and base my judgement on a clean and free mind, I would tend towards the
first analysis, which stops short of accusing Umar of being the first one
to reject the Prophet's Tradition (al-Sunnah) when he said, "It is
sufficient for us, being the Book of Allah".
Then if there were some rulers who rejected the Prophet's Traditions
claiming that it was "contradictory", they only followed an earlier
example in the history of Islam. However, I do not want to burden Umar
alone with the responsibility for that incident and the subsequent
deprivation of the nation of the guidance. To be fair to him, I suggest
that the responsibility should be borne by him and those Companions who
were with him and who supported him in his opposition to the command of
the Messenger of Allah.
I am astonished by those who read this incident and feel as if nothing
happened, despite that it was one of the "great misfortunes" as Ibn Abbas
called it. My astonishment is even greater regarding those who try hard to
preserve the honour of a Companion and to correct his mistake, even if at
the cost of the Prophet's dignity and honour and at the cost of Islam and
its foundations.
Why do we escape from the truth and try to obliterate it when it is not in
accordance with our whims . . . why do not we accept that the Companions
were human like us, and had their own whims, prejudices and interests, and
could commit mistakes or could be right?
But my astonishment fades when I read the Book of Allah in which He tells
us the stories of the prophets- may Allah bless them and grant them peace
- and the disobedience they faced from their people despite all the
miracles they produced .. Our God! Make not our hearts to deviate after
thou hast guided us aright, and grant us from Your Mercy; surely You are
the Most Liberal Giver.
I began to understand the background to the Shia's attitude towards the
second Caliph, whom they charge with the responsibility for many tragic
events in the history of Islam, starting from "Raziyat Yawm al-Khamis"
when the Islamic nation was deprived of the written guidance which the
Messenger wanted to write for them. The inescapable fact is that the
sensible man who knew the truth before he encountered the men seeks an
excuse for the Shias in this matter, but there is nothing we can say to
convince those who only judge truth through men.
- [5].
- Sahih, Bukhari, Chapter: About the saying of the sick,
vol 2
Sahih, Muslim, End of the book of al Wasiyyah, vol 5 p 75
Musnad, Ahmed, vol 1 p 335, vol 5 p 116
Tarikh, Tabari, vol 3 p 193
Tarikh, Ibn al Athir, vol 2 p 320
The Companions in the Military Detachment
under UsamahThe story in brief is as follows:
The Prophet (saw) organized an army to be sent to Asia Minor two days
before his death. He appointed Usamah ibn Zayd ibn Haritha, (who was
eighteen years old), as its commander in chief, then the holy Prophet
attached some important men, both Muhajireen and Ansar, to this
expedition, such as Abu Bakr, Umar, Abu Obaydah and other well-known
Companions. Some people criticized the Prophet for appointing Usamah as
the commander in chief of that army, and asked how could he have appointed
so young a man as their commander. In fact the same people had previously
criticized the Prophet for appointing Usamah's father as an army commander
before him. They went on criticizing until the Prophet became so angry
that he left his bed, feverish and with his head bandaged, with two men
supporting him and his feet barely touching the ground (may my parents be
sacrificed for him). He ascended the pulpit, praised Allah highly then
said,
O People ! I have been informed that some of you object to my appointing
Usamah as commander of the detachment. You now object to my appointing
Usamah as commander in chief as you objected to me appointing his father
commander in chief before him. By Allah, his father was certainly
competent for his appointment as commander in chief and his son is also
competent for the appointment [6].
Then he exhorted them to start without further delay and kept saying,"Send the detachment of Usamah; deploy the detachment of Usamah, send
forward the detachment of Usamah." He kept repeating the exhortations but
the Companions were still sluggish, and camped by al-Jurf.
Events like that made me ask, "What is this insolence towards Allah and
His Messenger? Why all that disobedience towards the orders of the blessed
Messenger who was so caring and kind to all the believers?"
I could not imagine, nor indeed could anybody else, an acceptable
explanation for all that disobedience and insolence. As usual, when I read
about those events which touch on the integrity of the Companions, I try
to deny or ignore them, but it is impossible to do so when all the
historians and scholars, Shia and Sunnis, agree on their authenticity.
I have promised my God to be fair, and I shall never be biased in
favour of my creed, and will never use anything but the truth as my
criterion. But the truth here is so bitter, and the holy Prophet (s.a.w.)
said, "Say the truth even if it is about yourself, and say the truth even
if it is bitter..." The truth in this case is that the Companions who
criticized the appointment of Usamah disobeyed all the clear texts that
could not be doubted or misinterpreted, and there is no excuse for that,
although some people make flimsy excuses in order to preserve the
integrity of the Companions and "the virtuous ancestors". But the free and
sensible person would not accept such feeble excuses, unless he is one of
those who cannot comprehend any saying, or is perhaps one of those who are
blinded by their own prejudice to the extent that they cannot
differentiate between the obligatory task that must be obeyed and the
prohibition that must be avoided. I thought deeply to find an acceptable
excuse for those people, but without success. I read the points of view of
the Sunnis which provide us with an excuse based on the fact that these
people were the elders of Quraysh, and were among the early followers of
Islam, whereas Usamah was a young man who had not fought in the decisive
battles that gave Islam its glory, such as Badr, Uhud and Hunayn; and that
he was a young man with no experience of life when the Messenger of Allah
appointed him military commander. Furthermore, they thought that human
nature, by its inclination, makes it difficult for elderly people to be
led by young men, therefore they [i.e. the Companions] criticized the
appointment and wanted the Messenger of Allah to appoint a prominent and
respectable Companion.
It is an excuse which is not based on any rational or logical premise,
and any Muslim who reads the Qur'an and understands its rules must reject
such an excuse, because Allah- the Almighty - says: "Whatever the
Messenger gives you, accept it, and from whatever he forbids you, keep
back" (Holy Qur'an 59:7).
"And it behooves not a believing man and a believing woman that
they should have any choice in their matter when Allah and His Messenger have decided a matter; and whoever disobeys Allah and His
Messenger, he surely strays off a manifest straying" (Holy Qur'an
33:36).
So what kind of an excuse could any rational person accept after
reading all these clear texts, and what can I say about people who angered
the Messenger of Allah, when they knew that the Messenger's anger is
Allah's anger. They accused him of talking "nonsense", and they shouted
and disagreed in his presence when he was ill (may my parents be
sacrificed for him), until he ordered them to leave his room. That did
not seem to be enough for them, and instead of returning to the right path
and asking Allah's forgiveness for what they had done to His Messenger,
and asking the Messenger for forgiveness as the Qur'an taught them, they
went on criticizing him, despite all the care and kindness he had for
them. They did not appreciate him or respect him, and two days after
having accused him of talking "nonsense", they criticized him for
appointing Usamah as military commander. They forced him to come out in
the appalling condition which the historians describe. Due to the severity
of his illness, he had to walk with the support of two men, then he had to
swear by Allah that Usamah was a competent commander for the army.
Furthermore, the Messenger informed us that they had criticized him
previously for appointing his father as a commander, which indicates that
these people had had many previous confrontations with him, and that they
were not willing to obey his orders or accept his judgement, rather, they
were prepared to oppose him and confront him, even if such behaviour went
against the rules of Allah and His Messenger.
What leads us to believe that there was open opposition (to the orders
of the Prophet), was that in spite of all the anger shown by the Messenger
of Allah, and the fact that he himself tied the flag with his noble hand
to the post and commanded them to march immediately, they were sluggish
and reluctant to move, and did not go until he had died (may my parents be
sacrificed for him). The Prophet(s.a.w.) died feeling sorry for his
unfortunate nation, which he feared would go backwards and end up in hell,
and no one would be saved except a few, and the Messenger of Allah
described them as a handful.
I am surprised that those Companions angered the Prophet on that
Thursday and accused him of talking "nonsense", and said, "It is
sufficient for us that we have the Book of Allah", when the Holy Qur'an
states:"Say if you love Allah, then follow me and Allah will love you"
(Holy Qur'an 3:31). As if they were more knowledgeable about the Book of
Allah and its rules than he to whom it had been revealed. There they were,
two days after that great misfortune, and two days before he [the holy
Prophet] went up to meet his High Companion, angering him even more by
criticizing him for appointing Usamah, and not obeying his orders. Whereas
he was ill and bed-ridden in the first misfortune, in the second one he
had to come out, with his head bandaged and covered by a blanket and
supported by two men with his feet barely on the ground, and address them
from the top of the pulpit. He started his speech with the profession of
the unity of Allah and praised Him in order to make them feel that he was
not talking nonsense, then he informed them about what he knew regarding
their criticism of his orders. Furthermore, he reminded them of an
incident which had occurred four years previously, in which he was
criticized by them. After all that, did they really think that he was
talking nonsense or that his illness had overcome him so that he was
unaware of what he was saying?
Praise and thanks be to You, Allah, how did these people dare oppose
Your Messenger. They disagreed with him when he signed the peace treaty,
they opposed him very strongly even when he ordered them to make the
sacrifice and shave their heads, and even repeated it three times although
no one cared to obey; and again they pulled him by his shirt to prevent
him from praying for Abdullah ibn Ubay and said to him, "Allah forbade you
from praying for the hypocrites!" As if they were teaching him what had
been revealed to him, when You said in Your Holy Qur'an: "We have revealed
to you the reminder that you may make clear to men what has been revealed
to them" (Holy Qur'an 16:44).
And You said: "We have revealed the Book to you with the
truth that you may judge between people by means of that which
Allah has taught you"(Holy Qur'an 4:105).
And You said, and Your saying is the truth: "We have sent
among you a messenger from among you who recites to you Our
Verses and purifies you and teaches you the Book and the wisdom
and teaches you that which you did not know" (Holy Qur'an
2:151).
I am astonished at those people who put themselves in a
position higher than that of the Prophet. On one occasion they
disobeyed his orders, and on another occasion they accused
him of talking nonsense, and then talked loudly and without
respect in his presence. They criticized him for appointing
Zayd ibn Harithah to the military command, and after him
his son Usamah. How could they leave the scholars in any
doubt, after all this evidence, that the Shia are right when
they put a question mark on the position of some of the Companions, and show their resentment towards these positions
purely out of respect and love for the Messenger and the
members of his Household.
I have mentioned only four or five of these controversial issues to be
brief and to use them as examples, but the Shii scholars could recount
hundreds of situations in which the Companions contradicted the clear
texts. In all this the Shia refer to sources written in books by Sunni
scholars.
When I look at a number of positions taken by a few of the Companions
with regard to the Messenger of Allah, I stand astonished; not because of
the attitudes of those Companions alone, but because of the position of
the Sunni scholars who gave us the impression that the Companions were
always right and could not be criticized. Thus they prevented any
researcher from reaching the truth and left him puzzled in the midst of
all these contradictions.
In addition to the examples that I have mentioned above, I will bring
some more in order to establish a better picture of those Companions, so
that we may understand the position of the Shia towards them.
According to al-Bukhari in his Sahih, Vol. 4 Page 47, section "The
virtue of Patience when one is hurt" and the words of the Almighty "...And
those who are patient, surely they will be rewarded", in the Book of
Conduct he said:
Al-Amash told us that he heard Shaqiq saying that Abdullah told him:
Once the Holy Prophet divided something among a group of men, as he used
to do, when one man from al-Ansar stood up and said, "This division is not
for the sake of Allah." I said, "For my part, I shall have a word with the
Prophet (s.a.w.)." So I went to see him, and I found him with his
Companions. I explained my grievances, and the Prophet's face changed and
showed signs of anger, and I wished that I had not told him, then he said:
"Moses was hurt more than that but he was patient."
Al-Bukhari mentioned in the same book - i.e. the book of Conduct - in
the chapter concerning smiling and laughter that Anas ibn Malik was heard
saying: I was walking with the Messenger of Allah (s.a.w.) who was wearing
a Najrani cloak with a rather thin edge to it, and suddenly a man
approached him and pulled harshly at his cloak. Anas continued: I looked
at the side of the Prophet (s.a.w.) and noticed that as a result of that
harsh pull, the edge of the cloak went up to his shoulder, then the man
said, 'O Muhammad, give me some of what you have from Allah's wealth!" The
Prophet turned to him and laughed, then he ordered his Companions to pay
him something.
Al-Bukhari also mentioned the following incident in the Book of Conduct
and put it in the chapter concerning "He who does not face people with
blame", he said: Aisha said that the Prophet (s.a.w.) did something and
made it permissible, but no one followed what the Prophet did. The Prophet
(s.a.w.) happened to hear about it, so he decided to address the people.
He first thanked Allah then said: "What is the matter with people who
refrain from the thing I did? By Allah, I know more than any of them about
Allah, and I fear Him most... !"
When we look deeply at incidents like those above we find that the
Companions put themselves on a higher level than the Prophet, and thought
that he was wrong and they were right. Furthermore, there were some
historians who deliberately corrected the position of the Companions, even
if that contradicted the action taken by the Prophet, and showed them at a
level of knowledge and piety higher than that of the Prophet. As is the
case when they judge the Prophet wrong in the case of the Prisoners of War
at the battle of Badr, so it appears that Umar ibn al-Khattab was right. They also tell wrong stories, such as the following saying attributed to
the people: If Allah decided to inflict a disaster on us, no one will
escape except Ibn al-Khattab. In other words, they were saying, "If it was
not for Umar, the Prophet would have perished." God protect us from such a
corrupt and shameful belief, and he who adheres to this kind of belief is
surely far from Islam, and ought to review his thinking or rid himself of
the devil.
Allah - the most High - said:
"Have you considered him who takes his low desire for his God, and Allah
has made him err having knowledge and has set a seal upon his hear and his
heart and put a covering upon his eye. Who can then guide him after Allah?
Will not they be mindful?" (Holy Qur'an 45:23)
I believe that those who think that the Prophet (s.a.w.) was subject to
his emotions to the extent that he deviated from the right path and made a
judgement not for the cause of Allah, or those who refrained from doing
things which were done by the Messenger of Allah thinking that they were
more knowledgeable and more pious than the Messenger, do not deserve any
respect or appreciation from the Muslims. They were put at the same level
as the angels, as the best people in the whole of creation after the
Messenger of Allah, so that Muslims are obliged to follow them and take
them as an example, just because they were the Companions of the Messenger
of Allah.
That contradicts the belief of Ahl al-Sunnah, who pray
for Muhammad and his family, and then add all the Companions. If Allah - praise be to Him the Most High -
appreciated them and put them in their correct position and
ordered them to pray for His Messenger and the purified
members of his family, they should have submitted and
known their place with Allah. Why should we then put them
in a position which is higher than they deserve. and equate
them with those people whom Allah has elevated and preferred above all people?
Let me then conclude that the Umayyads and the Abbasids, who
opposed-Ahl al-Bayt and exiled them and killed them with their followers,
got the gist of that distinguished position and recognized its danger for
them. For if Allah - praise be to Him - would not accept the prayers of a
Muslim unless he prays for them (Ahl al-Bayt): how could they justify
their opposition to them. Therefore, they attached the Companions to Ahl
al-Bayt in order to give the impression to the public that they are equal.
Especially when we know that their masters and dignitaries were
Companions who bought some other Companions known to have weak
personalities and asked them to distribute fabricated sayings (of the
Prophet) in praise of the Companions and the next generation, and in
particular those who reached the position of Caliphs (i.e. the Umayyad and
Abbasid) and they were the direct reason behind them attaining this
position and becoming rulers over all the Muslims. History is the best
witness to what I am saying: Umar ibn al-Khattab, who was well known for
his strictness towards his governors whom used to dismiss them on mere
suspicions, was quite gentle towards Muawiyah ibn Abi Sufyan and never
disciplined him. Muawiyah was appointed by Abu Bakr and confirmed by Umar
throughout his life, who never even rebuked him or blamed him, despite the
fact that many people complained about Muawiyah and reported him for
wearing silk and gold, which was prohibited to men by the Messenger of
Allah. Umar used to answer these complaints by saying, "Let him be, he is
the Kisra (king) of the Arabs." Muawiyah continued in the governorship for
more than twenty years without being touched or criticized, and when
Uthman succeeded to the caliphate of the Muslims, he added to his
authority further districts and regions, which enabled him to a mass great
wealth from the Islamic nation and to raise armies to rebel against the
Imam (Leader) of the nation and subsequently take the full power by force
and intimidation. Thus he became the sole ruler of all Muslims, and later
forced them to vote for his corrupt and alcohol drinking son Yazid, as his
heir and successor.
This is a long story so I will not go into its details in this book,
but the important thing is that we should understand the mentality of
those Companions who reached the position of caliph and facilitated the
establishment of the Umayyad state in a direct way, so as to please
Quraysh which did not want to see both the Prophethood and the caliphate
in the House of Bani Hashim(7). The Umayyad state had the right, or indeed
was obliged to thank those who had facilitated its establishment, most of
all the "story tellers" whom it hired to tell tales about the virtues of
their masters. In the meantime it elevated them to a higher place than
that of their enemies, Ahl al-Bayt, simply by inventing virtues and
merits, which if (may Allah witness) examined under the light of logical
and legal evidence mostly disappear, unless there is something wrong with
our minds or we have started believing in contradictions.
For example, we hear so much about Umar's justice which the
"story-tellers" attributed to him. It was even said about him "You ruled
with justice, therefore you can sleep." It has also been said that Umar
was buried in a standing position so that justice would not die with him,
. . . and you could go on and on talking about Umar's justice. However,
the correct history tells us that when Umar ordered that grants should be
distributed among the people during the twentieth year of al-Hijrah, he
did not follow the tradition of the Messenger of Allah, nor did he confine
himself to its rules. The Prophet (s.a.w.) distributed the grants on an
equal basis among all Muslims and did not differentiate between one person
and another, and Abu Bakr did the same throughout his caliphate. But Umar
introduced a new method. He preferred the early converts to Islam to those
who came later. He preferred al-Muhajireen (immigrants from Mecca to
Medinah) from Quraysh to other Muhajireen. He preferred all the Muhajireen
to al-Ansar (followers of Prophet Muhammad in Medinah who granted him
refuge after the Hijra). He preferred the Arabs to the non-Arabs. He
preferred the freeman to the slave(8). He preferred (the tribe of) Mudar
to (the tribe of) Rabia for he gave three hundred to the former and two
hundred to the latter(9). He also preferred al-Aws to al-Khazraj. (10)
Where is the justice in all this differentiation, O people who have minds?
We also hear so much about Umar's knowledge, to the extent he was
described as the most knowledgeable Companion, and it has been said about
him that he agreed with his God on many ideas that were revealed in
various Qur'anic verses, and that he disagreed with the Prophet about
them. But the correct history tells us that Umar did not agree with the
Qur'an, even after it had been revealed. When one of the Companions asked
him one day during his caliphate, "O Commander of the Believers, I am
unclean, but I cannot find water to wash." Umar answered, "Do not pray."
Then Ammar ibn Yasir had to remind him about Tayammum [ritual cleaning
with earth], but Umar was not convinced, and said to Ammar, "You are
responsible only for the duties which have been assigned to you"(11).
Where is Umar's knowledge regarding the Tayammum verse which had been
revealed in the Book of Allah, and where is Umar's knowledge of the
Tradition of the Prophet (s.a.w.) who taught them how to do Tayammum as
well as Wudu [ritual ablution]. Umar himself confessed on many occasions
that he was not a scholar, and that all people, even women were more
knowledgeable than him, and he was heard saying many times, "If it was not
for Ali, Umar would have perished." And throughout his life he did not
know the rule of al-Kalalah [relatives of the dead excluding the son and
the father], although he passed various different judgements about it, as
history witnesses.
We also hear a great deal about the courage and physical strength of
Umar, and it has been said that Quraysh feared the day when Umar became a
Muslim, and that Islam became even stronger when he entered the religion.
It has also been said that Allah glorified Islam with Umar, and that the
Messenger of Allah did not call for Islam openly until after Umar had
become a Muslim.
But the correct historical references do not seem to indicate that
courage, and history does not mention one famous or even ordinary person
who has been killed by Umar in a dual or a battle like Badr and Uhud or
al-Khandaq. In fact the correct historical references tell us exactly the
opposite; they tell us that he escaped with the fugitives in Uhud, and
escaped on the day of Hunayn, and that when the Messenger of Allah sent
him to take the city of Khayber he returned defeated. He was never even
the leader in the military detachments in which he served, and in the last
one (that of Usamah) he was put under the charge of young Usamah ibn Zayd.
So where is all that courage compared to these historical facts ... O
people who have minds?
We also hear about Umar's piety and his great fear of
Allah, to the extent of crying. It has been said that he was
afraid of being accountable before Allah if a mule tumbled in
Iraq because he did not pave the road for it. But the correct
historical sources tell us that he was a rough man who lacked
piety and did not hesitate to beat a man until he bled because
he asked him about a Qur'anic verse, and even that women
used to miscarry their babies out of fear when they saw him.
Why did he not fear Allah when he raised his sword and
threatened anybody who said that Muhammad had died, and
he swore by Allah that he had not died, rather, he had gone
to talk to his God in the same way as Moses did. Then
he threatened to kill whoever said that Muhammad was dead(12).
Why did he not fear Allah when he threatened to burn Fatimah al-Zahra's
house if those who refrained from voting for the successorship of the
caliphate did not come out(13)? It has been said that when he was told
that Fatimah was inside, he answered, "So what!" He violated the Book of
Allah and the Tradition of the Prophet and passed rules and judgements
during his caliphate which contradicted the texts of the Holy Qur'an and
the noble Tradition of the Prophet (s.a.w.)(14).
So where was all that piety and fear of Allah in all these bitter and
sad historical facts, O good worshippers of Allah? I took this great and
famous Companion as an example, and I have summarized a great deal to
avoid prolongation, but if I wanted to talk in some detail, I could have
filled many volumes. But as I said I have mentioned these historical
references as examples and not for specific reasons.
What I have mentioned is a small amount, but it gives us a clear
indication as to the mentalities of the Companions and the contradictory
attitudes of the Sunni scholars and historians. For on the one hand they
forbid people from criticizing them or doubting their intentions, but on
the other hand they write in their books things that make people doubt
their deeds and criticize them.
I wish the Sunni scholars had not written about these matters in such a way that it clearly sullies the dignity of the Companions and ruins their integrity. If they had not we would
have been spared all that confusion.
I still remember meeting a scholar from al-Najaf whose name was Asad
Hayder (author of "Al-lmam al-Sadiq wa al- Madhahib al-Arbaah") and as we
were talking about the Sunnis and the Shia he told me a story about his
father. He (i.e. the father) had met a Tunisian scholar from al-Zaytunah
during the pilgrimage season some fifty years ago, and started a debate
about the Imamate of Ali - may Allah's peace be upon him - and his
eligibility to the succession for the caliphate. The Tunisian scholar
listened attentively as the other man mentioned four or five reasons. When
he had finished, the scholar from al-Zaytunah asked him, "Have you got any
other reasons?" The man answered, "No." Then the Tunisian scholar said,
"Get your rosary out and start counting, then he listed some hundred
reasons that my father had not known before.
Shaykh Asad Hayder added, "If the Sunnis read what is
in their books, then they would say similar things to what we
are saying and we would not have any differences between us
for a long time."
By my life! It is the inevitable truth, if only man would liberate
himself from his blind prejudice and his arrogance and submit to the clear
proof.