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SERMON 145


Spoken when Umar ibn al-Khattab
consulted Amir al-mu'minin about taking part in the battle of Persia. (1)

In this matter, victory of defeat is not dependent
on the smallness or greatness of forces. It is Allah's religion which He has raised above
all faiths, and His army which He has mobilised and extended, till it has reached the
point where it stands now, and has arrived its present positions. We hold a promise from
Allah, and He will fulfil His promise and support His army.

The position of the head of government is that of
the thread for beads, as it connects them and keeps them together. If the thread is
broken, they will disperse and be lost, and will never come together again. The Arabs
today, even though small in number are big because of Islam and strong because of unity.
You should remain like the axis for them, and rotate the mill (of government) with (the
help of) the Arabs, and be their root. Avoid battle, because if you leave this place the
Arabs will attack you from all sides and directions till the unguarded places left behind
by you will become more important than those before you.

If the Persians see you tomorrow they will say,
"He is the root (chief) of Arabia. If we do away with him we will be in peace."
In this way this will heighten their eagerness against you and their keenness to aim at
you. You say that they have set out to fight against the Muslims. Well, Allah detests
their setting out more than you do, and He is more capable of preventing what He detests.
As regards your idea about their (large) number, in the past we did not fight on the
strength of large numbers but we fought on the basis of Allah's support and assistance.

(1)
.
When some people advised Caliph Umar to partake in the battle of al-Qadisiyyah or
Nahawand, he finding it against his personal inclination, thought it necessary to consult
Amir al-mu'minin, so that if he advised against it he would plead before others that he
had stayed back on Amir al-mu'minin's advice, but also if he advised partaking in the
battle some other excuse would be found. However, unlike others, Amir al-mu'minin advised
him to stay back. The other people had advised him to join in fighting, because the Holy
Prophet did not send only others to fight but took part in it himself as well, keeping his
close relations also with him. What Amir al-mu'minin had in view was that Umar's presence
in the battle could not be beneficial to Islam, but rather his staying back would save the
Muslims from dispersion.
Amir al-mu'minin's view that
"the position of the head of government is that of the axis around which the system
of the government rotates" is a point of principle and does not concern any
particular personality. Whether the ruler is a Muslim or an unbeliever, just or despotic,
virtuous or vicious, for the administration of the state his presence is a necessity, as
Amir al-mu'minin has explained elsewhere at greater length:
The fact is that there is no escape
for men from a ruler good or bad. Faithful persons perform (good) acts in his rule while
the unfaithful enjoys (worldly) benefits in it. During the rule, Allah will carry
everything to its end. Through the ruler tax is collected, the enemy is fought, roads are
protected and the right of the weak is taken from the strong till the virtuous enjoy peace
and are allowed protection from (the oppression of) the wicked. (Sermon 40)
The words which Amir al-mu'minin
uttered in his advice are not indicative of any quality of Caliph Umar except his being
the ruler. There is no doubt that he held worldly authority, irrespective of the question
of whether it was secured in the right way or wrong way. And where there is authority
there is centring of people's affairs. That is why Amir al-mu'minin said that if Umar
would go out the Arabs would follow him in large numbers towards the battlefield, because
when the ruler is on the march the people will not like to stay behind. The result of
their going would be that city after city would become vacant, while the enemy will infer
from their reaching the battlefield that the Islamic cities are lying vacant, and that if
these people were repulsed no assistance would reach the Muslims from the centre. Again,
if the ruler were killed the army would disperse automatically, because the ruler is as
its foundation. When the foundation is shaken the walls cannot remain standing. The word
"aslu'l-Arab" (the root chief) of Arabia has not been used by Amir al-mu'minin
as his own but he has taken it from the Persians. Obviously in his capacity as the head of
the State, Caliph Umar was, in their view, the chief of Arabia. Besides, the reference is
to the country, not to Islam or Muslims, so that there is no suggestion of any importance
for him from the Islamic point of view.
When Amir al-mu'minin pointed out
to Caliph Umar that on his reaching there the Persians would aim at him, and that if he
fell into their hands they would not spare him without killing, although such words would
have touched the brave to the quick and would have heightened their spirits, Umar liked
the advice to stay back and thought it better to keep himself away from the flames of
battle. If this advice had not been in accord with his personal inclination he would not
have received it so heartily and would have tried to argue that the administration of the
country could be maintained by leaving a deputy. Again when other people had already
advised him to go out, what was the need for consulting Amir al-mu'minin except to get an
excuse to stay back.
.

Forward to Sermon 146.

Back to Sermon 144.

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