Nahjul Balagha [Electronic resources] نسخه متنی

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SERMON 172


On eligibility for the Caliphate

The Prophet is the trustee of Allah's revelation,
the Last of His Prophets. the giver of tidings of His mercy and the warner for His
chastisement.

O' people. the most rightful of all persons for this
matter (namely the caliphate) is he who is most competent among them to maintain it, and
he who knows best Allah's commands about it. If any mischief is created by a
mischief-monger, he will be called upon to repent. If he refuses. he will be fought. By my
life, (1) if the question of Imamah was not to be decided
unless all the people were present, then there would be no such case. But those who agreed
about it imposed the decision on those who were absent, so much so that he who was present
could not dissent and the one who was absent could not choose (any one else). Know that I
shall fight two persons - one who claims what is not his and the other who ignores what is
obligatory upon him.

The need for sagacity in fighting
against Muslims

O' creatures of Allah! I advise you to have fear of
Allah because it is the best advice to be mutually given by persons, and the best of all
things before Allah. The door of war has been opened between you and the other Muslims.
And this banner will be borne only by him who is a man of sight, of endurance and of
knowledge of the position of rightfulness. Therefore, you should go ahead with what you
are ordered and desist from what you are refrained. Do not make haste in any matter till
you have clarified it. For in the case of every matter which you dislike we have a right
to change it.

The behaviour of this world with its
adherents

Know that this world which you have started to covet
and in which you are interested, and which sometimes enrages you and sometimes pleases you
is not your (permanent) abode, nor the place of your stay for which you might have been
created, nor one to which you have been invited. Know that it will not last for you nor
will you live along with it. If anything out of this world deceives you (into attraction),
its evils warn you too. You should give up (the objects of) its deceits in favour of (the
objects of) its warning and (the objects of) its attractions in favour of (the objects of)
its terrors. And while here in it, advance towards that house to which you have been
called, and turn away your hearts from the world. None of you should cry like a maid slave
over anything which she has been deprived of. Seek the perfection of Allah's bounty over
you by endurance in obedience to Allah and in guarding what He has asked you to guard,
namely His Book.

Know that the loss of anything of this world will
not harm you, if you have guarded the principles of your religion. Know also that after
the loss of your religion nothing of this world for which you have cared will benefit you.
May Allah carry our hearts and your hearts towards the right and may He grant us and you
endurance.
(1).
When the people collected in the Saqifah of Banu Saidah in connection with the election,
even those who were not present there were made to follow the decision taken there, and
the principle was adopted that those present at the election had no right to reconsider
the matter or to break the allegiance and those not present could do nothing but acquiesce
in the agreed decision. But when the people of Medina swore allegiance at the hands of
Amir al-mu'minin, the Governor of Syria (Muawiyah) refused to follow suit on the ground
that since he was not present on the occasion he was not bound to abide by it, whereupon
Amir al-mu'minin gave a reply in this sermon on the basis of these accepted and agreed
principles and conditions which had been established among these people and had become
incontrovertible namely that: "When the people of Medina and the ansar and the
muhajirun have sworn allegiance on my hand, Muawiyah had no right to keep aloof from it
on the ground that he was not present on the occasions nor were Talhah and az-Zubayr
entitled to break the pledge after swearing allegiance."
On this occasion, Amir al-mu'minin
did not argue on the strength of any saying of the Prophet which would serve as his final
say about the caliphate, because the grounds for refusal in his case was in respect of the
modus operandi of the principle of election. Therefore, in keeping with the requirements
of the situation a reply based on the agreed principles of the adversary could alone
quieten him. Even if he had argued on the strength of the Prophet's command it would have
been subjected to various interpretations and the matter would have been prolonged instead
of being settled. Again Amir al-mu'minin had seen that soon after the death of the Prophet
all his sayings and commands had been set aside. Therefore, how after the lapse of a long
time, could one be expected to accept it when habit had been established to follow one's
free will against the Prophet's sayings.

.

Forward to Sermon 173.

Back to Sermon 171.

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