Lessons from Nahjul Balagha [Electronic resources] نسخه متنی

Sermons
Sermon
145

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.