Lessons from Nahjul Balagha [Electronic resources] نسخه متنی

Sermons
Sermon
226

SERMON 226

About a companion who passed
away from this world before the occurrence of troubles.

May Allah reward such
and such man (1) who straightened the
curve, cured the disease, abandoned mischief and established the
sunnah. He departed (from this world) with untarnished clothes and
little shortcomings. He achieved good (of this world) and remained
safe from its evils. He offered Allah's obedience and feared Him
as He deserved. He went away and left the people in dividing ways
wherein the misled cannot obtain guidance and the guided cannot
attain certainty.

(1).
Ibn Abi'l-Hadid has written (in Sharh Nahj al-balaghah, vol. 14,
pp. 3-4) that the reference here is to the second Caliph Umar,
and that these sentences have been uttered in his praise as
indicated by the word 'Umar' written under the word 'such and
such' in as-Sayyid ar-Radi's own hand in the manuscript of Nahj
al-balaghah written by him. This is Ibn Abi'l-Hadid's statement,
but it is to be seen that if as-Sayyid ar-Radi had written the
word 'Umar' by way of explanation it should have existed, as
other explanations by him have remained, in those versions which
have been copied from his manuscript. Even now there exists in
al-Musil (Iraq) university the oldest copy of Nahj al-balaghah
written by the famous calligraphist Yaqut al-Mustasimi; but no
one has afforded any clue to this explanation of as-Sayyid
ar-Radi. Even if the view of Ibn Abi'l-Hadid is accepted it would
be deemed to represent the personal opinion of as-Sayyid ar-Radi
which may serve as a supplementary argument in support of an
original argument but this personal view cannot be assigned any
regular importance.

It is strange that two
and a half centuries after as-Sayyid ar-Radi namely in the seventh
century A.H., Ibn Abi'l Hadid makes the statement that the
reference here is to Caliph Umar and that as-Sayyid ar-Radi
himself had so indicated, as a result of which some other
annotators also followed the same line, but the contemporaries of
as-Sayyid ar-Radi who wrote about Nahj al-balaghah have given no
such indication in their writings although as contemporaries they
should have had better information about as-Sayyid Ar-Radi's
writing. Thus, al-Allamah Ali ibn Nasir who was a contemporary
of as-Sayyid ar-Radi and wrote an annotation of Nahj al-balaghah
under the name of Alam Nahj al-balaghah writes in connection with
this sermon:

Amir al-mu'minin has
praised one of his own companions for his good conduct. He had
died before the troubles that arose after the death of the
Prophet of Allah.

This is supported by
the annotations of Nahj al-balaghah written by al-Allamah
Qutbu'd-Din ar-Rawandi (d. 573 A.H.). Ibn Abi'l-Hadid (vol. 14, p.
4) and Ibn Maytham al-Bahrani (in Sharh Nahj al-balaghah, vol. 4,
p. 97) have quoted his following view.

By this Amir
al-mu'minin refers to one of his own companions who died before
the mischief and disruption that occurred following the death of
the Prophet of Allah.

Al-Allamah al-Hajj
al-Mirza Habibu'llah al-Khu'i is of the opinion that the person is
Malik ibn al-Harith al-Ashtar on the ground that after the
assassination of Malik the situation of the Muslim community was
such as Amir al-mu'minin explains in this sermon.

al-Khu'i adds that:

Amir al-mu'minin has
praised Malik repeatedly such as in his letter to the people of
Egypt sent through Malik when he was made the governor of that
place, and like his utterances when the news of Malik's
assassination reached him, he said: "Malik! who is Malik?
If Malik was a stone, he was hard and solid; if he was a rock,
he was a great rock which had no parallel. Women have become
barren to give birth to such as Malik." Amir al-mu'minin
had even expressed in some of his utterances that, "Malik
was to me as I was to the Holy Prophet." Therefore, one who
possesses such a position certainly deserves such attributes and
even beyond that. (Sharh Nahj al-balaghah, vol. 14, pp. 374-375)

If these words had
been about Caliph Umar and there was some trustworthiness about
it Ibn Abi'l-Hadid would have recorded the authority or tradition
and it would have existed in history and been known among the
people. But here nothing is found to prove the statement except a
few self-concocted events. Thus about the pronouns in the words
"khayraha" and "sharraha" he takes them to
refer to the caliphate and writes that these words can apply only
to one who enjoys power and authority because without authority it
is impossible to establish the sunnah or prevent innovation. This
is the gist of the argument he has advanced on this occasion;
although there is no proof to establish that the antecedent of
this pronoun is the caliphate. It can rather refer to the world
(when Amir al-mu'minin says, "He achieved good [of this
world] and remained safe from its evils.") and that would be
in accord with the context. Again, to regard authority as a
condition for the safeguarding of people's interest and the
propagation of the sunnah means to close the door to prompting
others to good and dissuading them from evil, although Allah has
assigned this duty to a group of the people without the condition
of authority:

And that there should
be among you a group who call (mankind) unto virtue and enjoin
what is good and forbid wrong; and these are they who shall be
successful. (Qur'an, 3:104)

Similarly it is related
from the Prophet:

So long as people go on
prompting for good and dissuading from evil and assisting each
other in virtue and piety they will remain in righteousness.

Again, Amir
al-mu'minin, in the course of a will, says in general terms:

Establish the pillars
of the Unity of Allah and the sunnah, and keep both these lamps
aflame.

In these sayings there
is no hint that this obligation cannot be discharged without
authority. Facts also tell us that (despite army and force, and
power and authority) the rulers and kings could not prevent evil
or propagate virtue to the extent to which some unknown godly
persons were able to inculcate moral values by imprinting their
morality on heart and minds, although they were not backed by any
army or force and they didn't have any equipment save destitution.
No doubt authority and control can bend heads down before it, but
it is not necessary that it should also pave the way for virtue in
hearts. History shows that most of the rulers destroyed the
features of Islam. Islam's existence and progress has been
possible by the efforts of those helpless persons who possessed
nothing save poverty and discomfiture.

If it is insisted that
the reference here should only be to a ruler, then why should it
not be taken to mean a companion of Amir al-mu'minin who had been
the head of a Province such as Salman al-Farisi for whose burial
Amir al-mu'minin went to al-Mada'in; and it is not implausible
that Amir al-mu'minin might have uttered these words after his
burial by way of comments on his life and way of governance.
However, to believe that they are about Caliph Umar is without
any proof. In the end, Ibn Abi'l-Hadid has quoted the following
statements of (the historian) at-Tabari in proof of his
hypothesis:

"It is related
from al-Mughirah ibn Shubah that when Caliph Umar died Ibnah Abi
Hathmah said crying. "Oh Umar, you were the man who
straightened the curve, removed ills, destroyed mischief, revived
the sunnah, remained chaste and departed without entangling in
evils.' (According to at-Tabari) al-Mughirah related that
"When Umar was buried I came to Ali and I wanted to hear
something from him about Umar. So, on my arrival Amir al-mu'minin
came out in this state that was wrapped in one cloth after bathing
and was jerking the hair of his head and beard and he had no doubt
that the Caliphate would come to him. On this occasion he said,
"May Allah have mercy on Umar." Ibnah Abi Hathmah has
correctly said that he enjoyed the good of the Caliphate and
remained safe from its evils. By Allah, she did not say it herself
but was made to say so." (at-Tabari, vol. 1, p. 2763; Ibn
Abi'l-Hadid, vol. 12, p. 5; Ibn Kathir, vol. 7, p. 140)

The relater of this
event is al-Mughirah ibn Shubah whose adultery with Umm Jamil,
the Caliph Umar's saving him from the penalty despite the
evidence, and his openly abusing Amir al-mu'minin in Kufah under
Muawiyah's behest are admitted facts of history. On this ground
what weight his statements can carry is quite clear. From the
factual point of view also, this story cannot be accepted.
Al-Mughirah's statement that Amir al-mu'minin had no doubt about
his Caliphate is against the facts. What were the factors from
which he made this guess when the actual facts were to the
contrary. If the caliphate was certain for any one, it was
Uthman. Thus, at the Consultative Committee Abd ar-Rahman ibn
Awf said to Amir al-mu'minin: "O' Ali! do not create a
situation against yourself for I have observed and consulted the
people and they all want Uthman." (at-Tabari, vol. 1, p.
2786; Ibn al-Athir, vol. 3, p. 71; Abu'l-Fida', vol. 1, p. 166)

Consequently, Amir
al-mu'minin was sure not to get the caliphate as has already been
stated on the authority of at-Tabari's History, under the sermon
of the Camel's Foam (ash-Shiqshiqiyyah), namely that on seeing the
names of the members of the Consultative Committee, Amir
al-mu'minin had said to al-Abbas ibn Abd al-Muttalib that the
caliphate could not be given to anyone except Uthman since all
the powers had been given to Abd ar-Rahman ibn Awf and he was
Uthman's brother-in-law (sister's husband) and Sad ibn Abi
Waqqas was a relative and tribesman of Abd ar-Rahman. These two
would join in giving the caliphate to him.

At this stage, the
question arises as to what the reason was that actuated
al-Mughirah to prompt Amir al-mu'minin to say something about
Umar. If he knew that Amir al-mu'minin had good ideas about
Umar, he should have also known his impression; but if he thought
that Amir al-mu'minin did not entertain good ideas about him then
the purpose of his asking Amir al-mu'minin would be none other
than that whatever he may say he would, by exposing it, create an
atmosphere against him and make the members of the Consultative
Committee suspicious of him. The views of the members of the
Consultative Committee are well understood from the very fact that
by putting the condition of following the conduct of the first two
Caliphs in electing the caliph they had shown their adherence to
them. In these circumstances when al-Mughirah tried to play this
trick Amir al-mu'minin said just by way of relating a fact that
Umar achieved the good (of this world) and remained safe from its
evil. This sentence has no connection with praise or eulogy. Umar
did in his days enjoy all kinds of advantages while his period was
free from the mischiefs that cropped up later. After recording
this statement Ibn Abi'l-Hadid writes:

From this event the
belief gains strength that in this utterance the allusion is
towards Umar.

If the utterance means
the word uttered by Ibnah Abi Hathmah about which Amir al-mu'minin
has said that they are not her own heart's voice but she was made
to utter them, then doubtlessly the reference is to Umar, but the
view that these words were uttered by Amir al-mu'minin in praise
of Umar is not at all established. Rather, from this tradition it
is evidently shown that these words were uttered by Ibnah Abi
Hathmah. Allah alone knows on what ground the words of Ibnah Abi
Hathmah are quoted and then it is daringly argued that these words
were uttered by Amir al-mu'minin about Umar. It seems Amir
al-mu'minin had uttered these words about someone on some
occasion, then Ibnah Abi Hathmah used similar words on Umar's
death and then even Amir al-mu'minin's words were taken to be in
praise of Umar. Otherwise, no mind except a mad one can argue
that the words uttered by Ibnah Abi Hathmah should be deemed a
ground to hold that Amir al-mu'minin said these words in praise of
Umar. Can it be expected, after (a glance at) the sermon of the
Camel's Foam, that Amir al-mu'minin might have uttered these
words. Again, it is worth consideration that if these words had
been uttered by Amir al-mu'minin on Umar's death, then at the
Consultative Committee when he refused to follow the conduct of
the (first) two Caliphs it should have been said to him that only
the other day he has said that Umar had established the sunnah
and banished innovations, so that when his conduct was in accord
with the sunnah what was the sense in accepting the sunnah but
refusing to follow his conduct .