Sagacity, Selflessness, Self-restraint…

In The Name of Allah, The Most Merciful, The Bestower of Mercy.

Aa’isha, may Allah be pleased with her, said that the Prophet, peace and blessings of Allah be upon him, said to her, “O Aisha! Were your people (i.e. the Quraish) not close to the Pre-Islamic Period of Ignorance, I would have had the Ka`ba demolished and would have included in it the portion which had been left, and would have made it at a level with the ground and would have made two doors for it, one towards the east and the other towards the west, and then by doing this it would have been built on the foundations laid by Ibrahim, peace be upon him”. This was what urged Ibn-Az-Zubair [may Allah be pleased with him] to demolish the Ka’ba. Jazz said, “I saw Ibn-Az-Zubair when he demolished and rebuilt the Ka`ba and included in it a portion of Al-Hijr (the unroofed portion of Ka`ba which is at present in the form of a compound towards the northwest of the Ka`ba). I saw the original foundations of Abraham which were of stones resembling the humps of camels.” So Jarir asked Yazid, “Where was the place of those stones?” Jazz said, “I will just now show it to you.” So Jarir accompanied Yazid and entered Al-Hijr, and Jazz pointed to a place and said, “Here it is.” Jarir said, “It appeared to me about six cubits from Al-Hijr or so.” [1]

Aa’isha, may Allah be pleased with her, said that she heard Allah’s Messenger, peace and blessings of Allah be upon him, saying, “If your people had not been recent converts to Islam, I would have spent the treasure of the Kabah in the way of Allah and would have constructed its door just on the level of the ground and would have encompassed in it the space of Hijr”. [2]

This hadith provides evidence for the principles of Islamic rulings. One of these principles is that when beneficial matters conflict or when a beneficial matter conflicts with a harmful matter, and it is not possible to both pursue what is beneficial and abandon the harm, then the most important matter should be prioritised. The Prophet, peace and blessings of Allah be upon him, informed us that although demolishing the Kabah and returning it to its foundations laid by Ibraaheem, peace be upon him, had a benefit, there was a greater harm associated with it. This harm was the fear of Fitnah among those who had recently accepted Islam due to their belief regarding the virtue of the Kabah, and any alteration to it would have been seen as a significant event. Therefore, the Prophet chose to leave the Kabah as it was. Among them (i.e. principles of the Islamic rulings) is the leader’s consideration of the well-being of his subjects and his caution in avoiding actions that may harm them in religious or worldly matters. However, this does not apply to matters related to the Shariah, such as collecting Zakat, implementing punishments, and similar matters. Among them (i.e. principles of the Islamic rulings) is to foster unity among people, safeguarding them (from division and discord), and not engage in actions that would drive them away or repel them, as long as he does not abandon an affair of the Shariah, as mentioned earlier. [3]

Allah, The Exalted,  says:

وَلَا تَسُبُّوا۟ ٱلَّذِينَ يَدْعُونَ مِن دُونِ ٱللَّهِ فَيَسُبُّوا۟ ٱللَّهَ عَدْوًۢا بِغَيْرِ عِلْمٍ كَذَٰلِكَ زَيَّنَّا لِكُلِّ أُمَّةٍ عَمَلَهُمْ ثُمَّ إِلَىٰ رَبِّهِم مَّرْجِعُهُمْ فَيُنَبِّئُهُم بِمَا كَانُوا۟ يَعْمَلُونَ

And do not insult those whom they (disbelievers) worship besides Allah, lest they insult Allah wrongfully without knowledge. Thus, We have made fair-seeming to each people its own doings; then to their Lord is their return and He shall then inform them of all that they used to do. [Al-An’aam. 108]

Allah forbids the believers from an affair that is permissible; rather, (in and of itself or with regards to its basis), it is legislated (in the Shariah), and that is to revile the false deities of the polytheists – who have adopted idols and falsehood gods (for worship) besides Allah- which a believer reviles as act of worship to draw closer to Allah; however, since this revilement is a way for the polytheists to revile the Lord of the Worlds, whose Greatness must be freed from all defects, evils, revilement, and slander, Allah forbade cursing the (false) gods of the polytheists because they defend their (false) religion and are fanatical toward it. In this noble verse, there is evidence of the Shariah principle, which is that “means are considered based on the matters they achieve, and that the means that will lead to something forbidden are forbidden, even if they are permissible in origin”. [4]

Al-Allamah Rabee Bin Haadee al-Madkhali [may Allah preserve him] said:

Uthman [may Allah be pleased with him] was one of those who restrained the people from bloodshed the most as well as that of the people who violated his honour. Shaikh Al-Islaam Ibn Taymiyyah [may Allah have mercy upon him] said, “What is well known through successive numerous narrations is that Uthman [may Allah be pleased with him] was one of those who restrained the people from bloodshed the most, exercised patience the most regarding the affair of those who violated his honour and those who made a determined attempt to shed his blood, so they besieged him and endeavoured to kill him, and he knew their desire to kill him. The Muslims came to him from every place to help him and indicated to him to fight the besiegers, but he commanded them to refrain from fighting and commanded those who obeyed him not to fight. He said to his slaves, ‘Whoever restrains his hand is freed’. It was said to him, ‘Will you go to Makkah?’ He said, ‘I will not be amongst those who commit evil in the sacred house’. Then it was said to him, ‘Will you not go to Syria?’ He said, ‘I will not leave my place of Hijrah (i.e. Madinah)’. Then it was said to him, ‘Fight them’, he said, ‘I will not be the first in the Ummah of Muhammad [peace and blessings of Allah be upon him] to unleash the sword after the departure of Muhammad’. Uthman’s patience until he was murdered is one of his greatest virtues in the sight of Muslims”. [5]

Imam Ibn Al-Qayyim [may Allah have mercy upon him] said:

“Upon realising that he would face death based on his observations of the events and signs, Uthman [may Allah be pleased with him] chose not to engage in fighting or self-defence to prevent conflict among the Muslims. He preferred to be killed rather than (initiating) fighting between Muslims”. [6]

When Mahmud Ibn Subuktikeen [may Allah have mercy upon him] whose army conquered India, wanted to break the biggest idol to which the Hindus travel from every region and spent enormous wealth to establish manifestations of polytheism, the Indians offered him a lot of money to leave the idol. Some of the Muslim rulers advised him to take the wealth and refrain from destroying the idol, but he said, “It is more beloved to me that it is said to me on the day of judgment “Where is Mahmud who broke the idol”, rather than, “Where is Mahmud who left the idol for the sake of what he received from this worldly wealth?” So, he broke the idol and found in it far more jewels, pearls, gold, and precious stones than what they offered him”. [7]

Al-Andalus (Spain), was conquered in the year 92 AH by the forces led by Tariq Bin Ziyad, a protégé of Musa Bin Nusayr, during the caliphate of Al Walid Bin Abdil Malik. Following the successful conquest, Tariq communicated with Musa Bin Nusayr to inform him of the event. However, Musa experienced a sense of jealousy regarding this significant achievement attributed to Tariq. He subsequently wrote to Al-Walid to report the conquest and cautioned Tariq, as the latter had entered Spain without prior authorisation. Musa instructed Tariq to refrain from advancing beyond his current position until they could meet. Musa then hastened with his army into Spain, accompanied by Habib Bin Abee Ubaidah Al-Fahriy. Upon their meeting, Tariq expressed, “I am indeed your protégé, and this conquest is yours.” [8]

[1] Sahih Al-Bukhari. Number 1586

[2] Sahih Muslim 1333]

[3] Paraphrased: Refer to the Arabic text below:
في هذا الحديث دليل القواعد من الأحكام، منها إذا تعارضت المصالح أو تعارضت مصلحة ومفسدة وتعذر الجمع بين فعل المصلحة وترك المفسدة بدىء بالأهم لأن النبي ﷺ أخبر أن نقض الكعبة وردها إلى ما كانت عليه من قواعد إبراهيم مصلحة ولكن تعارضه مفسدة أعظم منه وهي خوف فتنة بعض من أسلم قريباً وذلك لما كانوا يعتقدونه من فضل الكعبة فيرون تغييرها عظيماً فتركها ، ومنها فكر ولي الأمر في مصالح رعيته واجتنابه ما يخاف منه تولد ضرر عليهم في دين أو دنيا إلا الأمور الشرعية كأخذ الزكاة وإقامة الحدود ونحو ذلك، ومنها تألف قلوب الرعية وحسن
بانة حياطتهم وأن لا ينفروا ولا يتعرض لما يخاف تنفيرهم بسببه ما لم يكن فيه ترك أمر شرعي كما سبق

Sharh Saheeh Muslim By Imaam An-Nawawi. 9/75-76. Publiasher: Dar Kotub Ilmiyyah. 1st Ed 1421AH (2000)

[4] An Excerpt from “Tafseer As-Sadi”

[5]: An Excerpt from Al-Mukhtaaraat Al-Bahiyyah Min Kutub Shaikhil Islaam Ibn Taymiyyah. Page 296. Slightly paraphrased

[6] الطُّرُقُ الْحُكميَّة- page 30

[7] Al-Bidaayah Wan-Nihaayah 12/22-23

[8] An Excerpt from “Tarikh Al-Islam” 2/254-256