ISLAM’S ROYAL FAMILY
by Silas
The
Bible, John 13:34, 35
"A
new command I give you: Love one another. As I have loved you, so you must love
one another. By this all men will know
that you are my disciples, if you love one another." [1]
The Quran - 8:63, Al Anfal (The Spoils)
He it is Who has supported you with
His Help and with the believers. And He has united their (i.e. believers') hearts.
If you had spent all that is in the earth, you could not have united their hearts,
but Allah has united them. Certainly He is All-Mighty, All-Wise. [2]
PART ONE: MUHAMMAD’S WEALTH
FATIMA, ALI, AND IBN ABBAS
INTRODUCTION
Muhammad
was not alone in his endeavor to spread his religion. By the time Muhammad had attacked and conquered Mecca he had with
him a devoted family and thousands of devoted friends (Companions). And make no mistake about it; his followers
loved him and would gladly kill for or die for him. They hung on his every word, and rigidly followed his commands,
and hundreds of them memorized as much of his Quranic words as they could.
Like all
popular leaders, Muhammad had around him special friends and family
members. Muhammad loved his wife,
Aisha, best (Muhammad married her when she was nine; she was 18 when he died). After her, he loved her father Abu Bakr
best, then his strong friend Umar.
Beyond them there were other special friends and family who were closer
than most “Companions”. Many of these
special friends became important leaders of one type or another in the Islamic
community.
This special
group of people I am referring to I am calling the “Royal Family.” No, they were not considered royalty as the
Queen of England is considered royalty.
But these people knew Muhammad intimately and hold a very special place
in both Islamic politics, history, and theology. Hence the name is somewhat fitting. These people knew Muhammad best, and he knew them best. They loved him and he loved them. They knew and memorized his teachings and
they strove to imitate him in all manner of life. Through their intimate contact with Muhammad they were able to
teach and lead the Islamic community.
In a
similar way, Jesus’ followers knew Jesus, and following His death, they strove
hard to obey His teachings and teach others what they knew through their personal
contact with Him.
I am
presenting a series of articles on “Islam’s Royal Family”. Let us examine their actions following
Muhammad’s death. I believe it to be a
fair assessment of real Islam. Arguably
these Muslims were the best Muslims.
They are foundational to Islam because they constitute a large
percentage of Sahih Hadith narrators and some even ruled the Islamic
empire. One of them even compiled his
own version of the Quran. If there were
anyone who knew Muhammad and his commands - it was them.
Jesus said “you
shall know a tree by its fruit.” Certainly
it is no stretch for us to judge the genuineness of Islam by these, the best of
Muslims’, fruits. After all, wouldn’t
Muhammad’s and the Islam’s biggest impact be on those that were with him almost
24 hours a day?
Jesus
commanded His disciples to love one another.
And we know that they loved each other; after His death, these men
became the leaders of the church, they lived together, shared in each other’s
fate, cared for each other and so on.
Because of their faith in Him, their intimate knowledge of Him, and
their commitment to Him, they obeyed – even to the point of death.
Muhammad
also commanded his followers to love one another. His followers were keen to follow Muhammad in how he dressed, how
he ate, how he prayed, and so on. How
did Muhammad’s followers hold to their faith and obedience following his
death? I’m not focusing on mere outward
appearances and form. I’m focusing on
matters of the mind, spirit, and heart, i.e. the inward.
If Islam
was real, shouldn’t we expect to see them carry on in obedience to Muhammad’s
commands as Jesus’ disciples did?
Should we expect anything less from these – the closest of Muhammad’s
family and friends? If Islam were real,
shouldn’t these, the best of Muslims, have acted in a spiritual manner when it
was crunch time? Let’s see.
Notes
1) I will not type
out the entire chain of narrators (isnaads).
2) I will not quote
entire traditions (Hadith) because much of the provided text and detail (matn)
is not relevant to the subject.
3) I will endeavor
to present quoted material in blue font.
4) All Biblical
quotes will be from the New International Version, unless otherwise noted.
5) All Quranic
quotes will be from “The Noble Quran.”
Let’s begin.
FOOD FOR THOUGHT
1 Tim 6:10
For the love of money is a root of
all kinds of evil. Some people, eager for money, have wandered from the faith
and pierced themselves with many griefs.
Hadith of Sahih Bukhari,
2.428: [3]
Narrated
'Uqba bin 'Amir:
"... By
Allah! I am not afraid that you will worship others along with Allah after my
death, but I am afraid that you will fight with one another for the worldly
things."
KEY PEOPLE
ABU BAKR - The
first Caliph (supreme ruler) of the Islamic empire, and the first of the
so-called four “rightly guided” Caliphs.
He became Caliph following Muhammad’s death. He was Muhammad’s closest male friend. He ruled for two years then died. He was the father of Aisha, Muhammad’s nine year old bride ( http://answering-islam.org/Silas/childbrides.htm
[4]). Through war Abu Bakr established the beginning of the Islamic
Empire.
UMAR – The second caliph. He was Muhammad’s second closest male friend. His reign lasted some 12 or so years. Through attacks upon non-Islamic countries,
he greatly expanded the Islamic empire.
ALI – Muhammad’s son in law, married to Muhammad’s
daughter Fatima. Ali was a brave and
strong Muslim warrior who accomplished some important exploits in battle. Ali was the fourth of the “rightly guided
Caliphs.” Ali had two sons: Hassan and Hussain (Hussain bears importance
later on).
FATIMA – One of Muhammad’s daughters, later married
to Ali. She died some 6 months after Muhammad
died.
IBN ABBAS – Muhammad’s cousin. He became one of the greatest early Islamic
scholars. The “Reliance of the
Traveler” [5] states that he narrated 1660 hadith, contributed a great
amount of Koranic exegesis, and the Caliph Umar used him for help reaching
legal conclusions.
THE SETTING
Through
threats, intimidation, and extortion of neighboring tribes, Muhammad was able
to amass a personal fortune. But make
no error: Muhammad did not live a
indulgent, opulent, lifestyle. He lived
frugally. He was very disciplined and
controlled his wealth using it for the benefit of his poorer followers and to
make war upon non-Muslims. Prior to his
death Muhammad issued a declaration regarding his wealth: he would follow in the footsteps of
previous prophets and NOT leave an inheritance to his family. His wealth was NOT to be divided among
family members, rather it was to continue to be distributed in the same manner
as before. However he did make
provisions for his wives’ and slave’s maintenance. Other than that Muhammad only detailed a few minor items to be
given out.
Muhammad
had just died and the Caliphate was offered to Abu Bakr. On the day after Muhammad’s death,
intriguing events begin to transpire…….
(Below are several biographical anecdotes of the “Kitab al-Tabaqat al-Kabir, (Book of the
Major Classes), Volume 2, by Ibn Sa’d, pages 391 – 394:
[6])
ACCOUNT OF THE LEGACY (INHERITANCE)
OF THE APOSTLE OF ALLAH, AND WHAT PROPERTY HE LEFT BEHIND
The
apostle of Allah said, “The dinars and dirhams (money) should not be
distributed among my heirs, what I leave should go into charity after the
maintenance expenses of my wives and the provisions of my servant. (pages 391, 392).
I heard
Umar saying, “The day when the Apostle of Allah died bayah was offered to Abu
Bakr. On the following day Fatimah came
to Abu Bakr and there was Ali with her. (page 393).
Fatimah
came to Abu Bakr and demanded her share in the inheritance. Al-Abbas came to him and demanded his share
in the inheritance. Ali came with them. Thereupon Abu Bakr said, “The Apostle of
Allah said, “We leave no inheritance, what we leave behind us is sadaqah.” I shall make provisions for those for whom
the Prophet had made.” On this Ali
said, “Sulayman (Solomon) inherited Dawud (David), and Zakariya said, ‘He may
be my heir and the heir of the children of Yaqab (Zachariah and John the
Baptist)’”. Abu Bakr said, “This is as
this is. By Allah! You know it as I know.” Thereupon Ali said, “This is the Book of
Allah that speaks.” Then they became
quiet and retired. (page 393).
Fatimah
asked Abu Bakr, “When you die who will inherit you?” He replied, “My children and relatives.” She said, “What is the
justification of your becoming inheritor of the Prophet keeping us away?” He replied, “O daughter of the Apostle of
Allah! I did not inherit your father’s
land, gold, silver, slave, or property.
She said, “The share of Allah (Khums i.e. one-fifth) which He has allotted
to us and which is only our share, is in your hands.” Thereupon he replied, “I heard the Apostle of Allah saying, “It
is the food that Allah makes me eat.
When I die it will be distributed among the Muslims” (page 392).
Abu
Bakr said, “Verily, the Apostle of Allah said, “We do not leave inheritance,
what we leave goes into sadaqah.
Verily, the members of Muhammad’s family will get provision from this
money. By Allah! I shall not change the distribution of the
sadaqah of the Apostle of Allah from what it was in the time of Apostle of
Allah. I shall continue to spend them
under the same heads as the Apostle of Allah was spending. So Abu Bakr refused to give any thing to
Fatimah. Consequently Fatimah became
angry with Abu Bakr and left him. She
did not talk with him till she died.
She lived six months after the Apostle of Allah. (page 392)
The Hadith of Sahih Muslim, [7], adds the following
details…
Sahih Muslim
Book 019, Number 4355:
It has been narrated on the
authority of Abu Huraira that the Messenger of Allah said: My heirs cannot share even a dinar (from my legacy); what
I leave behind after paving maintenance allowance to my wives and remuneration
to my manager is (to go in) charity.
Sahih Muslim
Book 019, Number 4351:
It is narrated on the authority of
'Aisha who said: When the Messenger of Allah
passed away, his wives made up their minds to send 'Uthman b. 'Affan (as
their spokesman) to Abu Bakr to demand from him their share from the legacy of
the Holy Prophet . (At this), Aisha said to them: Hasn't the Messenger of Allah
said: "We (Prophets) do not have any heirs; what we leave behind is (to be
given in) charity"?
Abu Bakr
died 2 years after assuming the Caliphate and Umar became Caliph. But, Ali and Ibn Abbas had never allowed the
dispute to die out – they still wanted the money. Sahih Muslim details the ongoing conflict…
Sahih Muslim
Book 019, Number 4349:
…At
this moment (his man-servant) Yarfa' came in and said: Commander of the
Faithful, what do you say about Uthman, Abd al-Rabman b. 'Auf, Zubair and Sa'd
(who have come to seek an audience with you)? He said: Yes, and permitted them.
so they entered. Then he (Yarfa') came again and said: What do you say about
'Ali and Abbas (who are present at the door)? He said: Yes, and permitted them
to enter. Abbas said: Commander of the Faithful, decide (the dispute)
between me and this sinful, treacherous, dishonest liar. The people (who
were present) also said: Yes. Commander of the Faithful, do decide (the
dispute) and have mercy on them. Malik b. Aus said: I could well imagine that
they had sent them in advance for this purpose (by 'Ali and Abbas). 'Umar said:
Wait and be patient. I adjure you by Allah by Whose order the heavens and the
earth are sustained, don't you know that the Messenger of Allah said:" We (prophets) do not have any
heirs; what we leave behind is (to be given in) charity"? They said: Yes.
Then he turned to Abbas and 'Ali and said: I adjure you both by Allah by Whose
order the heavens and earth are sustained, don't you know that the Messenger of
Allah said:" We do not have any
heirs; what we leave behind is (to be given in) charity"? They (too) said:
Yes. (Then) Umar said: Allah, the Glorious and Exalted, had done to His
Messenger a special favor that He has
not done to anyone else except him. He quoted the Qur'anic verse:" What
Allah has bestowed upon His Apostle from (the properties) of the people of
township is for Allah and His Messenger". The narrator said: I do not know
whether he also recited the previous verse or not. Umar continued: The
Messenger of Allah distributed among you
the properties abandoned by Banu Nadir. By Allah, he never preferred himself
over you and never appropriated anything to your exclusion. (After a fair
distribution in this way) this property was left over.
The
Messenger of Allah would meet from its
income his annual expenditure, and what remained would be deposited in the
Bait-ul-Mal. (Continuing further) he said: I adjure you by Allah by Whose order
the heavens and the earth are sustained. Do you know this? They said: Yes. Then
he adjured Abbas and 'All as he had adjured the other persons and asked: Do you
both know this? They said: Yes. He said: When the Messenger of Allah passed away, Abu Bakr said:" I am
the successor of the Messenger of Allah ." Both of you came to demand your
shares from the property (left behind by the Messenger of Allah).
(Referring to Hadrat 'Abbas), he said: You demanded your share from the
property of your nephew, and he (referring to 'Ali) demanded a share on behalf
of his wife from the property of her father. Abu Bakr (Allah be pleased with
him) said: The Messenger of Allah had
said:" We do not have any heirs; what we leave behind is (to be given in)
charity." So both of you thought him to be a liar, sinful, treacherous
and dishonest. And Allah knows that he was true, virtuous, well-guided and
a follower of truth. When Abu Bakr passed away and (I have become) the
successor of the Messenger of Allah and
Abu Bakr (Allah be pleased with him), you thought me to be a liar, sinful,
treacherous and dishonest. And Allah knows that I am true, virtuous,
well-guided and a follower of truth. I became the guardian of this property.
Then you as well as he came to me. Both of you have come and your purpose is
identical. You said: Entrust the property to us. I said: If you wish that I should
entrust it to you, it will be on the condition that both of you will undertake
to abide by a pledge made with Allah that you will use it in the same way as
the Messenger of Allah used it. So both
of you got it. He said: Wasn't it like this? They said: Yes. He said: Then you
have (again) come to me with the request that I should adjudge between you. No,
by Allah. I will not give any other judgment except this until the arrival of
the Doomsday. If you are unable to hold the property on this condition, return
it to me.
Sahih Muslim
Book 019, Number 4354:
…The Messenger of Allah said:"
We do not have any heirs; what we leave behind is Sadaqa (charity)." The
narrator said: She (Fatima) lived six months after the death of the Messenger
of Allah and she used to demand from
Abu Bakr her share from the legacy of the Messenger of Allah from Khaibar,
Fadak and his charitable endowments at Medina. Abu Bakr refused to give her
this, and said: I am not going to give up doing anything which the Messenger of
Allah used to do. I am afraid that it I
go against his instructions in any matter I shall deviate from the right
course. So far as the charitable endowments at Medina were concerned, 'Umar
handed them over to 'Ali and Abbas, but 'Ali got the better of him (and kept
the property under his exclusive possession). And as far as Khaibar and
Fadak were concerned 'Umar kept them with him, and said: These are the
endowments of the Messenger of Allah
(to the Umma). Their income was spent on the discharge of the responsibilities
that devolved upon him on the emergencies he had to meet. And their management
was to be in the hands of one who managed the affairs (of the Islamic State).
The narrator said: They have been managed as such up to this day.
The Sunan of Abu Dawud, [8], adds the following
details…
Sunan of Abu Dawud
Book
19, Number 2961:
Narrated
Umar ibn al-Khattab:
Malik
ibn Aws al-Hadthan said: One of the arguments put forward by Umar was that he
said that the Apostle of Allah received
three things exclusively to himself: Banu an-Nadir, Khaybar and Fadak. The Banu
an-Nadir property was kept wholly for his emergent needs, Fadak for travelers,
and Khaybar was divided by the Apostle of Allah into three sections: two for Muslims, and one as a contribution
for his family. If anything remained after making the contribution of his
family, he divided it among the poor Emigrants.
And “The History of Tabari” [9]
also provides an account of the conflict…
Fatimah and
al-Abbas came to Abu Bakr demanding their share of inheritance of the Messenger
of God. They were demanding the
Messenger of God’s land in Fadak and his share of Khaybar’s tribute. Abu Bakr replied, “I have heard the
Messenger of God say, “Our, i.e. the prophets’ property cannot be inherited and
whatever we leave behind is alms to be given in charity. The family of Muhammad will eat from
it. (1) By God, I will not abandon a course which
I saw the Messenger of god practicing, but will continue it accordingly. Fatimah shunned him and did not speak to him
about it until she died. Ali buried her
at night and did not permit Abu Bakr to attend her burial. While Fatimah was alive, Ali held respect
among the people. After she died their
attention turned away form him. A man
asked al-Zuhri, “Did Ali not give his oath of allegiance for six months?” “No, nor anyone of the Banu Hashim until Ali
rendered his,” he replied. (pages 196,
197).
Note 1 states: “It
was the first and most important step taken by both Abu Bakr and Umar in their
attempts to displace the Banu Hashim and especially Ali from their prerogatives
in the leadership of the Muslim polity.
Acceptance of this claim of inheritance based on family ties would have
opened the door widely to Ali’s right to the succession. Moreover, the income from both these sources
was considerable, and it would have given some leverage to Ali.
SUMMARY
1) Before he died
Muhammad proclaimed that he would not be leaving inheritance to his family
members.
2) On the day
following Muhammad’s death his daughter Fatima, her husband Ali, and Ibn Abbas
visited Abu Bakr and demanded that he give them their fair share of Muhammad’s
wealth. Abu Bakr refused on the grounds
that Muhammad followed in the footsteps of other prophets and would not allow
his family members to receive any inheritance.
However, Ali correctly pointed out that Muhammad was mistaken because
the Quran records example of prophets leaving an inheritance to their sons
(David to Solomon, Zechariah to John the Baptist). The end result of this confrontation was that till her dying day,
Fatima hated Abu Bakr and refused to speak to him. Ali also continued in hating Abu Bakr, burying his wife in
secret, to avoid Bakr’s presence. Ali
reconciled with Abu Bakr, not because it was the right thing to do, but because
he fell out of people’s favor, and it was the only way to get their favor back.
3) Muhammad’s wives,
other than Aisha, also set out to demand their share, but they were stopped by
Aisha’s repeating of Muhammad’s words regarding “no inheritance”.
4) After Abu Bakr
died Ali and Abbas again pressed their claim upon Umar. Ali and Ibn Abbas were at odds over who
might get the money. Abbas calls Ali a
“sinful, treacherous, dishonest, liar!”
Umar reproves them both and states that at one time they both thought
Abu Bakr to be a liar, sinful, treacherous, and dishonest! Then Umar tells them to their face that they
think him to be a liar, sinful, treacherous, and dishonest! Then, because of their pressure, anger, and
general discord, Umar is not able to bear up and continue to fulfill Muhammad’s
commands, and he capitulates, giving them both some of Muhammad’s inheritance
wealth (ostensibly that they would continue to maintain it the same way he
did)!
DISCUSSION
Just a day
after Muhammad’s death the dark family squabbles begin. There certainly was no real period of
mourning, spiritual reflection, or drawing close together of Muhammad’s family
was there? Instead, people were moving
on the money right away! Take a look,
we have a number of dark and powerful emotions at work here.
1) GREED
Note the
greed displayed by Muhammad’s closest family members. The body is barely cold and here they were demanding their share
of the inheritance. Due to their
lusting after this wealth, they bicker spitefully among themselves. Greed continues to live in their hearts for
2 years. After Abu Bakr dies they
return to Umar and make the same monetary demands.
2) HATRED
When
spurned in their attempt to obtain the wealth, they hated Abu Bakr. Fatima and Ali hated him to her dying
day. And out of spite, Ali refused
to let Abu Bakr know she had died, burying her in secret. Ibn Abbas, Fatima, and Ali all considered Abu Bakr to be
a “sinful, treacherous, dishonest, liar”. And when Umar becomes Caliph, they hate him and consider him to be
“liar, sinful, treacherous and dishonest”
And interesting note that must not be overlooked….
Ali, when
confronted by Abu Bakr with the reason for rejection, states that Muhammad was
ignorant of his own Quran it, a book Muhammad supposedly had memorized, states
that prophets left inheritance for their sons.
Ref. Sura 27:16, and 19:6. Ali
points that out to the group assembled there and leaves them silent, unable to
respond, because they were shocked that he proved Muhammad to be in the
wrong. After all, this was
Muhammad’s own Quran, and he got it wrong!
All Abu Bakr could do in response, knowing Ali was correct, was say,
“well, that’s the way it’s going to be.”
COMMENT AND QUESTIONS
The Bible’s
statement is true – “the love of money is a root to all
sorts of evil.” These Muslims, -
Muhammad’s devoted family, lusted after worldly gain. That lust caused them to hate each other. Now what about Sura 8:63? Would you consider that these people’s
hearts were knit together? Perhaps
they were at one time, under stressful circumstances. But here, Allah was unable to knit or hold them together. Allah’s sewing job was rather poor wouldn’t
you say? Wouldn’t you expect these,
some of the greatest Muslims, to have been able to hold it together a bit
longer? Wouldn’t you expect them to
have some semblance of love, trust and fidelity towards each other, especially
just after Muhammad’s death? Wouldn’t
you expect there to be some level of true spirituality? What happened to all that Islamic
devotion? Why did it evaporate so
quickly? Just how real was Islam for
the “Royal Family” to discard it, (the deeper commands), so quickly.
REFERENCES
1)
The Bible, New International Version, pub. by Zondervan, Grand
Rapids, Michigan
2)
The Nobel Quran,
translated by Dr. Muhammad Taqi-ud-Din Al-Hilali and Dr. Muhammad Muhsin
Khan, published by Maktaba Dar-us-Salam, PO Box 21441, Riyadh 11475, Saudi
Arabia, 1994
3)
Bukhari, Muhammad, “Sahih Bukhari”, Kitab Bhavan, New Delhi,
India, 1987, translated by M. Khan
4)
http://answering-islam.org/Silas/childbrides.htm
5)
al-Misri, Ahmad, “Reliance of the Traveler”, (A Classic Manual
of Islamic Sacred Law), translated by Nuh Ha Mim Keller, published by Amana
publications, Beltsville, Maryland, USA
1991
6)
Ibn Sa'd, (d. 852 A.D.), "Kitab al-Tabaqat
al-Kabir", (Book of the Major Classes), Volume 2, translated by S. Moinul Haq,
Pakistan Historical Society.
7)
Muslim, A., "Sahih Muslim", translated by A.
Sidiqqi, International Islamic Publishing House, Riyadh, KSA.
8)
Abu Dawud, Suliman, “Sunan”, al-Madina, New Delhi, 1985,
translated by A. Hasan
9)
al-Tabari, "The History of al-Tabari", (Ta'rikh
al-rusul wa'l-muluk), Volume 9, State University of New York Press, 1993.
Translated by Ismail K. Poonawala