HONOUR FOR LIFE

HONOUR FOR LIFE
In the name of allah...


Assalamu alaikkum varah...

The Messenger of Allah (peace be upon him) then set out and the Quraysh did not doubt that he would halt at al-Mash’ar al-Haram (the sacred site) as the Quraysh used to do in the pre-Islamic period. The Messenger of Allah (peace be upon him), however, passed on till he came to Arafat and he found that the tent had been pitched for him at Namirah. There he got down till the sun had passed the meridian; he commanded that al-Qaswa should be brought and saddled for him. Then he came to the bottom of the valley, and addressed the people saying:
 Verily your blood, your property are as sacred and inviolable as the sacredness of this day of yours, in this month of yours, in this town of yours, Behold! Everything pertaining to the Days of Ignorance is under my feet completely abolished. Abolished are also the blood-revenges of the Days of Ignorance. The first claim of ours on blood-revenge which I abolish is that of the son of Rabi’ah ibn al-Harith, who was nursed among the tribe of Sa’d and killed by Hudhayl. And the usury of she pre-Islamic period is abolished, and the first of our usury I abolished is that of Abbas ibn Abdul Muttalib, for it is all abolished. Narrated by Jabir ibn Abdullah. Muslim: 2803.1

Many of the fine qualities of the Prophet (peace be upon him) are apparent through this declaration. He was sent to guide the society where the value of life was considered cheap and insignificant. When some one was murdered and if the victims were not able to take revenge on those who committed the murder, they were desperate to take revenge even after number of generations have lapsed. They used to vow death. At this stage, after making so many sacrifices, the Prophet (peace be upon him) had become the governor of the land of Arabia.

There was neither honour for life nor was there any security for property.

The strong ones very casually snatched the belongings of the poor without any justification.

The Prophet (peace be upon him) made the following promulgation; Lives and properties of men, besides Makkah are holy. You should sanctify the lives of others as you hold the holy places in your town sacred. Hold other’s properties as sacred.

The Prophet (peace be upon him) is the only leader who declared that the lives and properties of mankind are sacred. So many murders had been committed before this murder in that society. The people victimised by these murders obviously wanted to take revenge.

If it were declared that it was forbidden to kill anyone it would be very hard to accept the rule, by the victims. They would not be able to control their deep-rooted feeling to revenge.

In some nations the President has been empowered to grant clemency. A general question arises. When the President grants clemency, would he grant pardon to some one who has killed the President’s own son?

The Prophet (peace be upon him) declared, “ To kill anyone is a sin. The previous murders are pardoned.” Rabiu was the cousin brother of his father. The tribe of Hudhail had murdered the son of Rabiu. He announced clemency to the ones who murdered his brother. He consulted with his family and convinced them to forgive them first and he too forgave them.

Charity begins at home. He began the enactment of law first from his house. That’s why he is the Man Supreme. Interest! There was not any ban on the practice of giving and taking loan on interest. At that time his uncle Abbas was carrying out the trading on interest in a very large scale.

The Prophet (peace be upon him) declared and ordered, ’who ever has lent money on interest should collect only the capital; the interest arranged previously should all be waived off.’

He started executing the loan on interest from his uncle’s house first, because he had the principle of starting anything from him. He also informs the people that those borrowed from Abbas should return only the capital and ignore the interest.

There is another significant point in his declaration. At present, those who make law fix the days and dates conveniently to take revenge on their enemies and they execute the law accordingly on the prearranged dates. While enacting a new law, it is a great injustice to bring all the previously committed crimes under the new law. However most of the Law makers do not seem to have this common sense.

The Prophet (peace be upon him) was very particular to start first with his family to enact any law that was to be introduced to the society steeped in ignorance and superstition. If any of his family members violated the law he used to punish them more severely than others. God’s Apostle (peace be upon him) ordered (a person) to collect Zakat, and that person returned and told him that Ibn Jamil, Khalid bin Al-Walid (May God be pleased with his deeds) , and Abbas bin ‘Abdul Muttalib had refused to give Zakat. The Prophet said, “What made Ibn Jamil refuse to give Zakat though he was a poor man, and was made wealthy by God and His Apostle? But you are unfair in asking Zakat from Khalid as he is keeping his armour for God’s cause (for Jihad). As for Abbas bin ‘Abdul Muttalib, he is the uncle of God’s Apostle (peace be upon him) and Zakat is compulsory on him and he should pay it double.” Buhari 2.547

The Prophet (peace be upon him) forgave Khalid (May God be pleased with his deeds) for not paying zakat because he had given much more than his due as zakat. He said it was wrong on behalf of Ibn Jameel for not having paid zakat. He meant that zakat should be collected from him compulsorily. But he ordered that not only zakat should be collected from his great uncle but it should be double the amount. Of all the three, he penalises his family member first without any nepotism and demonstrates how he could overcome the family affection.

Insha allah to be continued...

This book has been originally written in Tamil by Mr.P. Zainul Abideen under the caption

MAAMANITHAR NABIGAL NAYAGAM.