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God has spared us great strife
By God, we were never tested in any situation with God's Messenger
as we have been tested today.
We had the tragedy of the Prophet's death
and our fear that the bond between Muslims would be severed after his death.
He was among us, protected from error by God who bestowed revelations on him.
We accepted his guidance and obeyed him.
Then, suddenly,
we are left to our own devices on a very hard day and great test,
with great consequences for the Muslim community,
setting its affairs on the right footing.
In His infinite wisdom,
God has left it to the Muslims to determine through the process of consultation
and as suits their conditions of time and place.
What keep them from error are fearing God and having no personal goal
other than serving the welfare of the Muslim community.
Once the process of consultation has led to an acceptable view,
they must all join the chosen course.
If it later transpires that it is the right course,
they are happy.
If it happens to be the wrong choice,
no one is accused of dictatorship.
They go back to the community and start the process of consultation again.
This is absolutely true, Umar.
Your attitude today will be remembered by Muslims for the rest of time.
It will be a lantern to guide them. It will be their yardstick.
Now that revelations have ceased with the death of God's Messenger,
Muslims must take their guidance from God's book, the Prophet's sunnah
and agreement through consultation.
In this way, no one will be able to claim
that he alone has the right understanding of God's book,
asserting that it opens up only to him
and imposing his authority on people.
But we heard that voices were loud in the meeting place.
People disagreed and opinions were hotly debated.
Selfishness appeared to get the better of some people,
before they eventually agreed on Abu Bakr.
What is consultation, then, Abdullah?
It means that people will press their views
according to their understanding and assessment of each situation.
They will respond to one another until they all, or their majority, agree to one view.
They all then accept it.
As for differences of aims and desires among some people,
well we leave this to God.
We cannot open people's hearts and minds.
We neither claim that we are better than others,
nor judge people without clear evidence.
God has not made any of us infallible.
We may err despite having the best of intentions.
Someone may say what is true although he harbours falsehood.
We must not refuse what is right because we suspect its advocate.
We have the better claim to what is right.
"A believer always seeks wisdom; and he must claim it wherever he finds it."
Learn this:
people will be unfair to the Prophet's companions
if they consider them infallible,
or if they raise them above the rank of ordinary humans,
no matter how pious and God-fearing they are.
If they do and then find that someone has acted in a way which they do not approve,
they will discard him and accuse him of insincerity in faith.
After that, there will be people who do not love God and His Messenger.
They will take that as a means to attack Islam itself.
Absolutely. Were people to believe that the Prophet's companions are infallible,
they will underestimate their own ability,
on the basis that they have no such infallibility.
This will be a pretext for disunity.
On the other hand, if people think well of the Prophet's companions,
recognizing that they are ordinary human beings who may make mistakes,
they will continue to hope that God will bestow His grace on them if they err.
They will follow the Prophet's companions when they are unanimous
and acknowledge their status when they differ.
O' people,
you all know what I did and said yesterday
when I heard the news of the Prophet's death.
(Peace be upon him)
I said something that expressed my own feelings.
I did not see this in God's book,
nor was it something the Prophet had told me.
What made me say what I said
was the fact that I read the Qur'anic verse that said:
"Thus We have made you the community (ummah) of the middle way,"
"so that you may stand witness against the rest of mankind,"
"and the Messenger shall be a witness against you."
I felt that God's Messenger
will remain among his community until he witnesses the last of its actions.
This is the reason that made me say what I said.
God has given you what contains the guidance shown to you by His Messenger.
If you hold tight to it,
it will give you the right guidance.
God has enabled you to agree to choose as your leader the best man among you,
God's Messenger's only companion
who was with him when he was hiding in the cave.
He is the best qualified to lead.
Come and give him your pledges of loyalty.
All praise be to God who has guided us to this.
We would be bereft of guidance unless He has guides us.
O' you people, I have been chosen to lead you,
and I am not the best among you.
If I do well, help me;
and if I do wrong, correct me.
Truth is a trust and lying is a breach of trust.
The weak among you are strong in my sight
until I have ensured that they have their rights.
The strong among you are weak in my sight
until I have ensured right and justice.
Obey me as long as I obey God and His Messenger.
If I disobey them, I forfeit all claim to your obedience.
Now rise to offer your prayers. May God bestow mercy on you all.
People of the Abd Manaf clan,
how come that Abu Bakr is chosen
and approved by all people when he is from the Taim clan,
the smallest and most humble clan in Quraysh.
If you wish, I can raise a great force against him
and take it by force.
God forbid that we should create division among the Muslims.
By God, you are only creating strife.
We have no need for your advice.
Wait a minute, Abu Al-Hasan.
I only wish to support you,
if you have been forced to accept this arrangement.
By God, Abu Sufyan,
your heart has not been freed of the traces of jahiliyyah.
You continue to think prophethood a source of pride
or a kingdom for which tribes may compete.
God has abolished the allegiance to tribe
and family ancestry that prevailed in the days of jahiliyyah.
Did you not listen to God's Messenger
when he reminded people of their single origin?
He said: "All of you descend from Adam, and Adam was created out of clay".
Now you come to say Taim and Abd Manaf?
Isn't it time for you, Abu Sufyan,
to understand that it is a message from God to all mankind?
As for the leadership after the Prophet,
had we thought that Abu Bakr is not suitable for it
we would have said so.
Ali is not a man to hesitate in stating the truth as he sees it,
fearing no criticism by anyone.
Don't you have a stronger claim to it,
since you are the Prophet's cousin and son-in-law?
God's Messenger was a prophet and a messenger, not a king.
Would I create division and weaken the Muslims
when we are most in need of our strength
after such waves of Arab apostasy?
Would I sit in my home in dissent
while the Muslims march to fight the apostates and defend the land of Islam?
Far be this from me; very far, Abu Sufyan!
Abu Al-Hasan: what delayed your pledge of loyalty to Abu Bakr?
People look up to you.
You know, Umar, that I was busy with the Prophet's funeral arrangements.
Then his daughter was very ill.
I would have preferred that you delayed the choice
so that we could put in our opinion.
God knows that we had no interest in speeding it
other than our fear that the Muslims might be disunited at this time
when dangers threaten them from every quarter.
- Ali. - Ali.
Here comes Ali.
You are the Prophet's successor.
Your hand so that I give you my pledge of loyalty
People of Islam!
The Caliph has issued an order that the army under the command of Usamah Ibn Zaid
is to be dispatched on its mission raised by God's Messenger before his death
Every soldier of Usamah's army must join its assembly place at Al-Jurf.
Everyone in Usamah's army must join.
Make sure to be there today.
The Caliph will meet you all at Al-Jurf.
Apostasy has swayed the Arabs, as you are well aware.
You want to dispatch Usamah's army
which includes the bulk of the Muhajireen and the Ansar and the bravest people.
We fear that they may launch a surprise attack in our absence,
and that the Bedouin idolaters may besiege Madinah
and attack you and the Muslims here.
Madinah is the place of God's Messenger and his legacy.
If you keep the army here,
you will strengthen your defences against them.
By God Almighty, if I am certain that wild beasts will be snatching me,
I will still dispatch Usamah's army, as God's Messenger had ordered.
I am not one to undo something God's Messenger has started.
If I am the only one left here, I will still dispatch this army.
Do you understand me, Umar?
Go back to Usamah and his men
Do not leave the army unless you receive my orders.
Some leading and elder figures of the Ansar talked to me privately.
They said: If you insist that we must go ahead,
they would prefer that you give the command to someone older than Usamah.
May your mother lose you, Umar.
He was appointed by God's Messenger and you are asking me to replace him?
Father!
Father, save the people, for they are heading to the fire.
We obeyed Muhammad when he was alive, after we embraced Islam.
Now that he is dead, we owe obedience to no one.
We will revert to what we were before it.
Let not those who used to look up to you for leadership hold power now.
What a foul advice!
Move away. May God blacken your face and what you said.
Move away.
People of Makkah.
Do not be the last to embrace Islam and the first to desert it.
By God, this matter of Islam will come to its fullness,
as God's Messenger (peace be upon him) mentioned.
People of Makkah, how about your pledges to God?
Isn't it enough that you missed what you missed before you accepted Islam?
Muhammad was only a human messenger,
fulfilled the trust he was given,
gave good counsel to his people and left us on a clear way.
He asked you to be its witnesses, and he was your witness,
so that you will be the witnesses against mankind.
How will religion be for all mankind,
if it comes to an end when the Prophet (peace be upon him) dies?
By God, it will reach the furthest points in the east and the west.
Let not those who are immersed in hypocrisy turn you away from your faith.
They imagine religion to be a favour to be competed for by different tribes.
The closest of you to God's Messenger
is the one who is most faithful to his trust
and the one who fulfils his religion best, following the Prophet's sunnah.
Take care of yourselves and do not run headlong into ruin.
All praise be to God who let me live to see you in this position, father.
God's Messenger told the truth; he certainly did.
This is what the Prophet foretold.
Do you remember what he said to Umar
when Umar asked him permission to pull out your front teeth
so that you would never be able to give a speech against him?
Do you remember him saying to Umar:
"Leave him alone. He may make a stand which you cannot criticize".
It is by God your stand today.
Yes, indeed.
What God's Messenger said has come true.
All praise be to God.
What do you think now, Umar?
I think that I am rough and hard.
God's Messenger was superior and most benevolent and compassionate.
I am just a servant of God,
but the Prophet knew better and took a more accurate measure of things.
Had your father been here now,
I would have kissed his forehead in appreciation.
By his stand, God has averted a great crisis.
His talent as a speaker, which was in the past used against Islam,
is now defending Islam.
No blame attaches to you, Abu Hafs.
When my father was an idolater, I had towards him similar feelings to yours,
except that as a son, I cared and feared for my father.
You used your hardness in defending Islam.
If you take it to extreme now,
you will find the Caliph moderating it with his gentler attitude.
Thus the two of you balance each other
so as to prevent power going too far
and prevent gentleness becoming weakness.
Abu Bakr!
When we chose him to be the Caliph,
he said to me that I was stronger than him.
I told him: "My strength is at your service".
We used to see him unable to resist his tears when he read the Qur'an aloud in prayer.
We feared that people might try to take advantage of his gentleness.
Then God guided us to choose him as Caliph to succeed the Prophet,
and he has shown us such strength of determination in sticking to the truth.
Umar's strength is much inferior by comparison.
The Prophet states the truth:
"The person of real strength is not the one who overpowers others physically."
Look who is coming.
Yes, indeed. It is Wahshi.
What brings you from Makkah?
I want to atone for what I did with this spear,
and what it did to me.
It may be that God will release me from its old evil.
I hope to use it from now on to serve God's cause.
You are joining your family and people, Wahshi.
Abu Bakr, this delegation represents Ghatafan, Asad, Abs, Dhubyan and Bakr.
We have come enjoying the support of our peoples
to put to you a decision we have made.
We hope you will listen to our view and accept it.
We will then go back and everything will be good for you and us.
We have not deserted Islam as did others.
But we feel that we are entitled to do with our money what we want.
We paid zakat and charity to the Prophet when he was alive.
Now we do not want to pay this to you or to anyone else.
We wish to inform you of this so that our position is made clear.
Withdraw your zakat officers
because we do not wish to see them in our quarters.
We hope you will think about this.
Do you want to withhold what you used to pay to God's Messenger?
On what basis?
How will I be God's Messenger's successor
if I do not succeed him in administering people's zakat,
which is God's share in people's money?
Can anything in Islam, God's religion, be changed as a result of the Prophet's death,
when God is eternal and never dies?
Were we to accept your proposal to draw a distinction between prayer and zakat,
that will mean that we believe in some portions of God's book and deny others.
Islamic principles constitute a single line.
If you undo one of them today,
the whole line will soon be shattered.
Besides, today Islam has its state, government, community and nation.
What you are doing is a rebellion and an act of disobedience.
If we condone it, Islam will have neither a system nor a community.
No, by Him who sent Muhammad with the message of the truth,
you shall pay your zakat
and send it over as you used to do during the Prophet's lifetime.
Nothing of it will be left out. Do you understand?
You may go back.
Won't you review your decision before these people reach their tribes?
Yes, Abu Bakr.
The land is shaking under our feet and it is so difficult to stabilize.
Trouble has started in Yemen and Hadramout.
The people of Tameem and others in Bahrain and elsewhere are in rebellion.
Those have deserted Islam altogether and they live far from us.
This delegation represents people who have not deserted Islam
although they are withholding their zakat.
Taking a more lenient stance may be more preferable
so that we can repel the bigger threat by the smaller one.
We do not wish that people combine against us at the same time.
What are you saying?
Is this your attitude after you heard what I said to them?
We have heard you. Now you listen to us.
These people's quarters are not very far from Madinah.
We know that they have already set out with their army.
We are now few in number,
after Usamah and his army have gone.
Perhaps it is wiser to appease these people for the present
so that we will be free to face those others who are worse apostates and further away.
Then when Usamah comes back, our strength will be greater.
What is the matter with you, Umar?
Are you to be the strong man in jahiliyyah, and the weak one in Islam?
Divine revelations have ceased and the faith is complete.
Is it to be diminished in my life?
How can we fight these people when they have not deserted Islam?
God's Messenger said: "I have been bid to fight people"
"until they declare their belief that there is no deity other than God."
"Whoever says it protects his property and life except as is right."
"He is, however, accountable to God for his deeds."
Except as is right.
Yes, and zakat is the right pertaining to money.
By God, I shall fight anyone who draws a distinction between prayer and zakat.
Were they to stop even a small portion they gave to God's Messenger,
I will fight them over it.
I am fighting them to ensure obedience and the unity of the Muslim community.
I am fighting them in order to prevent a strife that will weaken Islam in its early days
and plunge the Muslim community in disorder.
If I am to appease these, others will have their ambitions.
If we subdue them, many others will be deterred.
God has made you state the truth, Abu Bakr.
You may go ahead and we all are in support.
You have said it.
I saw treachery in the faces of these people.
It won't be long before they come against you.
Their delegation must have seen that we are short of numbers.
You do not know
whether they will attack during the night or during the day.
Therefore, we must be ready.
All to arms. All to arms.
The enemies of God have arrived.
God is Supreme.
Get ready!
Warning! Warning!
- God is Supreme. - God is Supreme.
- A warner! - No, a bearer of good news.
As well?
Peace be to the Prophet's successor and those with him.
Peace be to you.
Welcome to a generous man who is the son of a most generous man,
Adiy Ibn Hatim Al-Ta'ie.
What brings you?
I've brought you the zakat of those of my people who've held tight to their faith.
All praise be to God; God is supreme.
We have been receiving much good today. All praise be to God.
Before you we received Safwan Ibn Safwan Al-Tameemi
bringing the zakat of his people, the Amr clan.
Then we received Al-Zibriqan Ibn Badr with the zakat of his people, the Awf clan.
When each of them appeared at a distance, we would say, "here is a warner",
but the Caliph says that the comer is a bearer of good news.
It turns out to be as he says, by the grace of God.
The news of your victory over the people of Dhul-Qassah travelled far and wide,
as well as the miserable defeat suffered by the tribes of Abs and Dhubyan.
So all would-be rebels lost heart.
Many went back to where they were, and they brought their zakat.
Those of them who remained apostate
joined either Tulaihah Al-Asadi or Musailamah, swelling their forces.
We will be ready for them soon.
The zakat we have received is the herald of victory, God willing.
I will sacrifice myself for your sake.
Without you, we would have come to ruin.
All praise be to God who has enabled you to return safe and sound.
You are well aware that Satan has led astray the tribes of Abs, Dhubyan and Bakr.
They gloried in their arrogance
and killed those of their people who remained true to their faith.
They have again raised a large force
and are now encamped at Al-Rabadhah in Al-Abraq.
By God, I am going to fight them
in a way the like of which the Arabs have never experienced.
I am deputizing you, Usamah, to look after Madinah.
You, your soldiers and mounts will thus be able to rest.
You mean that you yourself will lead the army?
We appeal to you, Caliph,
by God to return to Madinah and let us march without you.
If you were to fall, the situation will be in chaos.
Indeed. Your stay in Madinah gives the enemy a greater problem.
Appoint someone else to lead the army.
If he is killed, you can appoint another.
I will say to you what God's Messenger said to you on the day of the Battle of Uhud:
"Put your sword in its sheath and spare us the tragedy of losing you."
By God, I shall not do. I will be with you.
Al-Rabadhah
God is supreme.
God is supreme. God is supreme.
God is supreme.
Where is the Caliph?
As for those of us who went into different areas,
or joined Tulaihah Al-Asadi or Musailamah, we have nothing to do with them.
They are not subject to our authority.
We are here on behalf of the rest of us
to declare that we repent of what we did and pledge full allegiance.
We will pay whatever we used to pay to God's Messenger.
Be benevolent to us, Caliph.
The truth is now clear and we know that God will give you support.
Houses of Bani Taghlib
They have been trying to break in this horse to make it suitable for riding,
but no one has been successful.
They have offered a prize to whoever can break it in.
- What is the prize? - The horse itself
and they will place that person in charge of their horses.
This is not a horse. It is a devil.
It is you who failed to break it in.
Really! Let us see if you can do any better.
What do you think now?
It is as you said.
It is possessed by a devil who is jealous of people.
Let him go in the wild.
We do not want a Satan among us.
Then we will have to break in the devil.
- Sajah of Tameem. - Sajah?
And who can break in the devil?