Da‘wah and Hisbah

‘Ā’ishah, the Mother of the Believers (may Allah be pleased with her) and wife of the Prophet (may Allah's peace and blessings be upon him), reported: Al-Hawlā’ bint Tuwayt ibn Habīb ibn Asad ibn ‘Abdul-‘Uzza passed by while I was sitting with the Messenger of Allah (may Allah's peace and blessings be upon him). So I said: This is Al-Hawlā’ bint Tuwayt, and they claim that she does not sleep at night. Thereupon, the Messenger of Allah (may Allah's peace and blessings be upon him) said: "She does not sleep at night! Do what you are capable of doing (regularly). By Allah, Allah never grows weary (of giving rewards) until you grow weary (of doing good deeds)."

‘Ā’ishah (may Allah be pleased with her) reported that the Prophet (may Allah's peace and blessings be upon him) said: "If Allah wills to do good to a ruler, He appoints for him a truthful adviser, who will remind him if he forgets and help him if he remembers. And if Allah wills otherwise for him, He appoints for him a bad adviser who will not remind him if he forgets, nor will he help him if he remembers."

Abu Sa‘īd al-Khudri and Abu Hurayrah (may Allah be pleased with both of them) reported that the Prophet (may Allah's peace and blessings be upon him) said: "Allah never sent any prophet nor did He invest anyone with authority except that he has two entourages: one entourage enjoins him to do good and encourages him to carry it out; another entourage enjoins him to do evil and incites him to carry it out. Saved is the one whom Allah protects.''

Abu Sa‘īd al-Khudri (may Allah be pleased with him) reported: The Prophet (may Allah's peace and blessings be upon him) said: "Among the best of Jihad is to speak a word of justice to an oppressive ruler."

‘Ubādah ibn as-Sāmit (may Allah be pleased with him) reported: We pledged allegiance to the Messenger of Allah (may Allah's peace and blessings be upon him) to listen and obey at times of hardship and ease, energy and reluctance, and to endure if prejudice is held against us, and not to fight those in authority for power, and to say the truth wherever we are, without fearing anyone's reproach for the sake of Allah.

Shaqīq ibn Salamah (may Allah have mercy on him) reported: Ibn Mas‘ūd (may Allah be pleased with him) used to give us a reminder every Thursday. A man said to him: "O Abu ‘Abdur-Rahmān, we would like for you to give us a reminder every day!" He said: "What prevents me from doing so is that I dislike to bore you. I give you an admonition every now and then, just as the Messenger of Allah (may Allah's peace and blessings be upon him) was giving them to us, out of fear that we might become bored."

Jābir (may Allah be pleased with him) reported: The Prophet (may Allah's peace and blessings be upon him) said to me: "When the revenues of Bahrain arrive, I shall give you this much and this much and this much." He passed away before the revenues were received. When they arrived during the caliphate of Abu Bakr (may Allah be pleased with him), he called out: "Anyone whom the Messenger of Allah (may Allah's peace and blessings be upon him) promised or owed anything should come to me." I went to him and said: "The Prophet (may Allah's peace and blessings be upon him) had said to me such-and-such." He took a double handful out of the money and gave it to me. I counted it and found that it was five hundred. Then he said to me: "Take twice as much more of that amount."

Abu Sufyān Sakhr ibn Harb (may Allah be pleased with him) reported: Heraclius said: "What does the Prophet enjoin you to do?" I said: "He tells us to worship Allah alone, not to associate anything with Him and to give up all that our ancestors said. He also commands us to perform prayers, adhere to truthfulness, be chaste, and maintain ties of kinship."

Ibn Mas‘ūd (may Allah be pleased with him) reported that the Prophet (may Allah's peace and blessings be upon him) said: "There will be selfishness and other matters that you will disapprove of after me." They asked: What do you order us to do (in such circumstances), O Messenger of Allah? He said: '"Fulfill your duty (towards the ruler), and ask Allah for your rights."

Sohaib (may Allah be pleased with him) reported that the Messenger of Allah (may Allah's peace and blessings be upon him) said: "Among the people who came before you, there was a king who had a magician, and when that magician became old, he said to the king: I have become old, so send to me a boy whom I can teach magic. So, the king sent him a boy, who on his way met a monk, listened to him, and admired his words. Whenever the boy went to the magician, he used to sit with the monk, and then, on reaching the magician, the latter would beat him. So, the boy complained about this to the monk. The monk said to him: Whenever you are afraid of the magician, tell him that your family detained you. And whenever you are afraid of your family, tell them that the magician detained you. So the boy carried on like that (for some time). Then a huge, terrible beast once appeared on the road, and the people were unable to pass. The boy said: Today I shall know whether the magician is better or the monk. So, he took a stone and said: O Allah, if the affair of the monk is better in Your Sight than that of the magician, then kill this beast so that the people can cross (the road). Then he struck it with a stone and killed it, and the people passed the road. The boy came to the monk and informed him about it. The monk said to him: O my son, today you are better than me, and you have achieved what I see! You will be put to trial. And in case you are put to trial, do not inform (them) about me. The boy used to treat the people who suffered from congenital blindness, leprosy, and other diseases. There was a courtier of the king who had become blind and heard about the boy. He came and brought many gifts for the boy and said: All these gifts are for you on the condition that you cure me. The boy said: I do not cure anybody; it is only Allah who cures people. So, if you believe in Allah, I shall supplicate Him and He will cure you. So, he believed in Allah, and Allah cured him. Later, the courtier came to the king and sat in the place where he used to sit before. The king said: Who gave you back your sight? The courtier replied: My Lord. The king then said: Do you have another Lord besides me?! The courtier said: Your Lord and mine is Allah. The king took him and kept on torturing him until he told him about the boy. So, the boy was brought to the king, who said to him: O boy, your magic reached the extent that you cure congenital blindness, leprosy, and other diseases. He said: Indeed, I do not cure anyone. Only Allah can cure. So, he tortured him extensively until he told him about the monk. Then the monk was brought to the king, who said to him: Give up your religion. The monk refused. So, the king ordered a saw to be brought and placed on the middle of his head and he fell, sawn in two halves. Then it was said to the courtier of the king: Give up your religion. He refused to do so, and so a saw was brought and placed on the middle of his head and he fell, sawn in two halves. Then the boy was brought and it was said to him: Give up your religion. He refused, and so the king sent him to the top of such-and-such mountain with some of his followers. He said to them: Ascend the mountain with him till you reach its top, then see if he abandons his religion; otherwise, throw him from the top. They took him and when they ascended to the top, he said: O Allah, save me from them by any means that You wish. So, the mountain shook and they all fell down and the boy came back walking to the king. The king said: What did your companions (the people I sent with you) do? The boy said: Allah saved me from them. So, the king ordered some people to take the boy on a boat to the middle of the sea, saying: If he renounces his religion (well and good), but if he refuses, throw him. So, they took him out to sea, and he said: O Allah, save me from them by any means You wish. So they all drowned in the sea. Then the boy returned to the king, and the king said: What did your companions do? The boy replied: Allah saved me from them. Then he said to the king: You will not be able to kill me until you do as I order you. The king asked: And what is that? The boy said: Gather the people in an elevated place and tie me to the trunk of a tree; then take an arrow from my quiver and say: In the Name of Allah, the Lord of the boy! If you do this, you will kill me. So the king did accordingly, and placing an arrow in the bow, he shot it, saying: In the Name of Allah, the Lord of the boy. The arrow hit the boy in his temple, and the boy placed his hand over the arrow wound and died. The people proclaimed: We believe in the Lord of the boy! We believe in the Lord of the boy! We believe in the Lord of the boy! Then it was said to the king: Do you see what happened? That which you feared has taken place. By Allah, all the people have believed (in the Lord of the boy). So he ordered that ditches be dug at the entrances to the roads, and it was done, and fires were kindled therein. Then the king said: Whoever does not abandon this religion, throw them into the fire or order them to throw themselves. They did. Then, a woman and her little boy came, and it was as if she was being somewhat hesitant of falling into the fire, so her baby said to her: Be patient, mother, for verily, you are following the truth.''

Abu Dharr (may Allah be pleased with him) reported: The Messenger of Allah (may Allah’s peace and blessings be upon him) said to me: "O Abu Dharr, I see that you are weak and I love for you what I love for myself. Do not rule over two persons and do not manage an orphan's property."

An-Nu‘mān ibn Bashīr (may Allah be pleased with him and his father) reported that the Prophet (may Allah's peace and blessings be upon him) said: "The example of the one who abides by the limits prescribed by Allah and the one who transgresses them is like the example of a people who boarded a ship after casting lots. Some of them were in its upper deck and others were in its lower deck. When those in its lower deck needed water, they had to pass by those above them. So they said: 'If we could make a hole in our share so as not to bother those above us.' If they let them do what they want, they will all perish, but if they stop them, they will survive and all of them will survive."

‘Ali ibn Abi Tālib (may Allah be pleased with him) said: "Speak to the people according to their level of understanding. Do you wish that Allah and His Messenger be denied?"

Abu Dharr (may Allah be pleased with him) reported: I said: "O Messenger of Allah, will you not appoint me to (an official position)?" He patted me on my shoulder with his hand and said: "O Abu Dharr, you are weak and it is a trust. It will be a cause of disgrace and remorse on the Day of Resurrection, except for the one who takes it up with a full sense of responsibility and fulfills what is entrusted to him."

Abu Bakr as-Siddīq (may Allah be pleased with him) reported: O people, you recite this verse: {O you who believe, take care of your own selves. Those who have gone astray will not harm you as long as you are guided.} Indeed, I heard the Messenger of Allah (may Allah's peace and blessings be upon him) say: "When people see an oppressor but do not stop him, Allah will soon overwhelm them with a punishment from Him."

’Umm Salamah, the Mother of the Believers, (may Allah be pleased with her) reported that the Messenger of Allah (may Allah's peace and blessings be upon him) said: "There shall be rulers in charge of you, and you will approve and disapprove. So anyone who approves (their good deeds) shall be absolved, and anyone who forbids (their bad deeds) shall be safe, except for those who are content and comply." They said: ''Shall we not fight them?'' He replied: "No, so long as they offer the prayer."

‘Uqbah ibn al-Hārith (may Allah be pleased with him) reported: I offered the ‘Asr prayer behind the Prophet (may Allah's peace and blessings be upon him) in Madīnah. When he finished the prayer with Taslīm, he got up hurriedly and went out by crossing the rows of people to one of his wives' rooms. The people were astonished at his speed. The Prophet came back and saw the people surprised at his haste and said to them: "I remembered a gold nugget in my house which I didn't want to distract me, so I ordered it to be distributed (in charity). In another version: "I left a piece of gold in my house from the charity which I did not want to let it remain with us overnight."

Abu Mūsa al-Ash‘ari (may Allah be pleased with him) reported: I and two of my paternal cousins entered upon the Prophet (may Allah's peace and blessings be upon him). One of them said: "O Messenger of Allah, appoint us rulers over some of what Allah, the Almighty, has entrusted you with." The other said the same. The Prophet (may Allah's peace and blessings be upon him) said: "By Allah! We do not entrust this post to anyone who seeks it or is keen to attain it.’"

Hudhayfah ibn al-Yamān (may Allah be pleased with him) reported that the Messenger of Allah (may Allah's peace and blessings be upon him) said: "By the One in Whose Hand my soul is! Either you command good and forbid evil, or Allah will soon send upon you a punishment from Him, then you will pray to Him but He will not respond to you."

‘Ā'idh ibn ‘Amr (may Allah be pleased with him) visited ‘Ubaydullāh ibn Ziyād and said: "O son, I heard the Messenger of Allah (may Allah's peace and blessings be upon him) say: 'The worst of shepherds is the harsh one', so beware of being one of them." Thereupon, Ibn Ziyād said to him: "Sit down, for you are from the chaff of the Muhammad's Companions." ‘Ā'idh said: "Was there chaff among them? Chaff only appeared after them and in other than them."