Majma al-Zawaid — Hadith 9596

Al-Jarud narrates that he copied this text from the copy of Sayyiduna al-Ala' (may Allah be pleased with him), which the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him) had had written when he sent Sayyiduna al-Ala' bin al-Hadrami (may Allah be pleased with him) to Bahrain. (In it was written:) "In the name of Allah, the Most Gracious, the Most Merciful. This is a letter sent from Sayyiduna Muhammad (peace and blessings be upon him), who is the unlettered Prophet, of Quraysh and of Banu Hashim, and the Messenger of Allah and His Prophet to all His creation. This is a covenant for al-Ala' bin al-Hadrami and the Muslims who follow him, which is being made with them. O Muslims! Fear Allah Almighty as much as you are able, for I am sending al-Ala' bin al-Hadrami to you as your commander. I have commanded him to keep fearing Allah, who is One and has no partner, to treat you gently, to deal with you well, to judge between you, and to judge regarding whoever of the people meets him according to what Allah Almighty has commanded in His Book, and to judge with justice. I command you to obey him when he does so. If he is just when he judges, fair when he distributes, and merciful when mercy is asked of him, then obey him and follow him, help him in a good manner and stand by him. For I have a right over you, which concerns obedience, which concerns right, and which concerns greatness; you cannot fulfil it completely, nor can any words reach the reality of the greatness of the right of Allah and the right of His Messenger. Just as Allah and His Messenger have a right over all people in general, and over you in particular, that they be obeyed and their covenant be fulfilled, so Allah Almighty will be pleased with whoever holds firmly to obedience; and this right is likewise for all the Muslims, owed to them by their rulers: it is an obligatory right and obedience, for obedience is the means of attaining good and the means of deliverance from every kind of evil. I make Allah Almighty witness over every person whom I appoint over any matter of the Muslims, whether small or large; in such a case they should seek good from Allah Almighty and appoint over themselves, as their official, the most virtuous of them in their own estimation. Beware! If the calamity of death befalls al-Ala' bin al-Hadrami, then the Sword of Allah, Khalid bin al-Walid, will take the place of al-Ala' bin al-Hadrami among them; obey him and follow him, follow him fully and stand by him. Keep going forward on the basis of the blessing of Allah Almighty, His help, His support, His guidance, His good outcome and His enabling grace. Whoever of the people you meet, invite them to the Book of Allah, His Sunnah and the Sunnah of His Messenger; invite them to treat as lawful what Allah Almighty has made lawful for them in His Book, and to treat as unlawful what He has made unlawful in His Book; to separate themselves from setting up partners with Allah, to dissociate themselves from polytheism, disbelief and hypocrisy, to reject the worship of the false deities (taghut), al-Lat and al-Uzza, and to abandon the worship of Sayyiduna Isa bin Maryam, or Sayyiduna Uzayr bin Harwah, or the angels, or the sun, or the moon, or fire, or anyone at all who has been taken as an object of worship besides Allah; and to dissociate themselves from whatever Allah and His Messenger have declared themselves free of. When they do this and affirm it, they will have entered into allegiance (wilayah), and at that time they will be given the name that is in the Book of Allah to which you invite them: the Book of Allah which al-Ruh al-Amin (the Trustworthy Spirit) brought down upon Allah Almighty's chosen servant from among all the worlds, Sayyiduna Muhammad bin Abdullah (peace and blessings be upon him), who is the Messenger of Allah and His Prophet. Allah Almighty has sent him as a mercy for all the worlds in general, among whom are the white, the black, humans and the jinn (all included). It is a Book in which there is a clear explanation of everything before you, and a clear explanation of what will come after you, so that it may be a barrier between people; through it Allah Almighty will restrain people from one another. It is a Book of Allah Almighty that is a guardian over the other books and confirms what has gone before it in the Torah, the Gospel and the Psalms. In it Allah Almighty has informed you of the things that were before you, which concerned your forefathers and which you did not reach: Messengers and Prophets of Allah came to those people; what answer did those people give to their Messengers, how did they affirm the signs of Allah Almighty, and how did they deny the signs of Allah Almighty? So Allah Almighty has told in His Book about the affair of those people, their deeds, and the deeds of those of them who were destroyed because of their sins. So avoid acting as they acted, lest the displeasure and retribution of Allah Almighty descend upon you as it descended upon them because of their evil deeds and their disregard of Allah Almighty's command. Allah Almighty has told you in His Book how those among the people before you who were saved attained salvation, so that you may act according to their deeds. He has set out all these things for you in His Book as a clear explanation, which are a mercy for you from Him and a kindness to you from your Lord. It is guidance from Allah Almighty against misguidance, a clear explanation against blindness, a rescue from stumbling, deliverance from trial, light out of darkness, a cure for afflictions, protection from destruction, and right guidance against error; in it is an explanation of the things between this world and the Hereafter, and in it is the perfection of your religion. When you present this to those people and they affirm it before you, they will have completed their allegiance. At that time present Islam to them. Islam means performing the five prayers, giving zakah, performing Hajj to the House of Allah, fasting the month of Ramadan, taking the ritual bath (ghusl) from major impurity (janabah), performing ablution before prayer, treating parents well, maintaining ties of kinship with Muslims, and living with parents in a good manner even if they are polytheists (these are included). When they do this, they will be Muslims. In that case invite them to faith (iman), and explain to them your laws and the fundamental principles of faith (which are these): bearing witness that there is no god but Allah, He has no partner, that Sayyiduna Muhammad (peace and blessings be upon him) is His servant and His Messenger, that what Sayyiduna Muhammad (peace and blessings be upon him) has brought is the truth and everything besides it is falsehood; believing in Allah Almighty, believing in His angels, His Books, His Messengers, His Prophets and the Last Day; believing in this Book, in what is before it, and in what has gone before it, the Torah, the Gospel and the Psalms; (believing in) the clear signs, death and life, being raised again after death, the Reckoning, Paradise and Hell; and sincere goodwill towards Allah, His Messenger and all the believers. When they do this and affirm it, they will be Muslims and believers. Then after that invite them to excellence (ihsan): that they act with excellence in the matter between themselves and Allah Almighty and in fulfilling the covenant, the covenant which He took from His Messenger and the covenant which His Messenger took from His creation and from the rulers of the Muslims; that they support the Muslim rulers in every respect, by word and by deed; that they wish good for the rest of the Muslims just as a person wishes good for himself; and that they affirm the promises stated by their Lord, and keep in mind appearing before Him, His reproach, departing from this world, taking account of themselves, doing so anew every day, and taking care to fulfil the things Allah Almighty has made obligatory, both in secret and in public. When they do this, they will be Muslims, they will be believers, and they will also be people of excellence. Then explain the major sins to them, guide them regarding this, and warn them of the destruction that comes from major sins, for the major sins are destructive. The first of them is associating partners with Allah Almighty: indeed Allah Almighty will not forgive that anyone be associated with Him. (The second thing) is magic: the magician will have no share. Another thing is severing ties of kinship: Allah Almighty will curse such people. Another thing is fleeing from the battlefield: such people return with the wrath of Allah Almighty. Another thing is misappropriation of spoils (ghulul): whatever such people misappropriated, they will bring it with them on the Day of Resurrection, and no deed of theirs will be accepted. Another thing is killing a believing soul, whose recompense is Hell. Another thing is accusing a chaste woman of adultery, and such people have been cursed in this world and the Hereafter. Another thing is consuming the wealth of an orphan: such people put fire into their bellies, and soon they will reach the Blaze. Another thing is consuming usury (riba): such people should be ready for war with Allah and His Messenger. When those people keep away from the major sins, they will be Muslims, they will be believers, they will be people of excellence and they will also be God-fearing, and they will have completed taqwa (God-consciousness). After that invite them to worship. Worship includes fasting, voluntary prayer, humility, bowing, prostrating, turning back (to Allah), excellence, saying Alhamdulillah (praise be to Allah), glorifying Him, saying La ilaha illallah (there is no god but Allah) and Allahu Akbar (Allah is the Greatest), giving (voluntary) charity after zakah, humility, adopting tranquillity, remaining calm, treating others well, supplication, humble entreaty, acknowledging the sovereignty of Allah Almighty and one's own servitude, and regarding as little even a great deal of good deeds (these are included). When those people do this, they will be believers, they will be people of excellence, they will be God-fearing and they will be worshippers. When those people have completed worship, then in that case invite them to jihad: explain it to them and encourage them towards what Allah Almighty has encouraged, which concerns the virtue of jihad and the virtue of its reward that will be attained in the presence of Allah Almighty. If they accept this, then take their pledge of allegiance (bay'ah), and invite them to this: that you are taking their pledge upon the Sunnah of Allah and the Sunnah of His Messenger; it is binding upon you to fulfil the covenant of Allah Almighty and His protection, and in it are seven guarantees: that you do not withdraw your hands from the pledge, and that you do not undermine the authority of the governors of the Muslims whom I have appointed. When they do this, take their pledge and seek forgiveness from Allah Almighty for them. When you go out and fight in the path of Allah, out of anger for the sake of Allah Almighty and to help His religion, then whatever people you meet, invite them too to the same thing to which you invited these people, which concerns the Book of Allah Almighty, Islam, faith, excellence, taqwa, worship and emigration (hijrah). Whoever among them follows will be one who responds, a believer, a doer of good, God-fearing, a worshipper and an emigrant (muhajir); he will have what you have, and what is binding upon you will be binding upon him. Whoever refuses this, it is binding upon you to fight him until he returns to the command of Allah, or else returns to paying the fay'. Whoever you make a treaty with and give the protection of Allah, fulfil it for him. Whoever accepts Islam and gives you his consent is from you and you are from him. Whoever fights you on this basis even after what you have explained to him, fight him. Whoever wages war against you, wage war against him. Whoever schemes against you, answer his scheming. Whoever gathers (enemies or forces) against you, gather against him. Whoever deceives you, answer his deception. Whoever tricks you, answer his trickery, but do not transgress. Whoever plots against you, answer him, but do not transgress, either secretly or openly; for whoever seeks help after being wronged, there will be no way (of blame) against such people. Know that Allah Almighty is with you; He sees you and your deeds, and He knows whatever you are doing. Fear Allah Almighty and remain cautious. This is a trust which my Lord has entrusted to me, that I convey it to His servants. It is an excuse from Him to those people and a proof by which He will establish the argument against whoever of His creation is aware of it, and it concerns all of creation. Whoever acts upon it will be saved; whoever follows it will attain guidance; whoever argues on the basis of it will succeed; whoever fights on the basis of it will be helped; and whoever abandons it will go astray until he returns to it. Learn what is in it, let your ears hear it, preserve it in your minds and memorise it in your hearts, for it is the light of the eyes, the spring of the hearts and a cure for what is in the breasts. It suffices as a command, a lesson, a warning, an admonition and an invitation to Allah and His Messenger. This is the good in which there is no evil. This letter is from Sayyiduna Muhammad (peace and blessings be upon him), who is the Messenger of Allah, for al-Ala' bin al-Hadrami, which he had written when he sent him to Bahrain to invite to Allah and His Messenger. He commanded them to invite to what is lawful in it, to forbid the unlawful things mentioned in it, to guide towards the right guidance mentioned in it, and to restrain people from the errors mentioned in it."
Tabarani recorded it as a report transmitted by Dawud bin al-Muhabbar from his father, and both of them are da'if (weak). (Allamah Haythami says:) I say: Other hadiths concerning the Prophet's (peace and blessings be upon him) inviting to Islam and his patience in the face of persecution will come in the chapter on the military expeditions (al-Maghazi), if Allah wills.