The dislike of holding authority, and for whom it is recommended

Sayyiduna Abdullah bin Amr (may Allah be pleased with him) said: Sayyiduna Hamzah bin Abd al-Muttalib (may Allah be pleased with him) came to the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him) and said: "O Messenger of Allah! Appoint me in charge of some task so that I may make a living by it (that is, earn my livelihood)." The Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him) said: "O Hamzah! Is giving life to a soul dearer to you, or is causing it to die dearer to you?" He said: "No, rather giving life to a soul is dearer." The Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him) said: "Then you must take care of yourself (or: you must give life to yourself)."
Ahmad recorded it. Its chain contains Ibn Lahi'ah, whose hadith is hasan (good), though there is weakness in him; the rest of its narrators are thiqat (trustworthy).

Sayyiduna Hibban bin Buhh al-Suda'i (may Allah be pleased with him) said: The people of my tribe had become disbelievers, and I was told that the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him) was about to send an army against them. I came to the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him) and said: "My people are upon Islam." The Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him) asked: "Is that so?" I said: "Yes." The narrator said: I stayed with the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him) the whole night until morning. Then I gave the call (adhan) for the prayer. Then the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him) gave me a vessel so that I might perform ablution from it. The Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him) put his fingers into that vessel, and springs of water gushed forth from those fingers. The Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him) said: "Whoever wishes to perform ablution, let him perform ablution." I performed ablution and prayed. The Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him) appointed me as the leader of my people and put me in charge of collecting their charity (sadaqah). A man came to the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him) and said: "So-and-so has wronged me." The Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him) said: "There is no good in leadership for a Muslim." Then another man came to him and asked him for charity. The Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him) said: "Charity is a headache in the head and a fire in the belly," (the narrator is unsure whether the words were:) "a cause of illness." The narrator said: So I presented to the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him) the document (the narrator is unsure whether the words were:) the document of my leadership and of my being in charge of collecting charity. The Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him) said: "What is the matter with you?" I said: "I have heard this from your own lips, so how can I now accept it?" The Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him) said: "It is just as you heard."
Ahmad and al-Tabarani recorded it. Its chain contains Ibn Lahi'ah, whose hadith is hasan (good), though there is weakness in him; the rest of its narrators are thiqat (trustworthy).

Sayyidah Aishah Siddiqah (may Allah be pleased with her) said: I heard the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him) say: "Woe to the rulers (umara')! Woe to the overseers ('urafa')! Woe to the trustees (umana')! (That is, woe to the officials of the state.) A day will come upon them when such a person will wish that he had been hung from a star rather than having been made responsible for any office of state."
Abu Ya'la recorded it, and al-Tabarani in al-Mu'jam al-Awsat. Its chain contains Umar bin Sa'id al-Nasri, who is da'if (weak), and Layth bin Abi Sulaym, who is a mudallis.

Sayyiduna Abu Hurayrah (may Allah be pleased with him) reports that the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him) said: "Woe to the rulers (umara')! Woe to the overseers ('urafa')! Woe to the trustees (umana')! (That is, woe to the officials of the state.) On the Day of Resurrection, some people will wish that they had been hung by their hair from the Pleiades (al-Thurayya), swinging between the heavens and the earth, rather than having carried out any responsibility of state."
Ahmad recorded it, and in two of his four chains its narrators are thiqat (trustworthy).
Abu Ya'la and al-Bazzar also recorded it.

Rafi' al-Ta'i, who was with Sayyiduna Abu Bakr (may Allah be pleased with him) in the expedition of Dhat al-Salasil, said: I asked him about what had been said concerning their pledge of allegiance. He began to tell what position the Ansar had taken, what he had discussed with them, what Sayyiduna Umar bin al-Khattab (may Allah be pleased with him) had discussed with the Ansar in this regard, and how he had reminded them of my leading them in prayer by the command of the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him) during his illness (that I should lead the prayer). So the Ansar pledged allegiance to me on that account, and I accepted that pledge from them, because I feared that a trial might come, after which there would be apostasy.
Ahmad recorded it from his teacher Ali bin Ayyash, whom I do not know; the rest of its narrators are thiqat (trustworthy).

Yazid bin Mawhab said: Sayyiduna Uthman (may Allah be pleased with him) said to Sayyiduna Abdullah bin Umar (may Allah be pleased with them both): "Judge between the people (that is, carry out the duties of a judge)." He said: "I will not judge even between two men, and I will not lead (or rule over) even two men. Did you not hear the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him) say: 'Whoever seeks refuge with Allah has sought refuge with a mighty refuge'?" Sayyiduna Uthman (may Allah be pleased with him) said: "Yes." Sayyiduna Abdullah bin Umar (may Allah be pleased with them both) said: "Then I seek refuge with Allah from your appointing me as an official." So Sayyiduna Uthman (may Allah be pleased with him) excused him and said: "Do not tell anyone about this."
Ahmad recorded it. I do not know the narrator Yazid; the rest of its narrators are the narrators of the Sahih.

Sayyiduna Zayd bin Thabit (may Allah be pleased with him) narrates that he was present with the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him) and said: Governance is a bad thing. The Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him) said: "Governance is a good thing for the one who acquires it with its right and with what is lawful in it, and governance is a bad thing for the one who acquires it without right; on the Day of Resurrection it will be a cause of regret for him."
Tabarani recorded it from his teacher Hafs bin Umar bin al-Sabbah al-Raqqi, whom Ibn Hibban declared thiqah (trustworthy); the rest of its narrators are the narrators of the Sahih.

Sayyiduna Shaddad bin Aws (may Allah be pleased with him), who is the brother of Sayyiduna Hassan bin Thabit al-Ansari (may Allah be pleased with him) and who conquered Iliya for Sayyiduna Mu'awiyah bin Abi Sufyan (may Allah be pleased with him), said this while conversing with Sayyiduna Mu'awiyah (may Allah be pleased with him) and mentioning governance: I heard the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him) mentioning governance, and he (peace and blessings be upon him) said: "Its first stage is blame, its second is regret, and its third will be punishment from Allah Almighty on the Day of Resurrection, except for the one who shows mercy, acts with justice, and does like this and like this." The Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him) gestured with his blessed hand, speaking about wealth (meaning that he spends wealth in the way of Allah). Then the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him) remained silent for as long as Allah willed, and then he said: "How can there be justice in the presence of relatives?"
Tabarani recorded it; its chain contains Ishaq bin Ibrahim al-Muzani, who is da'if (weak).

Sayyiduna Awf bin Malik (may Allah be pleased with him) reports that the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him) said: "If you wish, I will tell you about governance and what it is." The narrator says: So I called out to him three times at the top of my voice: O Messenger of Allah! What is it? The Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him) said: "Its first stage is blame, its second is regret, and its third is punishment on the Day of Resurrection, except for the one who acts with justice; and how can he act justly in the presence of his relatives?"
Al-Bazzar recorded it, and Tabarani recorded it in al-Mu'jam al-Kabir and al-Mu'jam al-Awsat in abridged form. The narrators of Tabarani's al-Mu'jam al-Kabir are the narrators of the Sahih.

Sayyiduna Abu Hurayrah (may Allah be pleased with him) narrates (the narrator Sharik says: I do not know whether he narrated this as a marfu' hadith, attributed to the Prophet, or did not narrate it as marfu'); he said: "The beginning of governance is regret, its middle is a penalty, and its end is punishment on the Day of Resurrection."
Tabarani recorded it in al-Mu'jam al-Awsat, and its narrators are thiqat (trustworthy).

Sayyiduna Anas (may Allah be pleased with him) narrates: The Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him) appointed Sayyiduna al-Miqdad bin al-Aswad al-Kindi (may Allah be pleased with him) as governor over a "jaridat khayl" (a cavalry detachment). When he came back, the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him) asked: How did you find it? He replied: I saw those people raising (me) and doing (things for me), until I thought that I was not myself. The Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him) said: That is how it is. Sayyiduna al-Miqdad bin al-Aswad (may Allah be pleased with him) said: By the One who sent you with the truth! Now I will never again carry out any office of state. The narrator says: People used to say to him: Step forward and lead us in prayer, and he would refuse even that.
Al-Bazzar recorded it; its chain contains Sawwar bin Dawud Abu Hamzah, whom Ahmad, Ibn Hibban and Yahya bin Ma'in declared thiqah (trustworthy), and there is some weakness in him; the rest of its narrators are the narrators of the Sahih.

Sayyiduna al-Miqdad bin al-Aswad (may Allah be pleased with him) narrates: The Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him) sent me on a mission. When I returned, the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him) asked me: How did you find yourself? I said: I kept thinking that I had servants of mine with me (who were obeying me). By Allah! After this I will never become the amir even over two men.
Tabarani recorded it, and its narrators are the narrators of the Sahih except Umayr bin Ishaq, whom Ibn Hibban and others declared thiqah (trustworthy) and Yahya bin Ma'in and others declared da'if (weak); and Abdullah bin Ahmad is a narrator who is thiqah ma'mun (trustworthy and reliable).

Malik bin al-Harith reported this from a man. (Al-Hadrami says: In the book of Abu Kurayb it is from Humayd, from a man.) He narrates: The Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him) appointed a man as governor over a military expedition. The man went, and when he came back to the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him), the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him) asked him: How did you find governance? He said: I was just like an ordinary one of the people; when I leaned (towards something), they leaned too, and when I made camp, they made camp too. The Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him) said: The one who holds authority stands at the door of reproach, except the one whom Allah Almighty protects. The man said: By Allah! I will never again carry out any office, neither for you nor for anyone other than you. At that the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him) smiled until his molar teeth became visible.
Tabarani recorded it; its chain contains Ata' bin al-Sa'ib, whose memory became confused (ikhtilat), and the rest of its narrators are thiqat (trustworthy).

Sayyiduna Abdullah bin Umar (may Allah be pleased with them both) narrates: The Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him) appointed a man as an official over some task. He said: O Messenger of Allah! Choose for me (what is better). The Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him) said: Stay in your home.
Tabarani recorded it; its chain contains al-Furat bin Abi al-Furat, who is da'if (weak).

Sayyiduna Ismah (may Allah be pleased with him) narrates: The Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him) appointed a man as an official for collecting zakah. He said: O Messenger of Allah! Choose for me (what is better). The Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him) said: Remain sitting in your home.
Tabarani recorded it; its chain contains al-Fadl bin al-Mukhtar, who is da'if (weak).

Sayyiduna Rafi' bin Amr al-Ta'i (may Allah be pleased with him) narrates: The Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him) sent Sayyiduna Amr bin al-As (may Allah be pleased with him) as commander of the army of Dhat al-Salasil, and along with that army he also sent Sayyiduna Abu Bakr (may Allah be pleased with him), Sayyiduna Umar (may Allah be pleased with him) and eminent Companions. They set out until they camped between the two mountains of Tayyi'. Sayyiduna Amr (may Allah be pleased with him) said: Find a man who can guide us along the road. The people said: As far as we know, only Rafi' bin Amr can do this, because he is a rabil. (One of the narrators of the report says:) I asked my teacher: What is meant by rabil? He said: A thief who goes to people alone and steals. Sayyiduna Rafi' (may Allah be pleased with him) narrates: When we had completed our campaign and I reached the place from which I had set out, I found Sayyiduna Abu Bakr (may Allah be pleased with him) there. I came to him and said: Sir, I have singled you out from among your companions; tell me something which, once I have memorised it, will make me one of you and like you. He said: Can you keep (five things) on your five fingers? I said: Yes. He said: Then bear witness that there is no god except Allah, He alone, He has no partner, and that Sayyiduna Muhammad (peace and blessings be upon him) is His servant and His Messenger; and establish the prayer, and pay zakah if you have wealth, and perform Hajj to the House of Allah, and fast in Ramadan. Will you remember it? I replied: Yes! He said: There is one more thing: never become the amir over two men. I said: Is being amir reserved only for you people, the people of Badr? He said: It may well spread later on until it reaches you, and even those below you. When Allah Almighty sent His Prophet, people entered Islam. Among them were some who entered and Allah Almighty guided them, and among them were some whom the sword compelled; yet they are the guests of Allah Almighty and the neighbours of Allah Almighty, and they are under the protection of Allah Almighty. When a man becomes amir and the people wrong one another, and he does not take the right of one of them from the other, Allah Almighty will take revenge on that man. If the goat of a neighbour of one of you is taken, he remains with his muscles bulging in anger for his neighbour's sake, while Allah Almighty stands behind His neighbour. Sayyiduna Rafi' (may Allah be pleased with him) says: A year passed, then Sayyiduna Abu Bakr (may Allah be pleased with him) was appointed caliph. I came to him and said: I am Rafi'; I met you at such-and-such a place. Sayyiduna Abu Bakr (may Allah be pleased with him) replied: I have recognised you. Sayyiduna Rafi' (may Allah be pleased with him) said: You used to forbid me from becoming amir, and you have become an amir greater than that; you have become the amir of the entire Ummah of Sayyiduna Muhammad (peace and blessings be upon him). Sayyiduna Abu Bakr (may Allah be pleased with him) said: Yes! Whoever does not uphold the Book of Allah (its rulings) among them, upon him will be the "bahlah" of Allah. The narrator says: that is, the curse of Allah.
Tabarani recorded it, and its narrators are thiqat (trustworthy).

Sayyiduna Abd al-Rahman bin Awf (may Allah be pleased with him) narrates: I came to Sayyiduna Abu Bakr (may Allah be pleased with him) to visit him during the illness in which he passed away. I greeted him with salam and asked him: How are you? He sat up straight and said: Praise be to Allah, I am better now. He said: You can see the pain I am in, and despite this pain you people have given me a preoccupation. I have settled a covenant for you for after me, and I have chosen for you a man who, in my view, is the best of you, although every one of you is eager for the rule, hoping that it would come to him. I have seen the world, that it is coming; and when it is coming, understand that it has come. Soon you will adorn your homes with silk curtains and brocade cloths, and you will be as uncomfortable on bedding of Adharbi wool as if someone had been placed on the thorns of sa'dan. By Allah! That one of you should be brought forward and have his neck struck without any crime is better for him than that he should drown in the world. Then he said: I do not regret anything as much as I regret three things that I did, which I wish I had not done; and three things that I did not do, which I wish I had done; and three things about which I wish I had asked the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him). As for the three things which I wish I had not done: I wish that I had not removed the covering of the house of Sayyidah Fatimah (may Allah be pleased with her) and had left it alone, and that I had closed the door on fighting; and I wish that on the day of the Saqifah of Banu Sa'idah I had placed the matter of rule on the neck of one of the two, Abu Ubaydah or Umar, so that he would have been the Commander of the Believers and I the minister; and I wish that when I sent Khalid bin al-Walid against the apostates, I myself had stayed at Dhu al-Qassah, so that if the Muslims succeeded, well and good, and otherwise I would be there to reinforce and support them. As for the three things which I wish I had done: I wish that on the day al-Ash'ath was brought to me as a captive, I had struck his neck, because it occurred to me that whatever evil there is, he will rush towards it; and I wish that on the day al-Fuja'ah al-Sulami was brought to me, I had not burnt him, but had killed him quickly or let him go; and I wish that when I sent Khalid bin al-Walid to Syria, I had sent Umar to Iraq, so that I would have stretched out both my right and my left hands in the way of Allah. As for the three things about which I wish I had asked the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him): I wish I had asked the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him) who would receive the rule, so that no one would dispute with those entitled to it; and I wish I had asked the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him) whether the Ansar would also have any share in the rule; and I wish I had asked the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him) about the paternal aunt and the brother's daughter (and their inheritance), because I feel a need (for clarity) in my mind concerning the two of them.
Tabarani recorded it; its chain contains Ulwan bin Dawud al-Bajali, who is da'if (weak), and this report is among the narrations that have been declared munkar (objectionable).

Sayyiduna Ziyad bin al-Harith al-Suda'i (may Allah be pleased with him) narrates: I came to the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him) and pledged allegiance to him (that is, I accepted Islam at his noble hand). I received word that he intended to send an army towards my people. I said: O Messenger of Allah! Hold back the army, and I guarantee you their Islam and their obedience. The Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him) said: Very well. I wrote to my people, and a delegation of them came to the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him) to accept Islam and to offer obedience. The Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him) said: O man of the tribe of Suda'! Your word is obeyed among your people. I said: No, rather Allah Almighty guided them and was good to them. The Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him) said: Shall I not appoint you as amir over them? I said: Very well. The Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him) appointed me as amir over them and had a document written for me about it. I requested him to also make me the supervisor for collecting their sadaqat, and the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him) did that too. One day, during a journey, the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him) had made camp at a place; we had camped in the early part of the night. I stayed with the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him), while my companions drifted off here and there, until no one remained with the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him) except me. When the time of true dawn came, the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him) gave me the order and I gave the adhan. Then he asked: O man of the tribe of Suda'! Do you have water? I said: Yes, a little; it will not suffice you. The Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him) said: Pour it into a vessel and then bring it to me. I brought it to the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him), and the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him) put his blessed hand into it, and I saw water gushing out from between every two of his fingers. The Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him) said: O man of the tribe of Suda'! Were it not that I feel shy before my Lord, we would both drink of it and draw from it to drink. Announce among the people that whoever wishes to perform ablution (should come). The narrator says: So the people took of that water. (When it was time for prayer) Sayyiduna Bilal (may Allah be pleased with him) began to give the iqamah. The Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him) said: The man of the tribe of Suda' gave the adhan, and the one who gives the adhan is the one who gives the iqamah. When the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him) had prayed the Fajr prayer, the people of that camping place came to him and complained about their official, saying: O Messenger of Allah! He has taken revenge on us for the hostility that existed between him and his people in the days of ignorance (Jahiliyyah). The Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him) turned towards his Companions, among whom I was also present, and said: There is no good in governance for a believing man. The narrator says: This settled in my heart. Then a man came to ask him for something. The Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him) said: Whoever asks people while being well-off, this is a headache in the head and a disease in the stomach. The man said: Give me something from the sadaqat. The Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him) said: Allah Almighty is not pleased, regarding the sadaqat, with the ruling of a prophet or of anyone other than a prophet; He has made eight categories of people entitled to the sadaqat. If you are one of them, I will give you your right. When the next morning came, I said: O Messenger of Allah! Take back your office of state (which you granted me); I have no need of it. The Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him) asked: Why is that? I said: I heard you say: "There is no good in governance for a believing man," and I am a believing man; and I also heard you say: "Whoever asks people while being well-off, this is a headache and a disease in the stomach," and I asked while I am well-off. The Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him) said: It is just as that; if you wish, take it, and if you wish, leave it. The narrator says: I said: Then I leave it. The narrator says: The Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him) said: Then tell me of someone whom I may appoint over it. I recommended to him a man from the delegation, and he appointed him as amir. The people said: O Messenger of Allah! We have a well; in the winter its water suffices us and we gather around it, but when summer comes its water becomes scant and we scatter to the various waters around us. That is how it used to be, but now we cannot scatter here and there, because there are enemies all around us. Pray to Allah Almighty that its water may suffice us. The narrator says: The Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him) took seven pebbles, spread them on his palm, and then said: When you go to that well, cast the pebbles into it one by one, mentioning the name of Allah. (The narrator says:) After that, those people could never see the bottom of that well (that is, after that it always remained full of water). (Allamah al-Haythami says:) I say: Part of this report is mentioned in the Sunan.
Tabarani recorded it; its chain contains Abd al-Rahman bin Ziyad bin An'um, who is da'if (weak); Ahmad bin Salih declared him thiqah (trustworthy) and rejected the words of those who criticised him; the rest of its narrators are thiqat (trustworthy).

Nafi' narrates: When Sayyiduna Uthman (may Allah be pleased with him) was martyred, Sayyiduna Ali (may Allah be pleased with him) came to Sayyiduna Abdullah bin Umar (may Allah be pleased with them both) and said: You are a person beloved among the people; go to Syria (and urge the people to obey me). Sayyiduna Abdullah bin Umar (may Allah be pleased with them both) said: I appeal to you by my kinship and my companionship with the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him), and by the family ties between us (that I will not do this). So Sayyiduna Ali (may Allah be pleased with him) did not ask him again.
Tabarani recorded it; its chain contains Layth bin Abi Sulaym, who is thiqah (trustworthy), but he is a mudallis.