Mukhtasar Muslim

Sayyiduna Malik bin Aws says: Sayyiduna Umar (may Allah be pleased with him) called me, and I came to him in the daytime. He was sitting in his house on a bare bedstead without any bedding, reclining on a leather pillow. He said, “O Malik! Some people from your tribe came running to me, so I have given them a little something. Distribute it among all of them.” I said, “I wish you had assigned this task to someone else.” He said, “O Malik! You take it.” Meanwhile, Yarfa (his servant) came and said, “O Commander of the Faithful! Uthman bin Affan, Abdur Rahman bin Awf, Zubair, and Sa’d (may Allah be pleased with them) have come. Shall I let them in?” Sayyiduna Umar (may Allah be pleased with him) said, “Yes, let them in.” They came in. Then Yarfa came and said, “Abbas and Ali (may Allah be pleased with them) want to come.” So Sayyiduna Umar (may Allah be pleased with him) said, “Allow them as well.” Sayyiduna Abbas (may Allah be pleased with him) said, “O Commander of the Faithful! Decide between me and this liar, sinner, deceiver, and thief.” The people said, “Yes, O Commander of the Faithful! Decide between them and relieve them from this issue.” Malik bin Aws said, “I know that both of them (i.e., Sayyiduna Ali and Sayyiduna Abbas, may Allah be pleased with them) had sent Sayyiduna Uthman, Abdur Rahman, Zubair, and Sa’d (may Allah be pleased with them) ahead (so that they would speak to Sayyiduna Umar and get a decision).” Sayyiduna Umar (may Allah be pleased with him) said, “Wait! I adjure you by Allah, by whose command the earth and the heavens exist, do you not know that the Messenger of Allah (peace and blessings be upon him) said: ‘We, the Prophets, do not leave inheritance; whatever we leave behind is charity’?” All said, “Yes, we know.” Then Sayyiduna Umar (may Allah be pleased with him) turned to Sayyiduna Abbas and Sayyiduna Ali (may Allah be pleased with them) and said, “I adjure you both by Allah, by whose command the earth and the heavens exist, do you know that the Messenger of Allah (peace and blessings be upon him) said: ‘We, the Prophets, have no heirs, and whatever we leave behind is charity’?” Both said, “Indeed, we know.” Sayyiduna Umar (may Allah be pleased with him) said, “Allah Almighty specified something for the Messenger of Allah (peace and blessings be upon him) that He did not specify for anyone else. Allah Almighty said: ‘Whatever Allah has bestowed upon His Messenger from the property of the people of the villages, it is for Allah and His Messenger’ (__QUR_N__). I do not know whether he recited the previous verse or not. Then Sayyiduna Umar (may Allah be pleased with him) said, ‘The Messenger of Allah (peace and blessings be upon him) distributed the wealth of Banu Nadir among you people. And by Allah, he did not consider it more for himself than for you, nor did he take it for himself and not give you, until this wealth remained. From it, the Messenger of Allah (peace and blessings be upon him) would take the expenses for one year, and what remained would be included in the treasury (Bayt al-Mal).’ Then Sayyiduna Umar (may Allah be pleased with him) said, ‘I adjure you by Allah, by whose command the earth and the heavens exist, do you all know this?’ They said, ‘Yes, we know.’ Then he gave the same oath to Sayyiduna Ali and Sayyiduna Abbas (may Allah be pleased with them), and they also said, ‘Yes.’ Then Sayyiduna Umar (may Allah be pleased with him) said, ‘When the Messenger of Allah (peace and blessings be upon him) passed away, Sayyiduna Abu Bakr as-Siddiq (may Allah be pleased with him) said, “I am the guardian of the Messenger of Allah (peace and blessings be upon him).” So both of you came. Abbas (may Allah be pleased with him) was demanding the inheritance of his nephew (i.e., the Messenger of Allah, who was the son of Abbas’s brother), and Ali (may Allah be pleased with him) was seeking the share of his wife from her father’s wealth (i.e., Fatimah az-Zahra, may Allah be pleased with her, who was the wife of Ali and the daughter of the Messenger of Allah, peace and blessings be upon him). Sayyiduna Abu Bakr (may Allah be pleased with him) replied that the Messenger of Allah (peace and blessings be upon him) said: “We, the Prophets, have no heirs; whatever we leave behind is charity.” So you considered him a liar, sinner, deceiver, and thief, while Allah knows that he was truthful, righteous, guided, and a follower of the truth. Then Sayyiduna Abu Bakr (may Allah be pleased with him) passed away, and I became the guardian of the Messenger of Allah (peace and blessings be upon him) and of Sayyiduna Abu Bakr as-Siddiq (may Allah be pleased with him). So you considered me also a liar, sinner, deceiver, and thief, while Allah knows that I am truthful, righteous, and upon the truth, a follower of the truth. I remained the guardian of this wealth. Then both of you came to me, and you are one (i.e., although you are two persons, due to your closeness to the Messenger of Allah, peace and blessings be upon him, you are like one person). You said, “Hand over this wealth to us.” So I said, “Fine! If you wish, I will give it to you on the condition that you will do with it what the Messenger of Allah (peace and blessings be upon him) used to do.” You took this wealth from me on this condition. Then Sayyiduna Umar (may Allah be pleased with him) said, “Is it not so?” They said, “Yes.” Sayyiduna Umar (may Allah be pleased with him) said, “Now you both have come to me for a decision? No, by Allah! I will not make any decision other than this until the Day of Judgment. However, if you are unable to manage this wealth, then return it to me.”