Musannaf Ibn Abi Shaybah

Hazrat Antarah, may Allah have mercy on him, says that my father was a friend of Qanbar. He says: I went with Qanbar to Hazrat Ali, may Allah be pleased with him. He (Qanbar) said: O Commander of the Faithful! Get up! Come with me. Indeed, I have kept some wealth hidden for you, may Allah be pleased with you. He, may Allah be pleased with him, went with him to his house. There was a basket filled with gold and silver. He said: O Commander of the Faithful! Indeed, you, may Allah be pleased with you, do not leave anything except that you distribute it or spend it. Upon this, he, may Allah be pleased with him, drew his sword and said: Destruction! Do you want to bring such a great fire into my house! Then, in his distraction, he, may Allah be pleased with him, straightened his sword and struck the basket, so that half and a third of it scattered between the broken vessels. He, may Allah be pleased with him, said: Call the supervisors to me. So they came. He, may Allah be pleased with him, said: Divide this wealth into portions. They did so, and he, may Allah be pleased with him, was saying: O gold and silver! Deceive someone other than me. And he, may Allah be pleased with him, was also reciting this verse: "This is my produce, and its best is in it, for every harvester puts his hand to his mouth." The narrator says: There were small and large needles in the treasury, which he, may Allah be pleased with him, used to collect from people as tax, according to the labor of their hands. He, may Allah be pleased with him, said to the supervisors: Distribute them. They said: We do not need to distribute them. He, may Allah be pleased with him, said: By Him in Whose hand is my soul, we will surely distribute this wealth along with its evil.

Hazrat Umm ‘Affan (may Allah be pleased with her), who was the umm walad of Hazrat Ali (may Allah be pleased with him), narrates: I came to Hazrat Ali (may Allah be pleased with him) while there was a clove-colored necklace lying in the courtyard before him. I said: O Commander of the Faithful! Please gift this clove-colored necklace to my daughter. He (may Allah be pleased with him) gestured with his hand: This one? I drew near to the dirham. He (may Allah be pleased with him) said: This is the wealth of the Muslims, but be patient until our share from it comes to us, then we will gift this necklace to your daughter.

Hazrat Abu Salih, may Allah have mercy on him, who used to serve Hazrat Umm Kulthum bint Ali, may Allah be pleased with her, narrates that Hazrat Umm Kulthum, may Allah be pleased with her, said: O Abu Salih! What would your condition have been if you had seen the Commander of the Faithful in such a state that oranges were brought to him, and in the meantime Hazrat Hasan, may Allah be pleased with him, or Hazrat Husain, may Allah be pleased with him, came and took one of the oranges? So he, may Allah be pleased with him, snatched that orange from their hand. And he, may Allah be pleased with him, ordered and those oranges were immediately distributed among the people?!

Hasan al-Basri (may Allah have mercy on him) narrates that a man asked the Noble Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him) for a bridle made of hair from the spoils of war. The Messenger of Allah (peace and blessings be upon him) said: He is asking me for a bridle of fire. And it is not appropriate for you to ask me for this, nor is it appropriate for me to give it to you.

Hazrat Qais bin Abi Hazim Ahmas, may Allah have mercy on him, narrates that a man brought a cloth made of hair from the spoils of war to the Messenger of Allah, peace and blessings be upon him, and said: O Messenger of Allah! Grant me this as a gift, for I have a household and I will use it to treat hair. The Prophet, peace and blessings be upon him, said: Whatever my share is from it, it will be yours.

Hazrat Ubaidullah bin Abi Rafi’ (may Allah have mercy on him) narrates that his grandfather Hazrat Rafi’ (may Allah have mercy on him) said: I was the treasurer of Hazrat Ali (may Allah be pleased with him). I put a pearl necklace from the wealth on his (may Allah be pleased with him) daughter, which he (may Allah be pleased with him) recognized. When he (may Allah be pleased with him) saw this necklace on her, he said: Where did this come to her from? Surely Allah, the Lord of Honor, has made it obligatory upon me that I cut off her hand. The narrator says: When I saw this situation, I said: O Commander of the Faithful! I had put this necklace on my niece, otherwise how could she have had the power to do so? When he (may Allah be pleased with him) saw this matter, he (may Allah be pleased with him) remained silent.

Hazrat Abdur Rahman bin Ajlan Al-Barjami (may Allah have mercy on him) narrates that his grandmother said: Hazrat Ali (may Allah be pleased with him) used to distribute spices among us along with their clusters. Clusters of cumin and clusters of mustard seeds, in such and such quantity.

Hazrat Rabee’ bin Hassan (may Allah have mercy on him) narrates that my mother said: Hazrat Ali (may Allah be pleased with him) used to distribute turmeric and saffron among us. And once Hazrat Ali (may Allah be pleased with him) entered the room and saw scattered grains, so he (may Allah be pleased with him) began to gather them and was saying: O family of Ali (may Allah be pleased with him)! You have become satiated!

Hazrat Sufyan bin Saeed bin Ubaid, may Allah have mercy on him, narrates from one of his teachers that pomegranates were brought to Hazrat Ali, may Allah be pleased with him. So he, may Allah be pleased with him, distributed them among the people, and our mosque received seven or eight pomegranates.

Hazrat Ismail bin Abi Khalid (may Allah have mercy on him) narrates that two water skins filled with milk were brought from the wilderness to Hazrat Ali (may Allah be pleased with him), so he (may Allah be pleased with him) distributed them among the people.

Hazrat Abdur Rahman bin Abi Bakrah (may Allah have mercy on him) narrates that Hazrat Ali (may Allah be pleased with him) did not reduce anything from our treasury except for a woolen cloak, a heart, and a leather shirt, until he (may Allah be pleased with him) parted from us.

Hazrat Masruq (may Allah have mercy on him) narrates that Hazrat Aisha (may Allah be pleased with her) said: When Hazrat Abu Bakr (may Allah be pleased with him) fell ill with the illness from which he passed away, he said: You people should see that whatever increase has occurred in my wealth after I became the caliph, send that wealth to the caliph who comes after me. Indeed, I considered this wealth lawful and permissible for myself. And indeed, I gained as much benefit from this wealth as I used to gain from trade. Hazrat Aisha (may Allah be pleased with her) says: When we looked, there was an addition of an Egyptian slave in his wealth who used to look after the children, and a water carrier who used to bring water for him from the well. Both of them were sent to Hazrat Umar (may Allah be pleased with him). She (may Allah be pleased with her) says that my agent informed me that Hazrat Umar (may Allah be pleased with him) wept and said: May Allah have mercy on Abu Bakr (may Allah be pleased with him). Indeed, he has put those after him into great hardship.

Hazrat Ibn Sirin (may Allah have mercy on him) narrates that Hazrat Ahnaf bin Qais (may Allah have mercy on him) said: We were sitting at the door of Hazrat Umar (may Allah be pleased with him) when suddenly a slave girl came out. We said to her: Umar’s slave girl, to which she replied: I am not Umar’s slave girl, nor am I lawful for Umar. I am the property of Allah. The narrator says: Then we began to discuss among ourselves what is lawful for Hazrat Umar (may Allah be pleased with him) from the property of Allah. When this conversation reached Hazrat Umar (may Allah be pleased with him), he sent a messenger to call us and asked: What were you talking about? We replied: A slave girl came to us, so we said to her: Umar’s slave girl, upon which she said that she is not Umar’s slave girl, nor is she lawful for Umar (may Allah be pleased with him), indeed she is the property of Allah. Then we began to discuss how much of Allah’s property is lawful for you (may Allah be pleased with him). He (may Allah be pleased with him) said: I will tell you how much of Allah’s property I have considered lawful for myself: one set of clothes for summer and winter, the mount on which I perform Hajj and the one on which I perform Umrah, and the ration for my family which is equal to that of an average man of the Quraysh—not like the wealthy among the Quraysh nor like their poor. And I am also one of the Muslims; whatever needs they have, I have the same needs.

Hazrat Muharib bin Dithar (may Allah have mercy on him) narrates that Hazrat Ahnaf bin Qais (may Allah have mercy on him) said: We were sitting at the door of Hazrat Umar (may Allah be pleased with him) when suddenly a slave girl came out to us. One of the people asked her: "Has the Commander of the Faithful had intercourse with you?" She replied: "Indeed, I am not lawful for him." By this, the slave girl meant that she was from the spoils of war (khums). Just then, Hazrat Umar (may Allah be pleased with him) also came out and said: "Do you know how much of this fay’ wealth I have considered lawful for myself? One mount on which I perform Hajj and Umrah, and two sets of clothes—a set for winter and a set for summer—and the ration for the family of Umar, equal to the ration for the family of an average man from the Quraysh, who is neither very wealthy nor very poor."

Hazrat Haritha bin Mudrib Al-Abdi (may Allah have mercy on him) narrates that Hazrat Umar (may Allah be pleased with him) said: Certainly, I have considered myself in regard to Allah’s wealth as one who is entrusted with the wealth of an orphan. If I am independent of it, I refrain from wrongdoing. And if I am in need of it, then I take only what is permissible.

Hazrat Ali (may Allah be pleased with him) narrates that I passed by the Messenger of Allah (peace and blessings be upon him) with some camels from the charity camels. The Prophet (peace be upon him) took a little wool from the back of one camel and said: "Even this much is not lawful for me from your spoils of war, except for the fifth (khums). And that too is returned to you."

The Prophet (peace be upon him), may Allah have mercy on him, says that Abdullah bin Umar (may Allah be pleased with them both) bought two camels and left them among the camels of charity. Then both of them became very healthy and large, and their condition became very good. The narrator says: Umar (may Allah be pleased with him) saw those camels and found their condition strange and asked: Whose camels are these? People replied: They belong to Abdullah bin Umar (may Allah be pleased with them both). He (may Allah be pleased with him) said: Sell both of them and take your original amount. And whatever extra amount there is, return it to the treasury (Bayt al-Mal).

Hazrat Abu Uthman (may Allah have mercy on him) narrates that when Hazrat Utbah (may Allah have mercy on him) came to Azerbaijan, halwa was brought to him. He tasted it and found it sweet. He (may Allah have mercy on him) said: If you prepare some of this for the Commander of the Faithful, it would be very good. So they prepared two large baskets for him (may Allah be pleased with him), then loaded them onto a camel and sent them with two men to Hazrat Umar (may Allah be pleased with him). When they both reached Hazrat Umar (may Allah be pleased with him), he (may Allah be pleased with him) asked: What is this? They said: This is halwa. He (may Allah be pleased with him) tasted it and also found it sweet and delicious. He (may Allah be pleased with him) asked: Have all the Muslims in their caravan been satisfied with this? They replied: No! He (may Allah be pleased with him) returned both baskets and then wrote a letter to them: After praise and salutations, indeed, this is neither due to your father's effort nor your mother's effort. Satisfy the Muslims present in your caravan with the same thing with which you are satisfied.

Hazrat Qais bin Abi Hazim (may Allah have mercy on him) narrates that Hazrat Utbah bin Farqad Al-Sulami (may Allah have mercy on him) said: I brought large baskets filled with halwa to Hazrat Umar bin Khattab (may Allah be pleased with him). I had never seen halwa more plentiful and delicious than this. He (may Allah be pleased with him) asked: What is this? I replied: I have brought this food for you (may Allah be pleased with him), because you are a person who spends the early part of the day fulfilling the needs of the people, and when you return, you are tired because of this. He (may Allah be pleased with him) said: Remove the cloth from the basket. The narrator says: I removed it. He (may Allah be pleased with him) said: I swear you must, when you return, give a share from this basket to all the Muslims. I said: By the One who has kept you, O Commander of the Faithful, on the right path! Even if I spend all the wealth of Banu Qais, it will not reach this quantity. He (may Allah be pleased with him) said: I have no need for it. Then he (may Allah be pleased with him) called for a bowl in which there was tharid made of unsifted flour and tough meat. He (may Allah be pleased with him) was eating it with me with great liking. I reached for a white piece, thinking it was part of the hump. When I chewed it, it turned out to be halwa made of pumpkin. I took a piece of meat, chewed it, but it would not go down my throat. When he (may Allah be pleased with him) was a little inattentive to me, I placed that piece between the bowl and the dining cloth. Then he (may Allah be pleased with him) said: O Utbah! Surely, every day we slaughter a camel. Its fat and good parts are for those Muslims who have come from far away, and its neck is for Umar!

Hazrat Zaid bin Wahb (may Allah have mercy on him) narrates that Hazrat Hudhaifa (may Allah be pleased with him) said: I passed by while people were eating tharid and meat. Then Hazrat Umar (may Allah be pleased with him) invited me to his meal. He (may Allah be pleased with him) was eating coarse bread and oil. I said: Was it not you who forbade me from eating tharid with the people, and now you are inviting me to it? He replied: I have only invited you to my food. And the food of the Muslims is that.