The ruler's responsibilities toward the army

Imam al-Shafi'i (may Allah have mercy on him) said: "It is not proper for the Imam to entrust the command of a military expedition to anyone except a person who is trustworthy in his religion, physically brave, forbearing and patient, with understanding of war and insight into it, not hasty and not rash (impetuous); and the Imam should instruct him beforehand that he must not, under any circumstances, push the Muslims into a place of destruction."

Sayyiduna Salamah bin al-Akwa' (may Allah be pleased with him) says: I took part in seven military expeditions with the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him), and of the armies he (peace and blessings be upon him) dispatched, I took part in seven of those as well. Sometimes the commander over us was Sayyiduna Abu Bakr (may Allah be pleased with him) and sometimes Sayyiduna Usamah bin Zayd (may Allah be pleased with him). In one narration, nine expeditions are mentioned.

Sayyiduna Salamah bin al-Akwa' (may Allah be pleased with him) says: I took part in seven military expeditions with the Messenger of Allah (peace and blessings be upon him) and in nine with Zayd bin Harithah. He (peace and blessings be upon him) had appointed Sayyiduna Zayd bin Harithah (may Allah be pleased with him) as our commander.

Sayyiduna Abdullah bin Buraydah (may Allah be pleased with him) says that the Messenger of Allah (peace and blessings be upon him) sent Sayyiduna Amr bin al-As (may Allah be pleased with him) as the commander of an army, and Sayyiduna Abu Bakr and Sayyiduna Umar (may Allah be pleased with them both) were also in the army. When they reached the place of battle, Sayyiduna Amr (may Allah be pleased with him) ordered the army not to light any fire. Sayyiduna Umar (may Allah be pleased with him) became angry and intended to go to him, but Sayyiduna Abu Bakr (may Allah be pleased with him) stopped him and told him that the Messenger of Allah (peace and blessings be upon him) had made him commander only because he knows the affairs of war. So Sayyiduna Umar (may Allah be pleased with him) held back.

It is narrated from Abu al-Malih (may Allah have mercy on him) that Ubaydullah bin Ziyad went to visit Sayyiduna Ma'qil bin Yasar (may Allah be pleased with him) in his illness, and Sayyiduna Ma'qil (may Allah be pleased with him) said to him: I am narrating to you a hadith which I would not have told you if my death were not near. I heard from the Messenger of Allah (peace and blessings be upon him); he (peace and blessings be upon him) said: "Whoever is placed in charge of the Muslims and does not strive for them and does not act sincerely for their good will not enter Paradise with his people."

Ubaydullah bin Ziyad went to visit Sayyiduna Ma'qil bin Yasar al-Muzani (may Allah be pleased with him) in his illness; he passed away in that very illness. Sayyiduna Ma'qil bin Yasar (may Allah be pleased with him) said: I will narrate a hadith that I heard from the Messenger of Allah (peace and blessings be upon him). And he said: Had I known that I still had life remaining, I would not have narrated this hadith. The Messenger of Allah (peace and blessings be upon him) said: "Any servant whom Allah makes the guardian of a people, and he deceives his people, then whenever he dies, Allah has made Paradise forbidden for him."
Sulayman bin Buraydah (may Allah have mercy on him) narrates from his father (may Allah be pleased with him) that whenever the Messenger of Allah (peace and blessings be upon him) dispatched an army and appointed its commander, he would advise him in particular to have taqwa (fear of Allah) and would advise him to treat the Muslims with him well.

The father of Abu Ishaq says: We were with Sayyiduna Jarir bin Abdullah (may Allah be pleased with him), and we were struck by hunger. So Sayyiduna Jarir bin Abdullah (may Allah be pleased with him) wrote a letter to Sayyiduna Mu'awiyah (may Allah be pleased with him) and wrote in it this saying of the Messenger of Allah (peace and blessings be upon him): "Whoever does not show mercy to people, Allah does not show mercy to him." So Sayyiduna Mu'awiyah (may Allah be pleased with him) wrote that they should return, and Sayyiduna Mu'awiyah (may Allah be pleased with him) gave them provisions. Abu Ishaq says: I came upon a cloak from that.

Sayyiduna Jarir bin Abdullah (may Allah be pleased with him) says: I heard the Messenger of Allah (peace and blessings be upon him) saying: "Allah does not show mercy to the one who does not show mercy to people."

It is narrated from Sayyiduna Abdullah bin Amr bin al-As (may Allah be pleased with them both) that the Messenger of Allah (peace and blessings be upon him) said: "The Most Merciful shows mercy to those who are merciful. Be kind to those on the earth, and the One in the heaven will be kind to you."

Abu Uthman al-Nahdi (may Allah have mercy on him) says: Sayyiduna Umar (may Allah be pleased with him) assigned a man from Banu Asad to a post. He came to collect his letter of appointment, and at that time one of the children of Sayyiduna Umar (may Allah be pleased with him) was brought to him and he kissed him. The man said: "Do you kiss him? I have never kissed any child." Sayyiduna Umar (may Allah be pleased with him) said: "Then you have little mercy towards people. Give back our letter of appointment, and never work for us again."

Sayyiduna Abu Firas (may Allah be pleased with him) says: I attended Sayyiduna Umar (may Allah be pleased with him) while he was addressing the people: "O people! A time passed over me when I saw that people recited the Qur'an seeking the pleasure of Allah and His reward in return. Then lately it has begun to seem to me that some people have recited the Qur'an only to please people and to gain the wealth of the world in return. Beware! Seek the pleasure of Allah through reciting the Qur'an. Beware! Seek to please Allah through your deeds. Beware! We knew you when revelation was descending and the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him) was among us; Allah Almighty had informed us about you. Now revelation has ended and the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him) has passed away, and now we know you only by what I am telling you. Beware! The one in whom we see good, we think well of him and love him; and the one in whom we see evil, we think ill of him and are displeased with him; and your secrets are between Allah and you. Beware! We send governors so that they may teach you the religion and the Sunnah; we do not send them to beat your backs, nor to take your wealth. Beware! If anyone has a complaint about any of these matters, let him bring it to us. By the One in whose hand is the soul of Umar! I will take retribution from him." Then Sayyiduna Amr bin al-As (may Allah be pleased with him) stood up and said: "O Commander of the Believers! If you send a governor and he strikes someone in order to discipline him, will you take retribution from him too?" Sayyiduna Umar (may Allah be pleased with him) said: "Yes! By Allah, I will take retribution from him too. I have seen the Messenger of Allah (peace and blessings be upon him) offering himself for retribution. Beware! Do not beat the Muslims and so humiliate them; do not withhold their rights and so drive them to ingratitude (kufr); do not keep them from going home and so put them to trial; and do not station them in difficult terrain and so bring the Muslims to ruin."

Sayyiduna Umar (may Allah be pleased with him) asked Sayyiduna Anas bin Malik (may Allah be pleased with him): When you besiege a city, what method do you adopt? He said: We send a man towards the city and give him a shield made of leather. Sayyiduna Umar (may Allah be pleased with him) asked: What if he is struck by a stone thrown at him? He replied: Then he will die. Sayyiduna Umar (may Allah be pleased with him) said: By Allah! The loss of a single Muslim is not acceptable to me even in exchange for conquering a city of four thousand fighting men.

The father of Zayd bin Aslam (may Allah have mercy on him) says: A year came upon the Muslims in which the price of ghee rose, and Sayyiduna Umar (may Allah be pleased with him) would eat olive oil, which made his stomach rumble. In the narration of Yahya: Sayyiduna Umar (may Allah be pleased with him) used to eat ghee; when it became scarce, he said: I will not eat it until the people eat it. So he used to eat oil, which made his stomach rumble. In the narration of Ibn Mukram: Sayyiduna Umar (may Allah be pleased with him) addressed his stomach and said: Rumble as much as you like; by Allah, I will not eat ghee until the people eat it. Then he said to me: Take away its heat (harshness) with fire. So I used to cook it for him and he would eat it.

Sayyidah Hafsah (may Allah be pleased with her), Ibn Muti' and Sayyiduna Abdullah bin Umar (may Allah be pleased with them both) came to Sayyiduna Umar (may Allah be pleased with him) and said to him: If you were to eat good food, it would make you stronger for the work of the truth. Sayyiduna Umar (may Allah be pleased with him) said: Is this the opinion of all of you? They said: Yes. He said: I know that you are my well-wishers, but shall I leave the path of my two companions? If I abandon their way, I will not be able to reach them on the Day of Resurrection. A year of hardship came upon the people, and Sayyiduna Umar (may Allah be pleased with him) did not eat ghee or fatty roasted meat for the whole year, until the people revived and recovered.

Sayyiduna al-Sa'ib bin Yazid (may Allah be pleased with him) says: In the year of famine, the Muslims suffered severe hunger. One day Sayyiduna Umar (may Allah be pleased with him) was riding his mount, and he saw a grain of barley in its dung. He said: By Allah! I will not ride it until the condition of the people improves.

Abu Uthman al-Nahdi (may Allah have mercy on him) says: Utbah bin Farqad (may Allah be pleased with him) sent some sweets (khabis) to Sayyiduna Umar (may Allah be pleased with him) from Azerbaijan. He (may Allah be pleased with him) asked the messenger: "Have the Muslims had their fill of this?" He said: "No." Sayyiduna Umar (may Allah be pleased with him) said: "I do not want it." And he wrote to Utbah (may Allah be pleased with him): "This is not from your own effort and labour, nor from the effort of your mother and father. First feed the Muslims who are with you to their fill; give (them) in their homes as much as you have kept for your own home."

Abd al-Rahman bin Shimasah (may Allah have mercy on him) says: I went to Sayyidah Aishah (may Allah be pleased with her), and she asked: Which people are you from? I said: I am an Egyptian. She asked: How did you find Ibn Hudayj in your campaigns? I said: He is a good commander. Whoever loses a horse or a camel in battle, he compensates him with a camel; and if someone's slave is lost (killed), he gives him a slave in exchange. Sayyidah Aishah (may Allah be pleased with her) said: His killing my brother does not prevent me from narrating the hadith that I heard from the Messenger of Allah (peace and blessings be upon him); he (peace and blessings be upon him) said:
'Allahumma man waliya min amri ummati shay'an fashaqqa 'alayhim fashquq 'alayh, wa man waliya min amri ummati shay'an farafaqa bihim farfuq bih' (O Allah, whoever takes charge of the affairs of the Muslims and is gentle with them in whatever way possible, O Allah, be gentle with him; and whoever becomes a cause of hardship for them, O Allah, bring hardship upon him).

Sayyiduna Abdullah (may Allah be pleased with him) says: When the people of Ta'if were besieged and nothing was achieved as a result, the Messenger of Allah (peace and blessings be upon him) said: "We will return tomorrow, if Allah wills." The Muslims said: How can we go back when we have not succeeded? So the Messenger of Allah (peace and blessings be upon him) said: "Be ready for battle in the morning." In the morning they attacked them and were wounded. Then the Messenger of Allah (peace and blessings be upon him) said: "We will return tomorrow." The people liked that, and the Messenger of Allah (peace and blessings be upon him) smiled.