Khulafa-E Rashideen: the Four Pious Khulafah
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i INDSET MONOGRAPH SERIES ON ISLAM AND QUR'AN No. 27 Khulafa-e Rashideen: The Four Pious Khulafah Shah Manzoor Alam Indian School of Excellence Trust (INDSET) Hyderabad – INDIA ii ACKNOWLEDGEMENT The Indian School of Excellence Trust (INDSET) cordially thanks: Dr. Hafeez Siddiqi, Associate Professor (Retd.), National Defence Academy, Khadakvasala and Mr. Kabir Ahmed, Director (Retd.), All India Radio, for their comprehensive and critical review and proof reading of the entire text of this Monograph. We have benefited from their valuable comments many of which have been incorporated. Mr. Faizur Rahman, for his preliminary review of the manuscript of this Monograph and for his helpful suggestions to improve its language. Chairman-INDSET iii CONTENTS Page Preface : Chairman – INDSET vi PART - I Chapter –1: JIHAD AND QITAL: CONCEPT AND 3 PRACTICE Forms of Jihad ………………..……………………….…... 4 Jihad by Dawah (Communication of the Message of God) 4 Jihad by Force ……………………….………………..…... 6 Jihad and Qital ……………………….………………..…... 8 End Purpose of Jihad ……………………….………..…... 10 Reward for Jihad …………………….………………..…... 11 Chapter –2: QUR’ANIC VERSES ON JIHAD AND 13 QITAL Makki Verses: Qur’anic Verses on Jihad Revealed 13 During Prophet’s Stay in Makkah …………….…...... Madani Verses: Qur’anic Verses on Jihad Revealed 17 During Prophet’s Stay in Madinah ………………… Chapter –3: THE SIGNIFICANCE OF AHADITH 24 (TRADITIONS) IN GENERAL AND THOSE ON JIHAD IN PARTICULAR Chapter –4: “BE YE HELPER OF ALLAH” (61:14) 30 True Jihad …………...………..……………………….…... 30 Jihad no Holy War …………………………………..…..... 31 Jihad and Endeavour to Seek Nearness to God ……..…... 31 Futility of Armed Struggle ………………….………..…... 32 Making Use of Modern Mass Media ………………...…... 32 Preaching and Reasoning …….…………….………..….... 33 Witness of Islam ……………..……………….………..…... 33 Uswah Hasana of the Qur’an ……………….………..…... 33 iv Rasool (Messenger): An Excellent Exemplar ………..…... 34 Qur’an: To be Meditated and Acted Upon .………..…..... 34 Neglect of Qur’an ………………….………..….................. 35 Sunnah: A practical Translation of Islam ….………..…... 36 Qur’an and Sunnah as Norm ……………….………..…... 36 Poor Understanding of Islam ……………….………..…... 37 Protection of Islam is also Izhar-e-Deen ….………..…...... 37 Bibliography …………………….………………..…........ 39 PART – II THE CONCEPT AND PRACTICE OF JIHAD IN ISLAM 45 by Michael G. Knapp The Classical Concept of Jihad …………………….…...... 46 Other Philosophical Perspectives …………………..…..... 47 Origins of Radical Ideologies ………………………..….... 48 Differences in Sunni and Shi’a Interpretations of Jihad ... 50 Ideas on Jihad in the Modern Era ………………..…........ 51 The Use of Jihad by Islamic Militants ……………..…..... 52 Al Qaeda and Trans-national Jihad ………………..…..... 56 “Jihad Factories”: An Enduring Legacy of Hatred …...... 58 Acceptance of Militants’ Ideas and Methods is Limited ... 59 Conclusion ……..…............................................................ 61 Koran a Book of Peace (Peter Standring, National Geographic) 64 Perversion of Text …………………….…........................... 65 What does "Jihad" Really Means to Muslims (Brian Handwerk for National Geographic News) 66 Which Jihad? …………………….…................................... 66 Jihad of the Sword …………………..…............................. 67 A German’s View on Islam 70 Extracts from Muhammad – Life and Times (A Histori- 72 v cal interpretation) by S. Moinal Haq (1997) Jihad …………………….…................................................. 72 Jihad Akbar …………………..…......................................... 75 Relevance of Jihad & Qital fi Sabilillah in Modern Times and the Way Forward by A.F.M.A. Muqsith 78 Era of the Prophet (SAWS) ................................................... 78 Khilfat ar-Raashidah ………..…......................................... 79 Dynastic Era ........................................................................ 80 Knowledge Development .................................................... 80 Jurisprudential Orders ....................................................... 80 Rise and Role of Clergy ....................................................... 81 Present Situation .................................................................. 82 Relevance of Jihad fi-sabilillah in the Modern Era .......... 83 Individual Level ................................................................... 83 Community Level ................................................................ 83 Educational Reforms ........................................................... 84 Reforms in Shari’yah .......................................................... 85 Reforms in Charity System (Zakaat) .................................. 86 Political Unification ............................................................. 86 Relevance of Qital fi-sabilillah ............................................ 87 The Way Forward ............................................................... 90 Mujahideen ........................................................................... 91 Muslim Ummah ................................................................... 93 Western Democracies .......................................................... 97 CONCLUSION 100 – 101 iii FOREWORD It is a distressing fact that most of the Muslims lack proper understanding about the universal relevance of the Qur’anic Message which was revealed to Prophet Muhammad (SAWS) for the guidance of all mankind. There is considerable misapprehension too about Islam and the Message of the Qur’an in the minds of Non-Muslims. The Indian School of Excellence Trust (INDSET) is making an humble endeavour through a series of monographs on Islam and Qur’an to project the image of Islam in its proper perspective and to explain the significance of the Qur’anic Message in a scientific and systematic way. This Monograph on Khulaf-ar-Rashideen provides a factual, objective and critical analysis of the principles which governed the administration of the Four Rightly Guided Caliphs. It also attempts to explain the policies and strategies adopted by each of the Four Caliphs to meet the political, social, economic and military challenges which confronted them. While Abu Bakr (RA) and 'Umar (RA) managed to control their circumstances and achieved notable success and remarkable progress in their administration, ‘Umar (RA), particularly, expanded phenomenally the frontiers of the Islamic state and simultaneously brought peace and stability. In contradistinction, 'Uthman and ‘Ali (RA) were overwhelmed by circumstances and succumbed to forces of treachery, fraud, deception, conspiracy and court intrigues of selfish factional leaders and alien agents, who disguising as Muslims, were bent upon destroying Islam. Both ‘Uthman and ‘Ali (RA) failed to anticipate the tragic iii consequences of the evolving political events and were consequently martyred. This Monograph forcefully highlights the fact that all the four caliphs pioneered and nurtured the first and a truly welfare state ever established on earth. It was a Islamic state in its pristine purity, conception and outlook, where the meek and the mighty, the weak and the strong, the rich and the poor, the slave and the master, the king and the commoner and the ruler and the ruled stood on equal footing, both literally and metaphorically. We conclude with a prayer to Allah (SWT) to graciously bless our efforts with success (Aameen). Shah Manzoor Alam Chairman - INDSET & Former Vice-Chancellor, University of Kashmir, Srinagar Khulafa-e Rashien: The Four Pious Khalifahs 1 CHAPTER - 1 INTRODUCTION Khulafa-e Rashideen, the Four Rightly Guided Khulafah, viz. Abu Bakr, Umar, Uthmaan and Ali (RA1) were among those ten distinguished and pious companions who, by virtue of their righteous deeds and immense sacrifice in the cause of Islam, received the unique tidings, during their life time, of being blessed and assured by Allah (SWT2) of heavenly abode after their death. Their period of administration as the Khalifah of the Islamic state, founded by the Prophet (SAWS3) followed immediately after his death. They modeled their administration on the lines devised by the Prophet and hence their system of administration represents a model Islamic System of Administration in its pristine purity. Each of these four Khulafah were confronted with distinct and unique challenges to their administration and tried to resolve them in their own way. Their most challenging problem, which they all faced, was the problem of successor to the Prophet, after his death. An acute crisis of 1 RA stands for ‘Raziallahu ‘anhu/’anha’anhuma/anhum’, meaning ‘Pleasure of Allah upon him/her/both/them’. It is customary to say this short supplication whenever name of any Sahabi (Companion) is spoken, heard or written. 2 SWT stands for ‘Sub’hanuhu wo Ta’la’, meaning ‘Pure and Exalted’. It is customary to say this short supplication whenever name of Allah is spoken, heard or written to say this short praise. 3 SAWS stands for ‘Sallallahu ‘Alaihi wo Sallam’, meaning ‘Blessings of Allah and peace be upon him.’ It is customary to say this short supplication whenever name of any Sahaabi (Companion) is spoken, heard or written. Henceforth these will not be repeated in the text in order to make it smooth. Khulafa-e Rashien: The Four Pious Khalifahs 2 succession had suddenly developed when the Ansaar laid their claim to succeed the Prophet, and momentarily it appeared that Islam would be split into diametrically opposite camps of Ansaar and Muhajireen. The crisis was astutely and deftly handled by Abu Bakr