SERMON 131
Grounds for accepting the Caliphate and the
qualities of a ruler and governor
O' (people of) differing
minds and divided hearts, whose bodies are present but wits are absent. I
am leading you (amicably) towards truthfulness, but you run away from it
like goats and sheep running away from the howling of a lion. How hard it
is for me to uncover for you the secrets of justice, or to straighten the
curve of truthfulness.
O' my Allah! Thou knowest
that what we did was not to seek power nor to acquire anything from the
vanities of the world. We rather wanted to restore the signs of Thy
religion and to usher prosperity into Thy cities so that the oppressed
among Thy creatures might be safe and Thy forsaken commands might be
established. O' my Allah! I am the first who leaned (towards Thee) and who
heard and responded (to the call of Islam). No one preceded me in prayer
(salat) except the Prophet.
You certainly know that he
who is in charge of honour, life, booty, (enforcement of) legal
commandments and the leadership of the Muslims should not be a miser as
his greed would aim at their wealth, nor be ignorant as he would then
mislead them with his ignorance, nor be of rude behaviour who would
estrange them with his rudeness, nor should he deal unjustly with wealth
thus preferring one group over another, nor should he accept a bribe while
taking decisions, as he would forfeit (others) rights and hold them up
without finality, nor should he ignore sunnah as he would ruin the people.
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