Ahmadiyyat or The True Islam — Page 278
278 instance of Uba’ i ibni Ka‘ab. On his arrival the judge vacated his seat out of respect for the Khalifah. The latter went over and sat with the plaintiff, telling the judge that he had been guilty of an injustice. He should have made no distinction between him and his oppo- nent. This, however, relates only to such matters in which the Khalifah is concerned in his private capacity. In respect of his public acts he is not subject to the jurisdiction of the courts. Relations between Master and Servant In pre-Islamic days the relationship between master and servant was very similar to that between the sovereign and the subject and, in spite of the passage of so many centuries and a tremendous advance in social matters, practically the same relationship subsists today. Islam, however, teaches differently, and lays down the princi- ple that the relationship between master and servant should be based on and defined by contract, the essence of the contract being that the master agrees to pay money to the servant in return for his services. The master, therefore, has no right to treat the servant as a tyrant would treat his subjects. Islam, having taken away the traditional and customary rights even of the sovereign, could not tolerate the prevailing relationship between master and servant. For instance, Islam prohib- its the master from abusing or beating the servant, and a similar protection extends to a slave. A companion of the Holy Prophet sa relates that they were seven brothers and owned a slave. Their youngest brother gave a blow to the slave. When the matter reached the ears of the Holy Prophet sa , he directed that the slave should be set