The Outset of Dissension in Islam — Page 38
38 H A D RAT MIRZA BASHIR-UD-DIN MAHMUD AHMAD consideration of his special circumstances, even though the Holy Prophet sa had instructed him to leave Madinah at a certain time in order to save him from trial and suffering, he did not deem it appropriate to even act upon this command without first seeking permission from Hadrat ‘Uthm a n ra. Moreover, when he left Madinah and settled in Rabdhah and the local tax collector asked him to become the Im a m in congregational prayer, he refused saying, “You are the governor here, thus, it is you who is best suited for being the Im a m. ” This demonstrates that he had no objection in being obedient to governors, nor did he view anarchy as being permissible. The simplicity of Hadrat Ab u Dharr ra becomes clearly evident from the fact that even after being deceived by Ibnus- Saud a ’, when he would argue with Mu‘ a wiyah ra , that the funds of baitul-m a l should not be called the wealth of Allah and even after submitting a complaint to Hadrat ‘ Uthm a n ra as well, he constantly continued to use the same term in his own speech. Once, after this conflict, when he was in Rabdhah a caravan arrived. The people of the caravan enquired from him, “We have seen your companions and they are incredibly affluent, but why are you living in such a state of poverty?” He gave them the following response: ٗ اِنَّھُم ْ لَیْس َ لَھُم ْ فِی ْ مَال ِ اللّٰه ِ حَق ٌ اِلَّا وَلِی ْ مِثْلُه “They possess no right over the wealth of Allah, (i. e. the funds of baitul-m a l) which I also do not possess. ” 36 36. T a r i khu t-T abar i , vol. 5, p. 114, Akhb a ru Ab i Dharrin ra. . . . . , Published by D a rul-Fikr, Beirut, 2002 edition