Forty Gems of Beauty — Page 155
155 points. The Holy Prophet (May peace and blessings of Allah be on him) has observed that each person, is, in spite of being a subject in some respects, a ruler in other respects. A man who is employed in an office, is, perhaps, subordinate to an officer. But the same person may be the ruler of his wife and children in his home. A wife is subject to the rule of her husband in the management of the household in spite of enjoying marital love. But she simultaneously holds authority over the children, the domestics and over the property of the husband which she holds in her charge. Similarly, from a king to a slave, from a general to a trooper and from a governor to a peon, all are, within their respective spheres, both rulers as well as subjects. The king is the ruler of all of his subjects, but he is, at the same time, a servant of God, or in other words, subject to the law of ordination and determination [Qa da wa Qadr]. The same is true for the rest of the officers and subordinates: they are rulers in one respect and subjects in the other. According to the observation of the Holy Prophet (May peace and blessings of Allah be on him) all of them will be required to answer with regard to the subjects in their respective spheres whether indeed they rendered unto them their rights. When, through this process, we come to the last person [who is the least among them] and apparently, we find none under him, on reflection we discover that he is, in reality, the ruler over one subject, his own self, over which he has full authority. He will, therefore, be required to answer in respect of his self and how far he discharged his duty to himself. The Holy Prophet (May peace and blessings of Allah be on him) in short, has alerted everyone to the fact that whichever section of the society one may belong to, one is, in one respect or the other, a ruler, and shall, therefore, be required to answer about one’s obligations in this behalf. This Hadith is simultaneously a carrier of glad tidings to men, fortifying them with courage in that, whatever their station in life, each is, in a way, a ruler and has good cause to be grateful to God for