Minorities in an Islamic State — Page 35
35 An amazing prophecy about the downfall of Mus- lims: First of all it would not be out of place to discuss a prophecy of the Holy Prophet sa of Islam. In this prophecy there are certain pointers to the political downfall of Muslims which had a close bearing on the subject under discussion. The prophecy is as follows. Once Hadrat Ab u Hurairah ra addressing a party of Muslims, said: "Your plight would be sad indeed when your government would face serious financial and economic crises and you will not be able to realize anything from Dhimm i s on a voluntary basis. " Some of the amazed listeners asked, if things would really come to such a pass? Ab u Hurairah ra replied: "God is my witness, that the Holy Prophet sa told me, 'When the trust of God and the Prophet sa shall not be honoured and the Dhimm i s shall not be respected, their hearts in their turn will become hardened and they will refuse to pay Jizyah '. " 43 It is a pity that in spite of this the Muslims failed to heed this timely warning. The question, how and why this happened, will be answered in the light of the rules laid down by the jurists which are reproduced below.