Islam's Reformers .pdf

officials of Bait al-mâl means its taking the zakât goodsmisappropriated by them back from them and giving them toBait al-mâl, that is, putting them back to their place. Thegovernment cannot spend these possessions at other places.Abû Huraira (radiy-Allâhu ’anh) said, ‘Hadrat ’Umar (radiy-Allâhu ’anh) sent me to Bahrain to collect zakât. Then hedismissed me from this duty and took away my twelve thousandgold coins. After a while he wanted to give me this duty again. Irefused it.’ Upon hearing this, Abû Khâtam (radiy-Allâhu ’anh)said, ‘Though Yûsuf (’alaihi ’s-salâm) was an exalted prophet,much higher than you are, he wanted to do such a duty. Whydid you not accept it?’ He answered, ‘He was Yûsuf (’alaihi ’ssalâm).He was a prophet. He was a prophet’s son, a prophet’sgrandson, and a prophet’s great-grandson. As for me, I am theson of Umayya. I fear to say something which I don’t know, todo something which I don’t know, thus to be disgraced beforemy Allah and His human creatures and to cause mypossessions to be commandeered.’ It is understood that,according to Abû Huraira’s (radiy-Allâhu ’anh) madhhab, it waspermissible for the officials of zakât to accept presents, but itwas not permissible in Hadrat ’Umar’s (radiy-Allâhu ’anh)madhhab; so he acted in accordance with his own madhhaband took his possessions, which he had collected as presents,away from him.” As it is seen, Hadrat ’Umar (radiy-Allâhu ’anh)did not lay hands on the possessions of the rich. On thecontrary, he took the unjust earnings of those officials who laidhands on the possessions of the rich and gave them back. InIslam no one can lay hands on anybody else’s possessions.Also in this respect, Islam differs from communism andsocialism.10) At various places of his tafsir book, Sayyid Qutb quotesthe hadîth, “The poor have rights also in the propertybesides zakât,” and says that the government will take thezakât by force and that, in addition, the government maycommandeer the excessive possessions of those who do notgive alms. He leads the matter down to communism. In order tomake them evidences for these ideas of his, he misinterpretsthe âyats and hadîths, His attempt to be of service causesdisservice, instead. The above hadîth does not show that givingalms is fard like giving zakât, but it shows that it is worthy ofmuch more thawâb than other supererogatory kinds of worship,- 246 -