Sahaba - The Blessed

transactions such as) buying and selling, and in many other
matters. All these disagreements were based on ijtihâd. None of
them said, “They are wrong,” about any other’s statements.
Similarly, the Ashâb-i-kirâm ‘ridwânullâhi ’alaihim ajma’în’
disagreed with one another in a number of matters; yet none of
them said that any other’s ijtihâd was wrong; nor did it ever occur
to them to accuse one another of aberration or wrongdoing. For
instance, Abû Bakr as-Siddîq ‘radiy-Allâhu ’anh’, the time’s
Khalîfa, sent a Muhtadî, [1] and a Sahâbî for company, to Hadrat
’Umar ‘radiy-Allâhu ’anh’, who was in charge of the Bayt-ul-mâl
(Treasury Department in an Islamic State), and ordered him,
(through the Sahâbî,) to pay him his share of zakât (from the Baytul-mâl).
His purpose was to encourage the muhtadî to become a
Muslim. Yet ’Umar ‘radiy-Allâhu ’anh’ would not give him
anything in the name of zakât. Later, when Hadrat Abû Bakr
‘radiy-Allâhu ’anh’ asked ’Umar ‘radiy-Allâhu ’anh’ why he would
not pay him zakât despite the âyat-i-kerîma commanding payment
of zakât to people in that group, called muallafa-i-qulûb, the
latter’s ‘radiy-Allâhu ’anh’ answer was, “The commandment
intended to soften the hearts of disbelievers (by paying them a
share from zakât) was valid at a time when disbelievers were
excessively wicked and before the realization of the victory
promised by Allâhu ta’âlâ. But now Muslims are in the ascendant
and disbelievers are weak and defeated. It is no longer necessary
to win disbelievers’ hearts by means of property.” He went on with
two quotations, first quoting the âyat-i-kerîma invalidating the
commandment enjoining payment of zakât to the group of
disbelievers called muallafa-i-qulûb, and then adding the hadîth-isherîf
called Mu’âz. This disagreement between the ijtihâd of
Imâm ’Umar ‘radiy-Allâhu ’anh’ and that of the Siddîq-i-a’zam
(Abû Bakr ‘radiy-Allâhu ’anh’, the Khalîfa,) should not be
construed as rejection of his order. It was merely a statement of his
ijtihâd in his capacity as the director of the Bayt-ul-mâl, [wherein
Muslims’ money and property had been consigned to his care].
Indeed, Abû Bakr ‘radiy-Allâhu ’anh’ did not blame him for that
ijtihâd of his. On the contrary, that event added new material to
the facts whereon his ijtihâd had been based, so that he and all the
other Sahâba-i-kirâm joined Hadrat ’Umar’s ijtihâd. Imâm
Rabbânî exemplifies the differences of ijtihâd between the Ashâbi-kirâm
and Rasûlullah ‘sall-Allâhu ’alaihi wa sallam’ with the
[1] Someone who has newly converted, or is expected to convert, to Islam.
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