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The first event,
which brought this system of ‘baraah’ into operation of the
Muslim community against some members, of the Muslim community
was the attitude of those who did not immigrate to Medina in
spite of the clear order of the Prophet. The following verse
was revealed to end the discussion, which arose among Muslims in
Medina concerning their fellow Muslims who did not join them
after immigration;111 “And
those who believe but have not emigrated – you have no duty of
friendship towards them till they emigrate.”112
The other event
concerned the three men who abstained from the raid of Tabuk,
viz., Ka'b b. Malik, Murarah b. al-Rabi, and Hilal b. Abi
Umayyah. The Prophet forbade all Muslims to speak to them;
then, after a lapse of a fortnight, he ordered them to separate
from their wives. This went on for fifty nights until God sent
his word concerning them that, “God has turned towards the
Prophet and the ‘Emigrants’ and the ‘Helpers’ who followed him
in the hour of difficulty, after the hearts of a part of them
well-nigh swerved aside; then He turned towards them; surely He
is Gentle to them, and All-Compassionate. And to the three who
were left behind, until, when the earth became strait for them,
for all its breadth, and their souls became strait for the, and
they thought that there was no shelter from God except in Him,
then He turned towards them, that they might also turn; surely
God turns, and is All-Compassionate.”114
It is not the
concern of this work to study the system of ‘walayah’ and
‘baraah’ during the Prophet’s life, but just to show the
origins of this system as it led to its foundation in the Ibadhi
doctrine afterwards. The study of this system by Ibadhis was
established on the basis of the Qur’an, Sunnah,
and Ijma. Although these were the primary sources of
jurisprudence followed by other Muslim schools, only the Ibadhis
have developed this system of walayah and baraah
and have given it great importance in theory and practice. This
was due to the nature of the Ibadhi movement and the conditions
in which it was founded.
The Ibadhi movement
was founded in the early days of Umayyad rule. It had to deepen
its roots throughout the Muslim countries at that time, avoiding
the suppression of the Umayyad governors. It happened that
Basrah was the centre of this growing movement, a fact which
made the Ibadhis face many trials under the most “cruel rulers
of their times” – viz., Ziad b. Abihi, his son Ubadidullah, and
al-Hajjaj b. Yusuf. The religious stage of the Ibadhi movement
at that period was secrecy, (kitman). According to the
requirements of this stage, an underground organisation was
formed to pass on the true teachings of Islam out of sight of
the “tyrants.” Several centres (majalis) were
established for meetings of the Ibadhi scholars, and also for
religious instruction for the members of the sect in order to
fulfil requirements of the organisation.
The system of
walayah and baraah served a great deal in securing
the growth of the movement in the right direction. It was one
of the basic rules for the new member who wanted to join the
Ibadhis to declare ‘baraah’ from the enemies of God and
the Prophet, (i.e. the opponents of the Ibadhi movement) and to
believe in ‘walayah’ for the ‘awliya’ of God and
His Prophet, (i.e. the upright members of the Ibadhi community).
It is reported that
Ibadhis invited Bistam Abu al-Nazr who was a Sufri, to join
their movement; Bistam said, “When they invited me, they said,
“We call you to (walayah) for those whom you know to
declare the truth and follow it; and to (baraah) from
those whom you know to say contrary to the truth and follow it;
and we call you to ‘reservation’ for what you are not sure about
till you become certain.’ He said, ‘This was in the time of
secrecy (Kitman).’115
This appears to be one of the basic principles of the Ibadhi
movement, for the first Imam of the Ibadhi state in Yemen,
Abdullah b. Yahya al-Kindi, after conquering Yemen, said in his
address to the people, “We call to the Unity of God, ……, and to
‘walayah’ for God’s friends, and to enmity for the
enemies of Go.”116
The members who did not follow the teachings of Islam were to be
treated in different ways in regard to the gravity and nature of
their mistakes. It is reported from Jabir b. Zaid, “If one of
you sees a fault of his brother, he must forbid him to do it
again, and this must be between the two of them only; if he
refuses to abandon his fault, he must ask help from another
member, until he has two witnesses with him. If the sinner
refrains from committing the sin, they must conceal his fault;
but if he persists in his sin, they must then declare baraah
from him.”117
A similar opinion is reported from Hajib al-Tai, one of the
early Ibadhi leaders.118
Hajib divides such defections into two kinds:
a) That which
is related to the duties of man to God; Muslims must conceal
such faults and give their fellow believer the advice and let
him attend their meetings (majalis), for God may relent
towards him.
b) But if the
defection is related to the faith by holding contrary views to
what the Ibadhis believe, in such a case, they must declare
baraah from him, forbid him to attend their (majalis),
and inform all the members about him so that they can be wary of
him.119 In
order to explain this doctrine, we may cite the following cases:
Abu Sufyan Mahbub
b. al-Rahil said, “Hamzah al-Kufi came to Abu Ubaidah to discuss
with him the matter of divine decree (al-qadar). They
went to the house of Hajib and spent a long time in the
discussion. The last words heard from Abu Ubaidah in that
discussion were, ‘Oh, Hamzah, about this I disagreed with
Ghailan.’ Then Hajib talked to Hamzah, for his respect for
Hajib was greater than his respect for Abu Ubaidah. Hamzah
said, ‘I narrated this opinion from the Muslims (i.e. Ibadhis).’
Hajib said, ‘You did not meet anyone whom I did not meet, except
Jabir b. Zaid; so, from whom did you learn this view?’ ‘From
you’, said Hamzah. Hajib said, ‘I give up this view, so do as I
did.’ Hamzah said, ‘Treat me gently and accept what I say;
Whatever good visits you, it is of God, and whatever evil visits
you is of yourself. So good (hasanah) is of God, and
evil (sayiah) is of Man; and I say, “God charges no soul
beyond its capacity.” Hajib did not accept this from him, and
Hamzah left the place. When Hajib did not accept this from him,
and Hamzah left the place. When Hajib was asked about him he
said, ‘treat Hamzah gently.’ Then, afterwards, they heard that
Hamzah contacted the women and men of little knowledge to teach
them his views, Abu Ubaidah ordered Hajib to call the members of
the movement for a general meeting in which they were informed
about the heresies of Hamzah. Hajib concluded the speeches in
that meeting and said, ‘Hamzah, Atiyyah, and al-Harith brought
about heresies to us, so whomsoever offered them shelter, or
received them, or sat with them, is suspected of disloyalty to
us.’ Abu Ubaidah declared baraah from them, and ordered
that they must be in the state of baraah and they were
expelled from the (majalis).120
Hamzah used to visit Halabiyah Umm Sa’idah; when she heard
that the Ibadhis had forsaken him, she refused to receive him
any more; so he left Basrah for al-Mawsil and Abu Mahfuz went
out after him from one village to another warning the Muslims of
him.121
The other case n the time of Abu Ubaidah was that of the youths
who came to Abu Ubaidah and asked him about the case of a
Christian who had not heard of the Prophet of Islam, and invited
a Majian to Christianity. Abu Ubaidah asked them their
opinion. Their reply was that the Christian who had not heard
of the Prophet of Islam was a Muslim, and the Majian who agreed
to follow him was an infidel;. Abu Ubaidah rejected their
opinion but they insisted on it; so he declared ’baraah’
from them. The youths came to Hajib with broken hearts asking
him to save them, for Abu Ubaidah hastened to declare
‘baraah’ from them though they were just asking him about
his opinion. Hajib told Abu Ubaidah that they repented, and
arrangements were made for them to rejoin the (majalis).122 |
