‘Ali: The Best of the Sahabah

8. Hadith Al-Qadha, An Age Of Jungle Justice V ==============================================

As the chief law enforcement officer of the Ummah, the khalifah has the authority to arrest and prosecute anyone who commits an offence in his presence. There is no requirement anywhere that the crime must be reported to him by someone else before he could arrest and prosecute. Imam ‘Abd al-Razzaq (d. 211 H) records an instance where ‘Umar, as the khalifah, invoked this authority:

‘Abd al-Razzaq – ‘Ubayd Allah b. ‘Umar AND Ma’mar – Nafi’ – Safiyyah b. Abi ‘Ubayd:

‘Umar discovered alcohol in the house of a man from (the tribe of) Thaqif. He (the man) had already been lashed for alcohol consumption in the past. Therefore, he (‘Umar) burnt his house, and asked, “What is your name?” He (the man) replied, “Ruwayshid.” He (‘Umar) retorted, “Rather, you are Fuwaysiq (an abusive word)”.[^1]

Al-Hafiz (d. 852 H) states about the first narrator:

‘Abd al-Razzaq b. Hammam b. Nafi’ al-Humayri, their freed slave, Abu Bakr al-San’ani: Thiqah (trustworthy), hafiz (a hadith scientist).[^2]

There are two second narrators. So, this is what al-Hafiz has to say about Second Narrator A:

‘Ubayd Allah b. ‘Umar b. Hafs b. ‘Asim b. ‘Umar b. al-Khaṭṭab al-‘Umari al-Madani, Abu ‘Uthman: Thiqah (trustworthy), thabt (accurate).[^3]

He also says about Second Narrator B:

Ma’mar b. Rashid al-Azdi, their freed slave, Abu ‘Urwah al-Basri, he lived in Yemen: Thiqah (trustworthy), thabt (accurate), fadhil (meritorious).[^4]

Both second narrators transmitted from Nafi’, about whom al-Hafiz states:

Nafi’, Abu ‘Abd Allah al-Madani, freed slave of Ibn ‘Umar: Thiqah (trustworthy), thabt (accurate), a well-known jurist.[^5]

Al-Hafiz seals it with these comments about the last narrator:

Safiyyah b. Abi ‘Ubayd b. Mas’ud al-Thaqafiyyah, the wife of Ibn ‘Umar. It is said that she met the Prophet, but al-Daraquṭni denies that. Al-‘Ijli said: Thiqah (trustworthy).[^6]

Safiyyah is also a narrator of Sahih Muslim.[^7]

In summary, the above chain is impeccably sahih. Elsewhere, ‘Abd al-Razzaq has recorded the exact same report with this chain:

‘Abd al-Razzak – Ma’mar – Ayub – Nafi’ - Safiyyah[^8]

The only new name is Ayub. So, who is he? Al-Hafiz answers:

Ayub b. Abi Tamimah al-Sakhtayani, Abu Bakr al-Basri: Thiqah (trustworthy), thabt (accurate), hujjah (an authority in hadith**)**, from the greatest jurists and worshippers of Allah.[^9]

In other words, the athar about ‘Umar is doubly sahih!

‘Allamah al-Albani (d. 1420 H) also has some further words:

روى الدولابي في الكنى " (1 / 189) عن إبراهيم بن عبد الرحمن بن عوف قال: رأيت عمر أحرق بيت رويشد الثقفي حتى كأنه جمرة أو حمة وكان جارنا يبيع الخمر. وسنده صحيح. ورواه عبد الرزاق عن صفية بنت ابي عبيد كما في " الجامع الكبيرة " (3 / 204 / 1) وأبو عبيد في " الأموال " (ص 103) عن ابن

Al-Dawlabi reported in al-Kuni (1/189) on the authority Ibrahim b. ‘Abd al-Rahman b. ‘Awf that he said: “I saw ‘Umar burning the house of Ruwayshid al-Thaqafi until it became like firebrand or a hot spring. He was our neighbour who sold alcohol.” Its chain is sahih.

‘Abd al-Razzaq also narrated on the authority of Safiyyah bint Abi ‘Ubayd, as stated in al-Jami’ al-Kabirah (3/204/1) as well as Abu ‘Ubayd in al-Amwal (p. 103) on the authority of Ibn ‘Umar, and its chain is sahih too.[^10]

Interestingly, this Ruwayshid was one of the Sahabah! Al-Hafiz states:

Ruwayshid al-Thaqafi, Abu ‘Alaj al-Taifi al-Madani: He met the Prophet. He also had a story with ‘Umar due to his selling of alcoholic drinks. Ibn Abi Dhaib said: Sa’d b. Ibrahim b. ‘Abd al-Rahman b. ‘Awf narrated to us from his father that ‘Umar ordered that the house of Ruwayshid be burnt down. He used to sell alcoholic drinks in it. ‘Umar had warned him to desist, but he never desisted.[^11]

Elsewhere, he reiterates:

Ruwayshid ... al-Thaqafi.... He had a story with ‘Umar concerning his consumption of alcohol.... I have mentioned him among the Sahabah only because whosoever was of that age (as Ruwayshid) during the time of ‘Umar must certainly have been matured during the time of the Prophet, peace be upon him. Also, there was no one from the tribes of Quraysh and Thaqif except that he had accepted Islam and had witnessed the Farewell Hajj with the Prophet, peace be upon him.[^12]

To summarize:

Ruwayshid was one of the Sahabah of the Prophet, from the tribe of Thaqif.

He accepted Islam during the Prophet’s lifetime, met the latter, and did the Farewell Hajj with him.

During the rule of ‘Umar, Ruwayshid was convicted for alcohol consumption and punished.

However, after his conviction and punishment, Ruwayshid went ahead to sell alcohol in his house.

‘Umar warned him to desist from selling alcohol, but he refused to stop.

So, ‘Umar burnt his house where he was selling the alcohol.

The story of Ruwayshid flies in the face of repeated Sunni claims about the piety and righteousness of all the Sahabah!

It is a bit unclear on what ground ‘Umar burned Ruwayshid’s home. Was it to punish him for selling alcohol? Or, was it only an effort to disable him from further trading in alcohol?

One scenario is that the house-burning was inflicted as a judicial punishment. In other words, Ruwayshid was summarily tried, convicted and penalized for trading in alcohol. ‘Umar’ judicial sentence was that his house should be burnt to ashes. However, where did ‘Umar get that idea from? Was it from the Qur’an? Was it from the Sunnah? Imam Muslim records the standard procedure in a case like this:

Ahmad b. ‘Isa – Ibn Wahb – ‘Amr – Bukayr b. al-Ashja’ Sulayman b. Yasar – ‘Abd al-Rahman b. Jabir – his father – Abu Bardah al-Ansari:

I heard the Messenger of Allah, peace be upon him, saying: “None is to be given more than ten strokes of the cane (in punishment) except in the case of punishments immutably fixed by Allah.”[^13]

So, the question is whether Allah has immutably fixed the punishment for alcohol sales business or not. Without an iota of doubt, there is no such fixed penalty for it. Therefore, the maximum sentence that can be inflicted upon an alcohol seller is ten lashes. Apparently, ‘Umar did not follow the instructions of Allah in this regard. This brought him face-to-face against this verse:

Whosoever does NOT give rulings, verdicts, judgments, or commands based upon what Allah has revealed, such people are the infidels.[^14]

Another scenario is that ‘Umar actually burnt the house down only to forcefully put Ruwayshid out of business, without any intention to touch the latter himself personally for breaking the law. This theory is further strengthened by the fact that ‘Umar had earlier warned Ruwayshid to desist (thereby confirming his full knowledge of the alcohol trade). However, he made no effort whatsoever to arrest or prosecute him. When the latter would not listen to him, he burnt down his house – which also served as his brewery and alcohol store – solely to shut down his business. Normally, a caring government closes or destroys illegal ventures within its control. This is usually to protect the public. In addition to that, the same government proceeds to prosecute the owner of the illegal business for his crime. In the case of Ruwayshid, ‘Umar merely burnt his alcohol store, but allowed him to go scotfree!

A baffling twist to this whole saga is that when another Sahabi was discovered, also engaging in alcohol business, ‘Umar simply let him be! He did not arrest him. He did not prosecute him. He did not burn his house! Imam Muslim records:

Abu Bakr b. Abi Shaybah, Zuhayr b. Harb and Ishaq b. Ibrahim – Sufyan b. ‘Uyaynah – ‘Amr – Tawus – Ibn ‘Abbas:

‘Umar was informed that Samrah sold alcohol. So, he said, “May Allah curse Samrah! Does he not know that the Messenger of Allah, peace be upon him, said: ‘May Allah curse the Jews. The fat of animals was made haram for them. But they melt it and sold it.’”[^15]

Imam Abu Ya’la (d. 307 H) also documents:

Abu Khaythamah and Abu Sa’id – Sufyan b. ‘Uyaynah – ‘Amr – Tawus – Ibn ‘Abbas:

Samrah sold alcohol. So, ‘Umar said, “May Allah curse Samrah! Does he not know that the Messenger of Allah, peace be upon him, said, ‘May Allah curse the Jews. The fat of animals was made haram for them. So, they sold it and ate its price.’”[^16]

Shaykh Dr. Asad comments:

Its chain is sahih^17

Samrah was a prominent Sahabi. He too traded in alcohol. But, what was ‘Umar’s response? He merely cursed him by name, and that was it! There was no arrest, and no prosecution! Samrah’s house was equally left intact.

[^1]: Abu Bakr ‘Abd al-Razzaq b. Hamam al-Ṣa’nani, al-Musannaf [annotator: Habib al-Rahman al-A’zami], vol. 6, p. 77, # 10051

[^2]: Ahmad b. ‘Ali b. Hajar al-‘Asqalani, Taqrib al-Tahdhib (Beirut: Dar al-Maktabah al-‘Ilmiyyah; 2nd edition, 1415 H) [annotator: Mustafa ‘Abd al-Qadir ‘Ata], vol. 1, p. 599, # 4078

[^3]: Ibid, vol. 1, p. 637, # 4340

[^4]: Ibid, vol. 2, p. 202, # 6833

[^5]: Ibid, vol. 2, p. 239, # 7111

[^6]: Ibid, vol. 2, p. 647, # 8669

[^7]: See for instance Abu al-Husayn Muslim b. al-Hajjaj al-Qushayri al-Naysaburi, Ṣahih Muslim (Beirut: Dar Ihya al-Turath al-‘Arabi) [annotator: Muhammad Fuad ‘Abd al-Baqi], vol. 2, p. 1126, # 1490 (63-64)

[^8]: Abu Bakr ‘Abd al-Razzaq b. Hamam al-Ṣa’nani, al-Musannaf [annotator: Habib al-Rahman al-A’zami], vol. 9, p. 230, # 17036

[^9]: Ibid, vol. 1, p. 116, # 606

[^10]: Muhammad Nasir al-Din al-Albani, Tahzir al-Sajid min Itikhaz al-Qubur Masajid (Beirut: al-Maktab al-Islami; 4th edition). p. 49, footnote # 47

[^11]: Ahmad b. ‘Ali b. Muhammad b. Hajar al-‘Asqalani, Ta’jil Munfa’at bi Zawaid Rijal al-Aimah al-Arba’at (Beirut: Dar al-Bashair; 1st edition, 1996 CE) [annotator: Dr. Ikram Allah Imdad al-Haqq], vol. 1, p. 539, # 328

[^12]: Abu al-Fadhl Ahmad b. ‘Ali b. Hajar al-‘Asqalani, al-Isabah fi Tamyiz al-Ṣahabah (Beirut: Dar al-Jil; 1412 H) [annotator: ‘Ali Muhammad Bajawi], vol. 2, p. 500, # 2699

[^13]: Abu al-Husayn Muslim b. al-Hajjaj al-Qushayri al-Naysaburi, Ṣahih Muslim (Beirut: Dar Ihya al-Turath al-‘Arabi) [annotator: Muhammad Fuad ‘Abd al-Baqi], vol. 3, p. 1332, #1708 (40)

[^14]: Qur’an 5:44

[^15]: Abu al-Husayn Muslim b. al-Hajjaj al-Qushayri al-Naysaburi, Ṣahih Muslim (Beirut: Dar Ihya al-Turath al-‘Arabi) [annotator: Muhammad Fuad ‘Abd al-Baqi], vol. 3, p. 1207, #1582 (72)

[^16]: Abu Ya’la Ahmad b. ‘Ali b. Muthanna al-Mawsili al-Tamimi, Musnad (Damascus: Dar al-Mamun li al-Turath; 1st edition, 1404 H) [annotator: Dr. Husayn Salim Asad], vol. 1, p. 178, # 200