The Issue Of Ghanima (Spoils) For The Field Of Shaam
24 October 2016By Abu Mahmood Al
Filasteeni
In the name of Allah the Most Gracious, the Most Merciful
All praise belongs to Allah, the Lord of all that exists. Prayers and peace be
upon the most honorable of the creation, and the leader of the Messengers, our
master Muhammad – the trustworthy one, his family and his companions, all of
them.
Many questions have been asked from the land of Shaam about the spoils and the
method of their distribution. And injustice occurred to the troops as they
were given but little of the spoils and they were not distributed as known in
Fiqh. And the soldiers complain of difficult conditions and poverty. And this
is true and we do not blame soldiers for their complaints. The organization
wants to explain that the costs of war are great and that it is in need of
money and that it is working on the basis of the religion and striving to feed
the troops in the headquarters and securing the weapons and the ammunitions.
The war is severe and consumes a lot of arms and ammunitions. And Jihad or
repelling the attacker cannot be continued without retaining back a large part
of the spoils, and the heavy weapons in specific cannot be distributed with
the spoils. And there are similar explanations. There are also opinions about
the rule for spoils obtained from the tyrant governments as the weapons and
money that they have in their possession in fact belong to the Muslims and are
stolen from them by the tyrants, and so the weapons of their armies were also
bought with the money of the Muslims. Therefore the spoils obtained from the
tyrant regime are the wealth of the Muslims and must be spent in their
interests, and the most important of these is fighting their enemies and for
the services which are necessary for the Muslims. And then there are those who
believe that these spoils are Ghaneema but say that the Ameer is allowed to
spent the spoils before distribution as proven by the Sunnah of the Prophet in
the battle of Hunain.
So the doors are plenty and the souls are fraught and every one considers that
what they say is the right one. And similar to that are the soldiers, there is
no blame and rebuke on the soldiers because they suffer from poverty while
some Ameers do not fear Allah and choose for themselves what raises their
standard of living many times over those of their soldiers. This may cause
grief and resentment in the hearts of the soldiers as they are humans and
injustice and corruption disturbs them and the love of money is within humans
while conditions are especially rough and difficult. So these Ameers should
fear Allah and not distinguish themselves from the soldiers.
I will not discuss the issue from the point of view of Fiqh as its explanation
is long and I will leave it to the scholars as the matter has reached them and
they have the knowledge about this problem. But I will discuss the issue from
the point of view of piety and fear of God and its relation to the life
hereafter.
All of us have studied battle of Hunain in the life of the Prophet may peace
and blessings of Allah be upon him, and the problem that happened with the
Ansaar when the Prophet, may peace and blessings of Allah be upon him, gave
some tribes and persons the greater part of the spoils. The Ansaar were
disappointed that the leaders of Quraish had the larger part of the spoils
while it were Ansaar who supported, helped and contributed to the
establishment of the Islamic State and theirs was the greatest number in the
Muslim army. So they felt resentment about the distribution of the Prophet,
may peace and blessings of Allah be upon him, and said, ''He is giving to the
Quraish and is leaving us while our swords are dripping with their blood.''
The word reached the Prophet, may peace and blessings of Allah be upon him,
and he asked Sad bin Ubadah if he feels what his people feel. So Sad replied
to the Prophet may peace and blessings of Allah be upon him, when he asked him
where he stood that ''I am but one of my people''.
And here I say to the Ameers that your troops are not more God-fearing or more
pious than the Ansaar. So it is not strange that they feel something about the
distribution of the spoils or discrimination of the Ameers against them.
Therefore do not speak harshly with the soldiers and do not ignore what is in
their hearts.
Did the Prophet, may peace and blessings of Allah be upon him, say to the
Ansaar, ''I am the leader and the messenger of Allah, and it is obligatory upon
you to listen and obey and not to debate''…etc.?
Did the Prophet may peace and blessings of Allah be upon him, ignore the
Ansaars complaint and their criticism of him? Or did he listen to them?
Did the Prophet may peace and blessings of Allah be upon him, leave the
problem without solving it immediately? Or did he solve and cure the problem
quickly as it was a problem inside the army?
Did the Prophet, may peace and blessings of Allah be upon him, ignore the
matter and leave the fire smoldering under the ashes or hasten to speak openly
and to convince the Ansaar of the rightness of his decision according to
Shariah and logic.
All these questions are addressed to the Ameers, and they must deal with any
problem inside the troops just like how the Prophet may peace and blessings of
Allah be upon him, dealt with the Ansaars problem.
O Ameers and Jurists! The Prophet, may peace and blessings of Allah be upon
him, did not use his political authority as an Ameer or religious authority as
a Prophet and suppress or ignore Ansaars protest. Instead he hastened to
solve the problem with great wisdom and calmness and hit the problem at its
root.
First of all, the Prophet, may peace and blessings of Allah be upon him, did
not ignore the problem until it escalated and went out of the circle of his
companions. Instead he called Sad bin Ubadah to assemble the Ansaar only in
Huzaira. This is to subdue the problem. While the problem of the soldiers
(today) has become common knowledge and every student, scholar or observer has
become aware of the problem of the spoils and poor living conditions of the
troops.
O Ameers and especially top most Ameer! Why did you not subdue the problem and
the misconduct has continued?
Secondly, the Prophet, may peace and blessings of Allah be upon him, did not
ignore the Ansaar and did not say to them, ''I am the Ameer and the Prophet and
it is obligatory upon on you to listen and obey.'' Had he said so, it would
have been obligatory upon them and they would have obeyed as they were the
Ansaar with whom Allah was pleased with. But the Prophet gave them the
Shareeah and logical argument as to why he gave the greater share of the
spoils to the Quraish. The Prophet may peace and blessings of Allah be upon
him, said, ''I gave to the people who were recently in a state of disbelief to
conciliate them (to Islam) with it.''
And then the Prophet may peace and blessings of Allah be upon him, drew their
attention to what they had of the grace and blessing which was the presence of
the Prophet may peace and blessings of Allah be upon him. And that was much
greater than what was given to the Quraish. He said, ''What is it that I have
heard regarding you? And that you are angry with me! Did not I come to you
when you were astray and Allah guided you, and in poverty and Allah enriched
you, and enemies to each other and Allah brought your hearts together?''
Then he reminded them of the hereafter and said, ''You would soon find after me
preferences (over you in getting material benefits). So you should show
patience until you meet me at the Haud (Kauthar).''
O Ameers and Jurists! Did you sit with the troops as the Prophet may peace and
blessings of Allah be upon him, did and convince them of your logical and
Shareeah reasons?!!!
What is stopping you from visiting the headquarters and speaking with the
soldiers to satisfy them?
This is obligatory on you and not just recommended. The one who is greater
than you sat with his soldiers and removed the discontent from their hearts.
And here I tell you that in the hearts of your soldiers are many matters of
discontent and not just one. So fear Allah regarding the soldiers who have
faced the odds and achieved victories. Is it right that the soldiers are poor
while the Ameers ride the most luxurious cars?
The neglect of the Ameers are not hidden even to the blind, so take your
stance oh the general Ameer, because you will be the responsible one in front
of Allah.
And now I address the soldiers! The soldiers of Allah! The men of Allah! The
people whom Allah chose and He selected from His creation to be pleased with,
and those Allah chose for the best of the lands, the land of Shaam. Remember
the blessing of Allah upon you when He made you able to reach Shaam, the best
of His lands, towards which He has chosen the best of His creations. As
narrated by Abu Umamah from the Prophet may peace and blessings of Allah be
upon him, ''Shaam is the best of Allahs land, He chooses for it the best of
His creations.''
Which blessing or favour in this world can be equal to that of Allah choosing
you from His creations? Can there be any blessing greater than this blessing
and grace? Are these spoils which are in reality just crumbs of this world
worth losing this blessing?
O soldiers! O men of Allah! Is this not enough for you that you have been
marked out by Allah for the best act of worship and the most obligatory one
after the belief in Allah which is, fighting the attackers and doing Jihad for
Allah?
O soldiers! Have you come for the spoils or for seeking the paradise? Paradise
is the commodity of Allah, and Allahs commodity is expensive, very expensive.
The Prophet may peace and blessings of Allah be upon him, said, ''Behold, the
commodity of Allah is expensive. Verily the commodity of Allah is paradise.''
O soldiers! Have you not gone forth by abandoning the world and hoping for
what is with Allah? Have you not sold the world to purchase the hereafter? So
the way to paradise is filled with hardships because it is the commodity of
Allah.
The one who has sold the world to purchase the hereafter should not let the
love of this world enter his heart, and let him be patient and seek the
reward. And you have sold yourself to Allah and Allah has accepted the trade.
So do not let the temporary enjoyment of this world make you break your oath
with Allah. Allah has said, ''Indeed, Allah has purchased from the believers
their lives and their properties [in exchange] for that they will have
Paradise. They fight in the cause of Allah, so they kill and are killed. [It
is] a true promise [binding] upon Him in the Torah and the Gospel and the
Quran. And who is truer to his covenant than Allah? So rejoice in your
transaction which you have contracted. And that is what the great victory is.''
So rejoice O the best of Allahs creation, O those doing Jihad in the best of
His lands.
And praise to Allah, the Lord of all that exists.
By Abu Mahmood Al Filasteeni
©
EsinIslam.Com
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