Praise be to Allaah.
Undoubtedly
the society that was established by the Prophet (peace and
blessings of Allaah be upon him) in Madeenah was an example
of a stable and secure society. That was manifestly apparent
from the moment the Prophet (peace and blessings of Allaah be
upon him) first set foot in Madeenah and stated to form the
Islamic state. The security and stability of this society
were due to a number of reasons and factors, including the
following:
The Prophet
(peace and blessings of Allaah be upon him) built the mosque
in Madeenah as soon as he arrived there, which helped to
establish a focal point to which people could turn when
calamities struck, and a place where the Muslims could gather
to meet one another and find out about one another, so they
could find out who was sick and go to visit them, attend the
funerals of those who died, help their poor and arrange
marriages for those who were single.
These are some
of the ahaadeeth concerning that:
It was
narrated from Anas ibn Maalik (may Allaah be pleased with
him) that when the Messenger of Allaah (peace and blessings
of Allaah be upon him) came to Madeenah, he ordered that the
mosque should be built, and he said, “O Banu Najjaar, name me
a price for this garden of yours.” They said, “No by Allaah,
we will not seek its price except from Allaah.”
(Narrated by
al-Bukhaari, 2622; Muslim, 524)
It was
narrated that al-Bara’ ibn ‘Aazib said: “[The verse]
‘and do not aim at that which is bad to
spend from it’ [al-Baqarah 2:267 – interpretation of the
meaning] was revealed concerning us
Ansaar. We used to own date palm trees. A man would bring
(the harvest) from his date palms, whether it was a little or
a lot. A man would bring one or two bunches of dates and hang
them in the mosque. Ahl al-Suffah – or according to a report
narrated by Ibn Maajah, the poor among the Muhaajireen – had
no food, so if one of them got hungry he would come and
strike the bunch with his stick, and ripe and unripe dates
would fall, and he would eat them. But there were some
uncharitable people who would bring a bunch of dates that
contained rotten or dried-up dates, or a bunch that was
damaged, and hang it up. Then Allaah revealed the words
(interpretation of the meaning):
“O you who
believe! Spend of the good things which you have (legally)
earned, and of that which We have produced from the earth for
you, and do not aim at that which is bad to spend from it,
(though) you would not accept it save if you close your eyes
and tolerate therein”
[al-Baqarah
2:267]
He said: if
any one of you were to be given something like they gave, he
would not accept it unless he did so with his eyes closed or
out of shyness. He said, after that one of us would bring the
best dates that he had.
Narrated by
al-Tirmidhi, 2987; Ibn Maajah, 1822. Classed as saheeh by al-Albaani
in Saheeh al-Tirmidhi, 2389.
Secondly:
The Prophet
(peace and blessings of Allaah be upon him) established
brotherhood between the Muhaajireen (the Emigrants who had
come from Makkah) and the Ansaar (helpers, the Muslims in
Madeenah). This action strengthened the bonds between the
members of the Madeenan society in a manner previously
unheard of. The Prophet (peace and blessings of Allaah be
upon him) established bonds of brotherhood between non-Arabs
and Arabs, between free men and former slaves, between people
of Quraysh and members of other tribes. So the society became
one entity, after which it was not surprising that an Ansaari
would ask a Muhaajir to take half of his wealth, or an
Ansaari would offer to divorce one of his wives so that a
Muhaajir could marry her, or a Muhaajir would inherit from an
Ansaari, because of the strength of the bonds between them.
Then inheritance between them was abrogated by the verse on
inheritance, but the Ansaar were encouraged to bequeath
something to them. This was an exemplary society.
There follow
some of the ahaadeeth concerning that:
1 – It was
narrated that ‘Abd al-Rahmaan ibn ‘Awf (may Allaah be pleased
with him) said: When we came to Madeenah, the Messenger of
Allaah (peace and blessings of Allaah be upon him)
established bonds of brotherhood between me and Sa’d ibn al-Rabee’.
Sa’d ibn al-Rabee’ said: “I am the wealthiest of the Ansaar,
so I will give you half my wealth, and see which of my wives
you would prefer, I will divorce her for you, and when she
becomes permissible you can marry her.” ‘Abd al-Rahmaan said
to him, “I do not need that. Is there a marketplace where
people trade?” He said, “The marketplace of Qaynuqaa’.” So
the next day ‘Abd al-Rahmaan went there and took some cottage
cheese and ghee, and he did that the next day. It was not
long before ‘And al-Rahmaan came with traces of yellow
(perfume) on him. The Messenger of Allaah (peace and
blessings of Allaah be upon him) said, “Have you gotten
married?” He said, “Yes?” He said, “To whom?” He said, “A
woman from among the Ansaar.” He said, “How much was the mahr?”
He said, “A gold piece equal in weight to a date stone (or a
date stone of gold).” The Prophet (peace and blessings of
Allaah be upon him) said to him, “Give a wedding feast (waleemah),
even if with one sheep.”
Narrated by
al-Bukhaari, 1943.
2 – It
was narrated from Ibn ‘Abbaas (may Allaah be pleased with
him) that when the Muhaajireen came to Madeenah, a Muhaajir
would inherit from an Ansaari to the exclusion of the
Ansaari’s own relatives, because of the bonds of brotherhood
that the Prophet (peace and blessings of Allaah be upon him)
had established between them. When the verse
“And to everyone, We have appointed heirs”
[al-Nisa’ 4:33 – interpretation of the meaning]
was revealed, that was abrogated. And the phrase
“To those also with whom you have made a
pledge (brotherhood)” [al-Nisa’ 4:33 – interpretation of the
meaning] has to do with the
covenant of helping, supporting and advising one another. So
the rights of inheritance no longer apply, but they may
bequeath to one another.
Narrated by
al-Bukhaari, 2170.
Thirdly:
Zakaah was
prescribed in the second year of the Hijrah, which made the
rich and poor more equal and increased the coherence of the
Madeenan society, and the bonds of brotherhood for the sake
of Allaah became stronger than before. Indeed, the matter
went further than zakaah to include voluntary charity.
It was
narrated that Anas ibn Maalik (may Allaah be pleased with
him) said: Abu Talhah was the wealthiest of the Ansaar of
Madeenah in terms of palm trees, and the dearest of his
wealth to him was (the garden of) Bayraha’, which was
opposite the mosque. The Messenger of Allaah (peace and
blessings of Allaah be upon him) used to enter it and drink
from good water that was to be found there. Anas said: When
the verse “By no means shall you
attain Al-Birr (piety, righteousness — here it means Allaah’s
reward, i.e. Paradise), unless you spend (in Allaah’s Cause)
of that which you love” [Aal- Imraan 3:92 – interpretation of
the meaning] was revealed, Abu
Talhah got up and went to the Messenger of Allaah (peace and
blessings of Allaah be upon him) and said, “O Messenger of
Allaah, Allaah says ‘By no means
shall you attain Al-Birr (piety, righteousness — here it
means Allaah’s reward, i.e. Paradise), unless you spend (in
Allaah’s Cause) of that which you love’
and the dearest of my wealth to me is Bayraha’. (I give it
in) charity for the sake of Allaah, hoping to earn its reward
with Allaah, so dispose of it, O Messenger of Allaah, as
Allaah shows you.” The Messenger of Allaah (peace and
blessings of Allaah be upon him) said, “Well done, that is a
profitable deal, that is a profitable deal. I have heard what
you said and I think that you should distribute it among your
relatives.” Abu Talhah said, “I shall do that, O Messenger of
Allaah,” and he distributed it among his relatives and the
sons of his paternal uncles.
Narrated by
al-Bukhaari, 1392; Muslim, 998
So the signs
of harmony appeared among the Muslims in Madeenah, and the
Muhaajireen recognized the rights that their Ansaar brothers
had over them. There are a number of ahaadeeth concerning
that, including the following:
It was
narrated that Anas said: When the Prophet (peace and
blessings of Allaah be upon him) came to Madeenah, the
Muhaajireen came to him and said, “O Messenger of Allaah, we
have never seen any people more generous when they have the
means and more helpful when they have little than the people
among whom we have settled. They have looked after us and
they have let us join them and share in all their happy
occasions, to such an extent that we are afraid that they
will take all the reward. The Prophet (peace and blessings of
Allaah be upon him) said, “Not so long as you pray for them
and praise them.”
Narrated by
al-Tirmidhi, 2487; classed as saheeh by al-Albaani in
Saheeh al-Tirmidhi, 2020.
Allaah
created loved between the hearts of the people of Madeenah,
and love for the sake of Allaah was one of the symbols of the
people that Allaah enjoined upon them and made it one of the
signs of perfect faith.
It was
narrated from Anas (may Allaah be pleased with him) that the
Prophet (peace and blessings of Allaah be upon him) said:
“None of you truly believes until he loves for his brother
what he loves for himself.”
Narrated by
al-Bukhaari, 13; Muslim, 45.
It was
narrated that al-Nu’maan ibn Basheer said: The Messenger of
Allaah (peace and blessings of Allaah be upon him) said: “The
believers, in their mutual mercy, love and compassion, are
like a (single) body; if one part of it feels pain, the rest
of the body will join it in staying awake and suffering
fever.”
Narrated
by al-Bukhaari, 5665; Muslim, 2586.