The Accusation of Waging War Against Those who Stopped Paying Zakat

The opposition accuse Sayyidina Abu Bakr radiya Llahu ‘anhu of acting contrary to the guidelines of Rasulullah salla Llahu ‘alayhi wa sallam , who left those who stopped giving zakat (like the tribes of Tha’labah and Thaqif etc.) and he did not wage war against those who stopped from giving zakat, whereas Sayyidina Abu Bakr radiya Llahu ‘anhu waged war against them. Thus, this was against the directions and deeds of Rasulullah salla Llahu ‘alayhi wa sallam .

They present the following narration on which the objection is based:

عن وهب سالت جابرا عن شان ثقيف از بايعت قال اشترط على رسول الله صلى الله عليه وسلم ان لا صدقة عليها ولا جهاد

It is narrated from Wahb, I asked Jabir about Thaqif, when they pledged allegiance. He said: “They placed the condition on Rasulullah salla Llahu ‘alayhi wa sallam that there will be no zakat and no jihad upon them.”^{^[1]}

Answer

If this question is accepted, then study the following in reply to it. The objection will be dismissed:

1. The above mentioned condition was made during the initial discussion with Thaqif. However, this was not accepted as a permanent condition. The reason for this is that the very same narration states:

سمع رسول الله صلى الله عليه وسلم يقول بعد فالك سيتصدقون ويجاهدون انا اسلموا

He heard Rasulullah salla Llahu ‘alayhi wa sallam saying later on that they will give zakat and wage jihad, when they become Muslims.

Which means that temporarily, they put down the condition of not giving zakat and waging jihad. After Islam became firm, they will give zakat and they will participate in jihad.

2. When the tribes turned apostate after the demise of Rasulullah salla Llahu ‘alayhi wa sallam , while some tribes refused to pay zakat — but said that they will perform salah — Sayyidina Abu Bakr radiya Llahu ‘anhu was resolute and said:

منعوني عقالا لجاهدتهم

If they refuse to give me a rope (for tying the camel) I shall wage jihad against them.^{^[2]}

Sayyidina Abu Bakr radiya Llahu ‘anhu was the khalifah and ruler of the time. It was compulsory upon the Muslims to obey his orders. Fighting those who refused to give zakat was indeed the correct course of action, while some felt at first called for, they too also agreed with the view of Sayyidina Abu Bakr radiya Llahu ‘anhu in the end.^{^[3]} They classified the fight against the rejecters of zakat as correct. This is clearly mentioned in its place.

Amongst the senior Sahabah radiya Llahu ‘anhum, Sayyidina ‘Ali radiya Llahu ‘anhu also agreed to the view of Sayyidina Abu Bakr radiya Llahu ‘anhu and he was ready for this fight. On this occasion, Sayyidina Abu Bakr radiya Llahu ‘anhu was very passionate, he asked for his conveyance to be brought and he set out to lead the charge but Sayyidina ‘Ali radiya Llahu ‘anhu took the reins of his conveyance and advised him not to go, but send others to lead this expedition.

عن عائشة قالت خرج ابي شاهر اسيفه راكبا على راحلته الى وادي القصة فجاء علي بن ابي طالب واخذ بزمام راحلته فقال إلى أين؟ يا خليفة رسول الله أقول لك ما قال رسول الله يوم أحد لم سيفك ولا تفجنا بنفسك فوالله لان اصبنا لك لا يكون للإسلام بعلك نظام ابدا فرجع وامضى الجيش

Aisha radiya Llahu ‘anha narrates: My father went out with his sword drawn, mounted on his steed towards Wadi al Qissah, ‘Ali ibn Abi Talib came and took the reins of his mount and said: “Where are you going, O khalifah of the Rasul of Allah? I say to you what Rasulullah salla Llahu ‘alayhi wa sallam said to you on the day of Uhud: “You will not stop, and you will not leave us in loss with regards to yourself, by Allah, if something has to afflict us regarding you, there will be no administrative support for Islam ever.” So he returned and let the army carry on.^{^[4]}

In short, Sayyidina ‘Ali radiya Llahu ‘anhu agreed with the rest of the senior Sahabah radiya Llahu ‘anhum that war should be waged against those that refuse to pay Zakat, so the step taken by Sayyidina Abu Bakr radiya Llahu ‘anhu was correct.

It was not against, and did not contradict the Sunnah of Rasulullah salla Llahu ‘alayhi wa sallam . Therefore, the objection is baseless. There is a statement mentioned in Jawami’ al Sirah of Ibn Hazm Zahiri, it is presented here:

وقد قال قوم ان ثعلبة بن حاطب منع الزكوة فنزلت فيه (ومنهم من عاهد الله لئن آتانا من فضله لنصقن) (الآيات) وهذا باطل لأن شهوده بدرا يبطل ناك بلا شك

Some have said that when Tha’labah ibn Hatib refused to give zakat, then the verse was revealed regarding him, “and among them are those who made a pact with Allah that if He grants us from His grace, then we shall definitely give zakat”, this is baseless; being amongst the Sahabah of Badr renders it baseless.^{^[5]}

NEXT⇒ Accusation Regarding the Army of Sayyidina Usamah ibn Zaid

^{^[1]} Al Bidayah wa al Nihayah vol. 5 p. 30

^{^[2]} Al Bidayah wa al Nihayah vol. 6 p. 312, Mishkat p. 157

^{^[3]} Mirqat vol. 4 p. 136, 137

^{^[4]} Al Bidayah wa al Nihayah vol. 6 p. 315

^{^[5]} Jawami’ al Sirah p. 127

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