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land, you should not enter it; but if it spreads in the land where you are, you should not depart from it
.'' Thereupon
`Umar bin Khattab (May Allah be pleased with him) praised Allah and went back.
[Al-Bukhari and Muslim].
Commentary:
"
Ajnad
'' stands for five regions of Syria: Palestine, Jordan, Damascus, Hims and Qansarin. (An-
Nawawi).
'Umar (May Allah be pleased with him) praised Allah for the reason that his own Ijtihad was in accordance with the
Hadith of the Prophet (PBUH). The opinion given by the groups of Ansar and Muhajirun before this Ijtihad was also
based on some principles of Shari`ah: those who had advised not to return had evinced submission to the Will of
Allah and their absolute trust in Him, and the other group which had preferred the way of precaution had suggested
to avoid any such action which could prove harmful.
Although such precautionary measures could not save them from the Divine Decree, they decided to take all
possible precautions because this is what is ordained by Allah. In fact, this was the basis of the Ijtihad made by
`Umar, the veracity of which was proved by the Hadith of the Prophet (PBUH). This Hadith confirmed the point of
view of Imam An-Nawawi. Thus, this Hadith highlights the following four important points:
1. The test of validity of any decision is its correspondence with Shari`ah.
2. The desirability of mutual consultation.
3. The power of the Imam to depart from the advice of the consultative body.
4. The responsibility of the Imam to make every possible effort for the security of his subjects.
1792
َلﺎَﻗ ﻢﱠﻠَﺳو ِﻪْﻴَﻠَﻋ ُﷲا ﻰّﻠَﺻ ﱢﻲِﺒﱠﻨﻟا ِﻦﻋ ُﻪْﻨَﻋ ﻪﱠﻠﻟا ﻲﺿر ٍﺪْﻳَز ِﻦْﺑ َﺔَﻣﺎَﺳُأ ْﻦَﻋَو
:
»
َنﻮُﻋﺎﱠﻄﻟا ْﻢُﺘْﻌِﻤﺳ اَذإ
ٍ
ضْرَﺄِﺑ
ﺎَﻬْﻨِﻣ اﻮُﺟُﺮْﺨَﺗ َﻼَﻓ ، ﺎَﻬﻴِﻓ ْﻢُﺘْﻧَأَو ، ٍ
ضْرَﺄِﺑ َﻊَﻗو اَذإَو ، ﺎَهﻮُﻠُﺧْﺪَﺗ َﻼَﻓ ،
«
ِﻪﻴﻠﻋ ٌﻖﻔﺘﻣ
.
1792.
Usamah bin Zaid (May Allah be pleased with him) said: The Prophet (PBUH) said, "I
f you get wind of the
outbreak of plague in a land, do not enter it; and if it breaks out in a land in which you are, do not leave it.
''
[Al-Bukhari and Muslim].
786
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