Soon after reaching Madinah, Rasulullahﷺ set up an ideal Islamic state with a commonwealth. Rasulullahﷺ was the Head of the state and sovereignty belonged to Allah. Besides Executive and judiciary powers, Rasulullahﷺ was also vested with military powers. Rasulullahﷺ was the lawgiver, chief justice, and supreme military commander. A mosque was established at Madinah which was a place of prayer. Besides, social, political, and economic activities were also organized from there. There was consultancy in matters of the State with his companions. His administration was Islamic oriented rather.
Religious administration: Rasulullahﷺ was first a prophet and then an administrator. His administration was based on Islamic principles. The main purpose of his administration was to promote Islamic values. Rasulullahﷺ’s Mosque was the center of all activities, religious or otherwise. Other mosques were to serve as the center of local activities. Rasulullahﷺ sent missionaries to teach Islam to people of different tribes. Quran readers were trained and sent to different parts of the country to promote their study. Rasulullahﷺ organized the Haj as an institution of international importance. Rasulullahﷺ himself led the Hajj before his demise.
Revenue & Finance Administration: In the days of Rasulullahﷺ the revenue of the State consisted of Alganimah, [booty] Aljizya [polltax] zakat, sadaqah, Alkharaj [ land tax collected from the non-Muslims] and Alfay was the revenue derived from State lands. 4/5 of the booty captured during the war was distributed among the soldiers and 1/5 went to public funds.
Military administration: At the outset, the Muslims fought aggression from the Quraish and the hostile tribes. In the beginning, there was no regular or organized army. During the Battle of Badr, the Muslim force, comprised 313 volunteers. But when Islam spread the number of Muslims increased significantly. Ten thousand Muslims were present during the conquest of Makkah and that number increased by threefold during the expedition of Tabuk. The soldiers were under the direct command of Rasulullahﷺ. The five winged formations were adopted, front guard, rear guard, center, right, and left.
As a statesman: A State was founded and a code of life was implemented based on the Quran and Sunnah. Unlike the church system, Islam enjoined man with Allahﷻ. Provinces were created, with governors who were accountable for their act of omission and commission to Rasulullahﷺ. Social equality of men was promoted. The poor were assisted by the rich. The congregation was to meet in the mosque. Islamic values got an impetus, and namaz and other elements of faith were promoted. An economic system was established which functioned with fairness, Booty was distributed accordingly; the haves not were relieved from the burden of poverty by receiving zakat and sadaqah. A public fund was also established in order to control the State's revenue appropriately.
In Madinah, Rasulullahﷺ drafted a charter in which the rights and duties of the citizen were found. It was the first written constitution in history. It stipulated that:
All blood feuds [long wars among family tribes ] were to be abolished
A murderer was subject to blood vengeance. He was not to be protected
All people of Madinah whether Muslims or non-Muslims were to form one community.
The Jews and other communities were to enjoy equal rights.
The Jews had to support the Muslims against the aggression of Madinah.
All communities were to live in peace and harmony.
All disputes were to be referred to Rasulullahﷺ and his decision was to be final.
In his time the country was divided into provinces, like Madinah, Makkah, Aljunad, Taymah, Yemen, Hadramaut, Oman, and Bahrein. Rasulullahﷺ appointed a governor in every province. An Amil was also appointed for every tribal region to collect zakat and other taxes. To administer justice judges were appointed in every province.
Rasulullahﷺ was a man of virtue, a perfect model in all aspects of life. Rasulullahﷺ had a charismatic personality with an attractive disposition, a man filled with the milk of human kindness. Rasulullahﷺ is rated as the greatest man in the history of mankind. However, Rasulullahﷺ was a prophet above all then he commanded great respect as an administrator and statesman.
Islam is the world’s only major religion whose founder has been debated to be more statesman-like than Prophetic, by some scholars. This chapter will argue that he was a Rasulullahﷺ, and prove that the teachings of Islam and the conditions in which it arose actually left Rasulullahﷺ with no choice but to apply Prophetic knowledge to statesmanship.
Rasulullahﷺ’s teachings fell in with those of past revelatory prophets like Abraham (Ibrahimعليه وآله وسلم), Moses (Musaعليه وآله وسلم), and Jesus (Isعليه وآله وسلم) , and thus never actually spoke of Islam as being a new religion with new dogma, nor preached it under these pretenses. Rasulullahﷺ preached Islam as a restoration of the Abrahamic archetypal religion, as well as the perfection of the two other major monotheistic religions, Judaism and Christianity; whose teachings were believed to have been corrupted over time.
Through spreading religious dogma, Rasulullahﷺ’s prophethood was not much different from that of Jesus (Isa عليه وآله وسلم), Moses (Musaعليه وآله وسلم), or Abraham (Ibrahimعليه وآله وسلم). However, he did differ through his application of religious law (in this case Islamic Law) into state law. Rasulullahﷺbest exemplified a model religious state in Madinah, where the people chose him as their leader based on his status and reputation among the people. Rasulullahﷺ used this opportunity to implement Islamic Law in Madinah; a model that worked so well, people of the city-state voluntarily converted to Islam based on the fairness and freedom it provided.
Rasulullahﷺ was now in a position no other prophet had ever been in. Rasulullahﷺ used the advantage he had as a prophetic political leader to negotiate treaties and resolutions that were beneficial to the Muslims and thus further enhance the influence of Islam on non-Muslims in the Arabian Peninsula. Rasulullahﷺ strategy worked so well that within the span of a few years, he was not only able to get the majority of the Arab population to convert to Islam, but he was also able to gain further political control.
Islam’s close religious association with them may stem from the idea that their two religions’ scriptures and overall purposes have been corrupted over the centuries. Islam was then a necessary religion for the sake of restoring the original teachings of Abraham (Ibrahim عليه وآله وسلم) and spreading the true word of God.
Through this logic, one can naturally assume that if Rasulullahﷺ were the messenger of a religion that spread the word of God by way of religious preaching, then Rasulullahﷺ would fall under the category of Prophet, not a political leader. Rasulullahﷺ spread Islam first to the polytheists and recognized the Jews and Christians as “the People of the Book”, confirming his continuation in the tradition of Abraham, Moses, Jesus, and other revelatory prophets. Rasulullahﷺ also recognized that the greatest threat to his message was polytheism and the only way to achieve his Prophetic goal was to rid the Arabian Peninsula of polytheism.
Islam, though, would not be able to stop spreading monotheism to polytheists. Rasulullahﷺ’s mission later included either perfecting or fixing the corrupted religions of Judaism and Christianity. Rasulullahﷺ preached that Islam was a perfect religion and that it was the combination of the original intents of both Judaism and Christianity, along with new concepts regarding law and justice.
Judaism’s corruption began with wanting kingship throughout their lands, a concept that was a breach of their covenant with Allahﷻ and had altered the text of their sacred scriptures. Christians were also corrupted because of altered scriptures, but more so because of their belief that Jesus was the son of God and not a prophet. Rasulullahﷺ, through recognizing the religious sovereignty of Jews and Christians, also recognized that their converting to Islam would make his religion that much stronger.
For all the similarities that Islam had with Christianity and Judaism, it had many differences. Islam, in following the traditions of the Abrahamic religions, was an ethical religion created for the purpose of bringing morality to the world and spreading the belief in the oneness of Allahﷻ. This tradition, however, was where Islam’s similarity to these religions ended. Rasulullahﷺ was the first prophet, who actually applied religious laws and scriptural text into state law.
The ascension into politics by way of religion was probably a natural and necessary step for religion at the time because of the failings of Jesus to conquer the hearts and minds of the Roman Government, and also because during the time of Moses, city-states were much more common than regional based states (i.e., America, Babylon, Rome, Mesopotamia, Abyssinia, etc). Rasulullahﷺ took the ethics and morals implied through Islam and actually used it to create fair and just social, judicial, and legislative laws for the state. The impact of these laws was best exemplified during Rasulullahﷺ time as leader of Madinah.
Rasulullahﷺ taking over the leadership of Madinah was based on his ability as a Rasulullahﷺ to most accurately interpret Islamic Law as the rightful law of the land. The best example of his ability to translate religious teachings into state law would be the Constitution of Madinah. Based on the only existing version of the historic document, there is evidence that Rasulullahﷺ repeatedly emphasized, in writing, the notion that all the implemented laws were not to be under the pretense of human interest, but rather, to be under the interest of Allahﷻ.
For example, Rasulullahﷺ specifically begins the Constitution of Madinah in praise of Allahﷻ, “In the name of God, the Merciful, the Compassionate” and refers to all groups of people based on their standing in the eyes of God, not himself, nor any other human. Jews were categorized as the ‘Believers’, and were considered a single Ummah (community) alongside the Muslim population, while the polytheists are categorized as the ‘Non-believers’.
The Constitution, in accordance with the Quran, allowed Rasulullahﷺ to uphold the standards by which he believed all Muslims were to live.
Besides upholding the standards for society, it also upheld the rules and regulations by which the state would function, both judicially and legislatively. Among the rules and regulations included in the document were the pretenses under which war could be launched, and the duties of the citizens towards the state. These two specific rules and regulations were particularly new to the people of Madinah, and later to the entire Arabian Peninsula, because they provided guidelines to people’s lives as well as an organized form of government.
The Constitution in its entirety, bound the people together by religious commonality, not kinship or tribal relations, as was still the case in tribal Arabia. Rasulullahﷺ role in this new state was that he would be the Chief Arbitrator of Madinah; a role later expanded to the unchallenged ruler of the Islamic Empire after further conquest of the Arabian Peninsula. Rasulullahﷺ role as the unchallenged leader, and maybe a direct result of his Prophethood; there were only a handful of cases where he had interceded as a sectarian judge.
Rasulullahﷺ invasions and conquests were based on sectarian conquest but for the purpose of spreading the newly founded religion of Islam. After being chosen as the leader of the Madinans, Rasulullahﷺ set his sights on conquering the hearts and minds of the Makkans. Though Rasulullahﷺ began with simple diplomatic treaties like the Treaty of Hudaibiya, Rasulullahﷺ also was forced to declare war on the Makkan’s thus displaying his military leadership.
The Makkan tribal leaders and Rasulullahﷺ, however, agreed upon the Treaty of Hudaibiya, so that the Muslims could make pilgrimage to the Ka’aba. Rasulullahﷺ, though he wanted the treaty to work, realized that it was an impossible deal, and attacked Makkah, once blood was spilled between the two major parties during the third pilgrimage and war was declared under the pretenses of the Treaty. Makkan surrendered before it could be defeated, and thus, Rasulullahﷺ attained total control of Makkan and achieved his ultimate goal of controlling the sanctuary that was the Ka’aba. By controlling the Ka’aba and Makkah, Rasulullahﷺ had successfully fulfilled a Prophecy in which he was supposed to one day control Makkan.
Rasulullahﷺ conquest over Makkah appears to be a result of his Prophethood, not his sectarian governing abilities. This would also appear to be the case because as soon as the Makkan surrendered to Rasulullahﷺ, he proceeded towards the Ka’aba to rid the city of its polytheistic nature by destroying all 365 idols present in the Ka’aba. Had Rasulullahﷺ conquered Makkah as a statesman and a Prophet, it is highly likely that he has immediately proceeded toward the Ka’aba for religious reasons.
Rasulullahﷺ might have gone to set up a home for himself or engage in a celebration of conquest among his military troops and army generals. Rasulullahﷺ did not; instead, he immediately went to fulfill his duty as a Prophet, which was to primarily rid the region of its paganistic rituals and beliefs.
Islam is not just a religion, but also a way of life, and as such, its dogma crosses over into other aspects of life besides faith. Its crossover into social etiquette, judicial service, and legislative services naturally provided a foundation for the ascension of Rasulullahﷺ into the political stream of life. His prophethood consisted of many decisions that could be characterized as statesmanship.
With that said, Rasulullahﷺ actions were always under divine guidance and intended to spread Islam (and never with the intent to further sectarian rule over the Arabian Peninsula), whether it was spreading the word of God to the polytheists, ruling over certain cities (i.e., Madinah and Makkan) or negotiating various Treaties and Resolutions with non-Muslim parties. Rasulullahﷺ actions always reflected a very religious and Prophetic agenda and never that of a sectarian leader, thus putting to rest the silly notion by some scholars that Rasulullahﷺ was more of a Prophet and a statesman.
Cassam Tupsy
NOTE : Les points de vue exprimés dans cette rubrique ne reflètent pas nécessairement ceux de la rédaction.
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