Saeed
bin Zaid رضى الله عنه
He was cousin and brother-in-law of
Umar رضى الله عنه. His pedigree is like
this: Saeed bin Zaid bin Amr bin Nufail bin Abdullah bin Qart bin Rabâh bin
Adi. He joined the Prophet (صلى الله عليه وآله وسلم)
in all the battles except the battle of Badr. But the Prophet (صلى الله عليه وآله وسلم) gave him a share
from the booty of Badr and counted him among the Companions of Badr. He died in
51 AH, at the age of 72.
Once a woman lodged a complaint
against him in regard to a piece of land. He cursed her with blindness in case
she was a liar. She turned blind and fell into a well and died. Once he heard
some unkind words against Ali رضى الله عنه
in the Grand Mosque of Kufah and remarked, "Abu Bakr, Umar, Uthmân, Ali,
Talhah, Zubair, Abu Ubaidiah, Saad bin Abu Waqqâs, Abdur-Rahmân bin Auf, these
nine are among the Blessed Ten." "Who is the tenth one?" the
person inquired. But Saeed رضى الله عنه
kept silent, on repeated insistence, he revealed, "I am the tenth
one."
After the Khilafat Rashida, (the
rightly guided caliphate) we now begin with the Caliphate of Banu Umayyah. In
the Khilafat ar-Rashida, the first two caliphs were neither from Banu Umayyah
nor from Banu Hashim. The period of these two rightly guided Caliphs was the
best. The third was related to the family of Banu Umayyah and the fourth to
Banu Hashim. In the second half of the Khilafat ar-Rashida, the caliphs of both
Banu Umayyah and Banu Hashim remained on the throne. The second half compared
to the first half may be called a period of failure though it was certainly
better than the caliphates that followed because the Prophet's companions were
the rulers and most of his companions were still alive.
Islam came into the world to wipe
out Shirk, (partnership with Allah) and establish Tawhid, oneness of Allâh. The
Prophet (صلى الله عليه وآله وسلم) showed mankind what
is perfect Tawhid and the way to real success. There can be no harm or loss
greater than Shirk and no felicity and success greater than Tawhid. Shirk, in
fact, is the name of injustice and oppression. That is why the noble Quran
calls it the greatest of injustices. What can be a bigger injustice than the
fact that man should regard as his Maker, all the helpless beings that are
themselves Allah's creations and slaves? Only that person can commit Shirk who
wants to lead a life of injustice. The greatest thing that compels a man to
embrace injustice is ignorance coupled with unjustified love, which in Quranic
phraseology we call darkness and loss of the right path. In unjustified and
uncalled for love for elders of our families and tribes we accord unjust
veneration of their, pictures, statues and graves and these are the chief
reasons that lead to the prevalence of Shirk in the world. It is through this
that mankind has forgotten its Creator and fell into a death-pit. The Prophet (صلى الله عليه وآله وسلم) wiped out all the
possibilities of Shirk, he also saved mankind from unjustified family prejudice
and love that takes mankind away from justice and impartiality. The second
thing that compels and has been compelling mankind to suffer from this greatest
injustice is unjustified pride. This is the very thing that turned Iblis into
Satan, the rejected one and it is through this that he has been able to seduce
most people from the right path and put them on the way to destruction. When this
unjustified pride joins hands with unjustified love, a very powerful formula
for destruction is prepared for mankind. In order to do away with this source
of Shirk the Prophet (صلى الله عليه وآله وسلم)
on the day of the conquest of Makkah, stood at the door of the Ka'bah and
addressed the inhabitants of Makkah and those who were influential among the
Arabs.
"O the tribe of Quraish! Allah
did away with your vanity of the age of ignorance and your pride in your
ancestors. All men are the offspring of Adam and Adam was made of clay. Allah
says, O mankind! We created you from a single pair of a male and a female and
made you into nations and tribes that you may know each other. Verily the most
honored of you in the sight of Allah is (he who is) the most righteous of
you." (Ibn Hisham 4:60)
Putting an end to racial and tribal
pride was in reality closing the avenues to Shirk and creating the capacity for
Tawhid. Also, there is no denying the existence of tribes and nations and their
distinctions but greatness is not connected with race and family. Greatness and
superiority is connected with the recognition and fear of Allah. Everybody who
becomes pious deserves to be blessed and every member of a tribe earns
debasement for his and her misdeeds. By setting people on the right and
straight path, the Prophet (صلى الله عليه وآله وسلم)
delivered them to success in both the worlds and felicity for mankind. In the
first half of the Khilafat ar-Rashida, the Muslims had nothing to do with the
renounced sources of deviation and forgot family intolerance Quraish used to
address Bilal the Habashi (Ethiopian) as 'Sayyadi' (my chief) and regarded him
as more honored than themselves by virtue of his good deeds. The wisdom in
sending the Muhajirin and Ansars of noble families under the command of Osama
bin Zaid (رضى الله عنه) was that nobody
should harbor the thought in his heart that a man could be honored by virtue of
nation, race or family. Had the crown and caliphate been the prerogative of a
particular tribe and family, the Prophet (صلى الله
عليه وآله وسلم) would not have sent anybody other than Banu Hashim as
administrators to the provinces and territories and as commanders of the armed
forces but he rarely did so. He always took care to bestow leadership and
governorship strictly on the basis of merit. He did not consider anyone worthy
of such a position based on one's relation to a particular family, or tribe.
That was why even slaves could become leaders over the elders in Quraish and be
given command the aremed forces nothing there than his would have been expected
of the perfect teacher who preached pure Tawhid.
There had been a historical rivalry
between Banu Umayyah and Banu Hashim as both tried to excel each other. That
was probably why Banu Umayyah first opposed the Prophet (صلى الله عليه وآله وسلم), who belonged to the tribe of Banu
Hashim, vehemently and Banu Hashim supported him more. When the Polythiests,
those who make partners with Allah, were totally wiped out from the Arab and
the opposing atheists of both tribes were slain or the fortunate ones embraced
Islam, there were a good number of courageous and meritorious people in the
newly converted Banu Umayyah. The Prophet (صلى الله
عليه وآله وسلم) honored their capabilities. At the time of the conquest of
Makkah by equating Abu Sufyan's house with the Ka'bah in connection to
protection, he pleased them. Uthman bin Affan (رضى
الله عنه) who came from Banu Umayyah and who was the Prophet's
son-in-law, Ba'it ar-Ridwan was taken for him. Um ul-Muminin Um Habiba (رضى الله عنها) also belonged to the Banu Umayyah tribe,
she was Abu Sufyan's daughter and Muawiya's sister. The Prophet (صلى الله عليه وآله وسلم) appointed Abu Sufyan
(رضى الله عنه) the ruler of Najran.
He made Uthman bin Abul-Aas (رضى الله عنه) who was Uthman bin Affan's uncle, the
governor of Taif and the adjoining areas. Umar Farooq (رضى الله عنه) made him governor of Oman and Bahrain.
Attab bin Usaid (رضى الله عنه), the grandson of Abu
Sufyan's uncle Abul-Aas, who became a Muslim on the day of the victory of
Makkah was appointed the ruler of Makkah. Khalid bin Sayeed, the grandson of
Abu Sufyan's uncle, was made the administrator of Yemen. He became a martyr in
the battle of Yarmuk. Similarly, the Prophet (صلى الله
عليه وآله وسلم) appointed Uthman bin Sayeed the governor of Khaibar and and
his brother Aban the ruler of Bahrain. Had the Prophet (صلى الله عليه وآله وسلم) an iota of the old rivalry between Banu
Umayyah and Banu Hashim and preferred the racial and family relations to
personal qualification, he would not have made these people of Banu Umayyah the
administrators of these provinces.
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