Al-Hisba fi al-Islam - Ibn Taimiya - (17)

Al-Hisba fi al-IslamIbn Taimiya

and let them take their weapons. When they have prostrated, let them fall back behind you, and let another group who have not yet prayed come forward and pray with you, taking due precaution and bearing their weapons” (al-Nisāʾ 4:102), up to His words: “Then, when you feel secure, establish the prayer; for prayer has been prescribed for the believers at appointed times” (al-Nisāʾ 4:103).

Its rank is too great to be encompassed, so those in authority must care for it more than for any other duty. For this reason the Commander of the Believers ʿUmar ibn al-Khaṭṭāb—may Allah be pleased with him—used to write to his governors: “The most important matter in your charge, in my estimation, is the prayer. Whoever safeguards it and observes it faithfully has safeguarded his religion, and whoever neglects it will be even more negligent of everything else.” This was transmitted by Mālik and others.1

Accordingly, the muḥtasib commands the Friday and congregational prayers, truthfulness in speech, and the fulfilment of trusts.

He forbids wrongs such as lying and betrayal, and everything that falls under them: giving short measure and weight, fraud in crafts, sales, and matters of religion, and the like. Allah the Exalted says, “Woe to those who give short measure—those who, when they take measure from people, demand it in full, but when they measure or weigh for them, give them less” (al-Muṭaffifīn 83:1–3). And He said in the story of Shuʿayb: “Give full measure and do not be among those who cause loss; weigh with an even balance; and do not diminish people’s goods, nor go about the earth, spreading corruption” (al-Shuʿarāʾ 26:181). He also said, “Allah does not love those who are habitually treacherous and sinful” (al-Nisāʾ 4:107), and, “Allah does not guide the plotting of the treacherous” (Yūsuf 12:52).

In the two Ṣaḥīḥs it is related from Ḥakīm ibn Ḥizām that the Messenger of Allah, peace and blessings be upon him, said: “The buyer and the seller each retain the option (of cancelling) as long as they have not separated. If they speak the truth and make things clear, their transaction will be blessed; but if they conceal and lie, the blessing of their sale will be wiped out.”2

(1) See al-Musawa, commentary on the Muwatta by al-Dehlawi, no. 112; the chain of transmission between Nafi and Umar is interrupted. (2) On the authority of Hakim b. Hizam, this exact wording is reported by al-Bukhari in his Sahih 4/328 and by al-Nasaʾi in al-Mujtaba 7/244; a similar wording appears in Musnad Ahmad 3/402, 403, 434 and in Sunan Abi Dawud 9/330. Muslim likewise narrates a variant in his Sahih 10/429 on the authority of Abd Allah b. Umar, and al-Tirmidhi in his Sunan 5/254. The hadith is authentic.

وَلْيَأْخُذُوا أَسْلِحَتَهُمْ فَإِذَا سَجَدُوا فَلْيَكُونُوا مِنْ وَرَائِكُمْ وَلْتَأْتِ طَائِفَةٌ أُخْرَى لَمْ يُصَلُّوا فَلْيُصَلُّوا مَعَكَ وَلْيَأْخُذُوا حِذْرَهُمْ وَأَسْلِحَتَهُمْ﴾ [النساء: ١٠٢] . إلى قوله: ﴿فَإِذَا اطْمَأْنَنْتُمْ فَأَقِيمُوا الصَّلَاةَ إِنَّ الصَّلَاةَ كَانَتْ عَلَى الْمُؤْمِنِينَ كِتَابًا مَوْقُوتًا﴾ [النساء: ١٠٣] . وأمرها أعظم من أن يحاط به، فاعتناء ولاة الأمر بها يجب أن يكون فوق اعتنائهم بجميع الأعمال، لهذا كان أمير المؤمنين عمر بن الخطاب ﵁ يكتب إلى عماله: إن أهم أمركم عندي الصلاة من حفظها وحافظ عليها حفظ دينه، ومن ضيعها كان لما سواها أشد إضاعة. رواه مالك وغيره١. ويأمر المحتسب بالجمعة والجماعات، وبصدق الحديث وأداء الأمانات. وينهى عن المنكرات: من الكذب والخيانة، وما يدخل في ذلك من تطفيف المكيال والميزان والغش في الصناعات، والبياعات، والديانات، ونحو ذلك قال الله تعالى: ﴿وَيْلٌ لِلْمُطَفِّفِينَ، الَّذِينَ إِذَا اكْتَالُوا عَلَى النَّاسِ يَسْتَوْفُونَ، وَإِذَا كَالُوهُمْ أَوْ وَزَنُوهُمْ يُخْسِرُونَ﴾ [المطففين: ١،٣] . وقال في قصة شعيب: ﴿أَوْفُوا الْكَيْلَ وَلَا تَكُونُوا مِنَ الْمُخْسِرِينَ، وَزِنُوا بِالْقِسْطَاسِ الْمُسْتَقِيمِ، وَلَا تَبْخَسُوا النَّاسَ أَشْيَاءَهُمْ وَلَا تَعْثَوْا فِي الْأَرْضِ مُفْسِدِينَ﴾ [الشعراء: ١٨١] . وقال تعالى: ﴿إِنَّ اللَّهَ لَا يُحِبُّ مَنْ كَانَ خَوَّانًا أَثِيمًا﴾ [النساء: ١٠٧] . وقال: ﴿وَأَنَّ اللَّهَ لَا يَهْدِي كَيْدَ الْخَائِنِينَ﴾ [يوسف: ٥٢] . وفي الصحيحين عن حكيم بن حزام قال: قال رسول الله ﷺ: "البيعان بالخيار ما لم يتفرقا، فإن صدقا وبينا بورك لهما في بيعهما، وإن كتما وكذبا محقت بركة بيعهما" ٢.

١ انظر المسوى شرح الموطأ للدهلوي رقم "١١٢" بسند منقطع بين نافع وعمر ﵁. ٢ من حديث حكيم بن حزام رواه بهذا اللفظ البخاري في صحيحه "٤/ ٣٢٨" والنسائي في المجتبى "٧/ ٢٤٤"، وبنحو هذا اللفظ الإمام أحمد في مسنده "٣/ ٤٠٢، ٤٠٣، ٤٣٤"، وأبو داود في سننه "٩/ ٣٣٠"، وكذلك روى نحوه مسلم في صحيحه "١٠/ ٤٢٩" عن "عبد الله بن عمر"، والترمذي في سننه "٥/ ٢٥٤" والحديث صحيح.