Moreover, he was unable to observe many—perhaps most—of the ordinances of Islam. He therefore neither migrated nor participated in jihad nor performed the pilgrimage to the House. It has even been related that he did not perform the five daily prayers, fast the month of Ramadan, or pay the prescribed zakat, because these acts would have become known to his people and they would have condemned him for them, while he was unable to defy them. We know with certainty that he could not have governed them according to the rulings of the Quran.

In Medina, Allah commanded His Prophet that whenever the People of the Book came to him, he was to judge between them only according to what Allah had revealed to him. He also warned him lest they tempt him away from any part of what Allah had revealed to him. This included imposing the prescribed punishment of stoning for adultery committed by a married person, and administering blood money with justice and equality in matters of bloodshed between the noble and the lowly: “a life for a life, and an eye for an eye,” and other such rulings.

The Negus could not have governed according to the rulings of the Quran, for his people would not have permitted him to do so. A man may often hold office among the Muslims and the Tatars as a judge—or even as a ruler—and wish to implement certain just measures, yet be unable to do so because others prevent him from doing so (1). Allah does not burden any soul beyond its capacity.

Umar ibn Abd al-Azīz faced hostility and suffered harm because of some of the justice he established. It has even been said that he was poisoned for that reason.