Pearl of Wisdom
was asked how to determine the most rightful person to lead the congregation, to which he replied, 'Verily The Prophet (SAWA) said, 'The person who recites the Qur'an the best [i.e. with correct pronunciation] should lead them, and if they all recite similarly, then the one who migrated [from Makkah to Medina] the earliest, and if they all migrated around the same time, then the oldest from among them, and if they are all the same age, then the most knowledgeable from among them with regards to the prophetic practice and the laws of jurisprudence. No one from among you should lead a man in prayer in his own home, nor a man of authority within the sphere of his authority.'
Imam Ja'far ibn Muhammad al-Sadiq [as] al-Kafi, v. 3, p. 376, no. 5
Article Source
We acknowledge that the below references for providing the original file containing the 'Nahj ul Balagha'. Their references is http://www.nahjulbalagha.org/intro.php The files you find here are NOT IN the Public domain, and the copy rights of the files still remain with the above author
|
|
Grounds for accepting the Caliphate and the qualities of a ruler and governor |
|
Sermon 130 Grounds for accepting the Caliphate and the qualities of a ruler and governor
O' (people of) differing minds and divided hearts, whose bodies are present but wits are absent. I am leading you (amicably) towards truthfulness, but you run away from it like goats and sheep running away from the howling of a lion. How hard it is for me to uncover for you the secrets of justice, or to straighten the curve of truthfulness. O' my Allah! Thou knowest that what we did was not to seek power nor to acquire anything from the vanities of the world. We rather wanted to restore the signs of Thy religion and to usher prosperity into Thy cities so that the oppressed among Thy creatures might be safe and Thy forsaken commands might be established. O' my Allah! I am the first who leaned (towards Thee) and who heard and responded (to the call of Islam). No one preceded me in prayer (salat) except the Prophet. You certainly know that he who is in charge of honour, life, booty, (enforcement of) legal commandments and the leadership of the Muslims should not be a miser as his greed would aim at their wealth, nor be ignorant as he would then mislead them with his ignorance, nor be of rude behaviour who would estrange them with his rudeness, nor should he deal unjustly with wealth thus preferring one group over another, nor should he accept a bribe while taking decisions, as he would forfeit (others) rights and hold them up without finality, nor should he ignore sunnah as he would ruin the people.
|
|