Ihyaaud Deen An Effort to Revive Deen in Totality
During the khilaafah of Hazrat Umar (radhiyallahu ‘anhu), there was a person by the name of Jibillah bin Ayham who was the ruler over the Christian Arabs in the land of Ghassaan. He renounced Christianity and embraced Islam, after which he came to Madinah Munawwarah to meet Hazrat Umar (radhiyallahu ‘anhu).
Upon meeting Hazrat Umar (radhiyallahu ‘anhu), they both greeted each other with salaam, and Hazrat Umar (radhiyallahu ‘anhu) extended a warm welcome to him and honoured him. After spending some time in Madinah Munawwarah, Jibillah departed for Makkah Mukarramah to perform haj, as it was the time of haj.
During his stay in Makkah Mukarramah, while performing tawaaf, a person from the Banu Fazaarah clan accidentally stepped on the lungi of Jibillah, causing it to open up, thereby causing part of his satr to be exposed. Jibillah was overcome by anger and immediately slapped the person on his face, injuring him.
The Fazaari man came to Hazrat Umar (radhiyallahu ‘anhu) with a large number of his clansmen, explained what had transpired, and asked for justice to be carried out. After hearing the complaint, Hazrat Umar (radhiyallahu ‘anhu) summoned Jibillah and asked him if the Fazaari man’s complaint against him was true. Jibillah admitted that he had slapped the person on his face and injured him.
Hearing this, Hazrat Umar (radhiyallahu ‘anhu) said, “You have confessed to the crime! Now, you should either please the man (by asking him to forgive you, or by you giving him some money as compensation for hurting him), or else I will allow him to take his retribution from you.” Jibillah asked, “How will you do this?” Hazrat Umar (radhiyallahu ‘anhu) said, “I will instruct him to slap you on your face, just as you had slapped him.”
Jibillah objected to this saying, “How can you do this, whereas he is a normal person, and I am a king ruling over my people?” Hazrat Umar (radhiyallahu ‘anhu) said, “Islam is the religion that has made you both equal to each other in status. You will not be superior to him in the sight of Allah Ta‘ala, except if you possess more taqwa (piety and fear of Allah Ta‘ala) compared to him.”
Jibillah was dissatisfied with the response of Hazrat Umar (radhiyallahu ‘anhu) and retorted saying, “I thought that I would be shown more honour and respect in Islam, compared to the honour and respect I enjoyed in Jaahiliyyah (the period before I embraced Islam)!” Hazrat Umar (radhiyallahu ‘anhu) said to Jibillah, “Let go of all these talks (stemming from pride), for if you do not please the man, then I will allow him to take retribution from you!”
Jibillah stubbornly said, “In that case, I will return to Christianity!” Hazrat Umar (radhiyallahu ‘anhu) replied, “If you return to Christianity, I will have you executed, as the law of Islam is that the one who becomes apostate and reneges after Islam, he will have to be killed.”
When Jibillah saw that Hazrat Umar (radhiyallahu ‘anhu) was determined to uphold justice and allow the Fazaari to take retribution, he said to him, “Give me respite for one night to think over this issue.” Since this was the right of the person oppressed (the Fazaari man), Hazrat Umar (radhiyallahu ‘anhu) asked him permission to give Jibillah respite and delay the issue to the following day.
That night, when people were asleep, and Jibillah found the opportunity to flee, then together with his people, he left Madinah Munawwarah and fled to Shaam to present himself in the presence of Hercules who was a Christian king and considered the superpower of the time. On coming before Hercules, he and all his people renounced their Islam and re-entered into Christianity.
Hercules was overjoyed by this and counted it as a victory in his favour. Such was the joy of Hercules that he gave Jibillah precious gifts, allotted to him many lands, stipulated a large stipend for him from the treasury and gave him a position among his special counsel.
It is reported that later on in his life, Jibillah met some of the Sahaabah (radhiyallahu ‘anhum) and expressed his regret for what he had done, and for renouncing Islam on account of his pride that stopped him from accepting the law of retribution and accepting the justice of Islam.
Nevertheless, Jibillah did not accept Islam and passed away upon kufr in the time of Hazrat Mu’aawiyah (radhiyallahu ‘anhu).
In the year 53 AH, when Hazrat Mu’aawiyah (radhiyallahu ‘anhu) was the ruler, he sent Abdullah bin Mis’adah as a messenger to the Roman ruler. He also met Jibillah who said to him, “If your leader will give me the land of Thaniyyah – as it is our homeland – as well as 20 villages from the land of Ghootah, and he will stipulate a stipend for us, and give us excellent rewards, then I will come back to Islam.” Abdullah bin Mis’adah replied, “I will convey your message to our leader, Hazrat Mu’aawiyah (radhiyallahu ‘anhu).”
When he returned to Hazrat Mu’aawiyah (radhiyallahu ‘anhu), he informed him of what Jibillah had said. Hazrat Mu’aawiyah (radhiyallahu ‘anhu) responded saying, “I wish that you had said yes and accepted his request on my behalf. I am prepared to give him what he is asking for.”
Hazrat Mu’aawiyah (radhiyallahu ‘anhu) then wrote a letter to Jibillah, informing him that his request would be fulfilled, however when the person bearing the letter reached Jibillah, he found that Jibillah had already passed away. (Al Bidaayah wan Nihaayah 8/66-68 & Al Muntazam 5/256-260, Futoohush Shaam 1/100)
Islam is a religion of complete kindness and total justice. If any person is oppressed, then Islam commands that justice be upheld against the oppressor and retribution be taken from him. If the oppressor has committed a crime which demands hadd (corporal punishment) e.g. he was caught for theft, then in an Islamic country, his hand will have to be cut, and even the leader does not have the right to forgive the criminal.
If the right is a right of the servant – like in this case where Jibillah had slapped and injured the face of the Fazaari man, then no person, whether he be the leader or a subject, has the right to give the oppressor concession and deprive the oppressed person of his right. Nevertheless, if the oppressed person himself forgives the oppressor, then it is permissible and retribution will not be taken from the oppressor.
Therefore, in this incident, Hazrat Umar (radhiyallahu ‘anhu) remained firm upon upholding the justice of Islam and did not make any consideration for Jibillah. Even when Jibillah mentioned that he would leave Islam, Hazrat Umar (radhiyallahu ‘anhu) did not change the law of Islam to please him.
If a person embraces Islam, then he should understand that it is a feather in his cap, and not a feather in the cap of Islam. Through bringing Islam, he has brought honour to himself, and not brought honour to Islam. Therefore, Hazrat Umar (radhiyallahu ‘anhu) did not have the right to change the law of Allah Ta‘ala to please Jibillah, and nor did Hazrat Umar (radhiyallahu ‘anhu) regret his decision when Jibillah reneged from Islam, as Hazrat Umar (radhiyallahu ‘anhu) understood that he has to please Allah Ta‘ala at all times and uphold the justice of Islam.
This firmness of Hazrat Umar (radhiyallahu ‘anhu) upon justice was in conformity with the command of Allah Ta‘ala in the Qur’aan Majeed. Allah Ta‘ala says:
یٰۤاَیُّہَا الَّذِیۡنَ اٰمَنُوۡا کُوۡنُوۡا قَوّٰمِیۡنَ بِالۡقِسۡطِ شُہَدَآءَ لِلّٰہِ وَ لَوۡ عَلٰۤی اَنۡفُسِکُمۡ اَوِ الۡوَالِدَیۡنِ وَ الۡاَقۡرَبِیۡنَ ۚ اِنۡ یَّکُنۡ غَنِیًّا اَوۡ فَقِیۡرًا فَاللّٰہُ اَوۡلٰی بِہِمَا ۟
O you who have believed, be upholders of justice, witnesses for Allah, even if it be against yourselves or parents and relatives. Whether one is rich or poor, Allah is closer to them than you (i.e. Allah Ta‘ala knows what is best for both, so you fulfil Allah Ta‘ala’s command of justice when dealing with both.). (Surah Nisaa v. 135)
As for Jibillah, then the cause for him refusing to submit to the justice of Islam was his pride. This attitude of pride is the same attitude that caused Shaitaan to refuse to make sajdah to Nabi Aadam (‘alaihis salaam), and it prevented Jibillah from being humble and submitting before the law of Islam, as he felt that he is a king and superior to other people. Just as this evil quality of pride caused Shaitaan to be eternally rejected, it also caused Jibillah to be doomed to Jahannum forever.
