4. LIBERTY, EQUALITY, FRATERNITY

4. Liberty, Equality, Fraternity ~ 167 ~ chosen to halt here because you were guided by divine revelation, or is this choice of halting place purely a matter of your own private opinion?” The Prophet replied, “I have chosen this place myself” At this, Khabbab ibn al-Mundhir said, “‘This is no place to halt. Move from here with all your companions.” The Prophet, far from rebuking the man for this audacity, simply asked him why he thought they should camp elsewhere. When he had heard his reasons, he immediately agreed with him, and he and his companions then set off to find another halting place. The fact that neither the Prophet nor his companions took exception to Khabbab ibn al-Mundhir’s behaviour is a clear illustration of the degree to which egalitarianism was encouraged by Islam. (Details of this incident are available in the books on Sirah, the Prophet Muhammad’s biography.) This revolution, imbued as it was with the spirit of Islamic monotheism, was so powerful that its effects continued to be felt throughout the whole of Islamic history. After the Prophet, during the period of the pious caliphs, anyone, irrespective of his social