IN GIVING, WE RECEIVE

D URING the Caliphate of the second Caliph Umar, a Christian merchant entered the Islamic frontiers from the river Euphrates with his horses for trade. Ziyad bin Hadeer, who was appointed at the frontiers to oversee imports and exports, demanded tax from the merchant which he paid. He returned through the same route taking with him his unsold horses. Ziyad again demanded tax on these horses. The merchant felt a strong objection to it. He left his unsold horse under the care of his servants and travelled to Madinah in order to lodge a complaint with the Caliph himself. After reaching Madinah, he narrated his ordeal to Umar and mentioned that he has been asked unfairly to pay taxes on his unsold horses. Umar listened to the complaint and replied, “Your complaint has been taken care of.” The merchant left disappointed as he felt that the Caliph had not accorded much importance to his grievance. He came to the check port of the Euphrates and offered the tax amount which was demanded by Ziyad before. This time, Ziyad did not accept the offered money and said that he had been commanded by the Caliph not to impose tax upon him. The Christian merchant was really impressed to know that the Caliph’s decision was so swift that the justice he asked reached there before him. Ali was the fourth rightly-guided Caliph. Once his armour got stolen. He came to know that the stolen armour was with a Jew. He put the case before the court of Qazi (judge) Shuraih in Kufa. To verify his claim, Ali presented two witnesses. One was his servant Qanbar, while the second was his own son Hasan. Justice Shuraih objected by saying that testimony of a son is not acceptable to support the claim of his father. He further said that only one solitary witness is not enough to prove a claim. Therefore, Justice Shuraih dismissed the petition, and the armour remained in possession of the Jew. This incidence left the Jew overwhelmed. He said, “This episode reminds me of the conduct of the prophets where a Qazi announces his judgement against the ruler.” Soon after, the Jew returned the armour to Ali saying that it indeed belonged to Ali and that Ali’s claim was, in fact, true. (Kanz Al-Ammal) IN GIVING, WE RECEIVE Glimpses from the Muslim History