to be an onerous burden, more of an ordeal than comfort and busied
themselves with the idea of shedding the load but were afraid of its fatal
nature.
A person hailing from a city in the extremity of the west has narrated (to me) that the government of that territory is handed over to the
nobles turn by turn. Each chief voluntarily relinquishes his reign after
three months. The period having lapsed, he offers sadaqahs with joy and
returns home as if he has been relieved of confinement, reverting to his
daily chores. This is so since rulership is actually the surrendering of ease
and comfort, so that the oppressed may be meted out justice in relation
to the oppressor, and his life, possessions, and the family may be protected. He has to devise stratagems to safeguard their interests, to protect
their lives and properties, and to exercise a watchful eye upon the
stipends and wages, e.g., the wages of the watchman of a locality, for the
guide of a caravan, etc. Although the wages of a caravan guide have
come to an end through changes in traditions, nevertheless each age has
its own rituals and traditions which have to be borne in mind, otherwise
the whole system will collapse. The ruler has to keep in view all the
above traditions.
Pause
Eating from silver and gold utensils is prohibited as by doing so the
usefulness of these metals becomes extinct, as we have said before.
Also, the Satanic boast comes to pass:
. . . and surely I will command them and they will change
Allah's creation.31
It is quite possible that this prohibitive order of the Shari'ah embodies
the consideration that such utensils are possessed by monarchs, and not
by the commonalty. Man has to face the vicissitudes of fortune all the
time. He is at times indigent and at others, opulent. If through confidence in one's own wealth, these things of utility are converted to gold
and silver utensils, change in fortune might dictate their conversion into
dirhams and dinars. It is quite likely that people might find out about
this, and their intentions might change, as they will have become demoralised. The enemy, upon the divulgement of the secret, will look
askance greedily upon this happening. Man is by nature selfish and
greedy and would like to usurp the rights of others.
This prohibitive command, it is possible, takes the above point into
consideration, as the Shari'ah takes cognizance of the worldly and eschatological requirements of the good people and the rich. May God
vouchsafe to all the capacity to intend and think rightly, so that they
may morally benefit from their predecessors. May He keep us all away
from the path of sin and save us through His Boundless Compassion from
the clutches of adulterators.
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