Explanation of the Book of Fitnahs and Rulings-09b

The reciter: Musa ibn Isma'il narrated to us, 'Abd al-'Aziz ibn Muslim narrated to us, 'Abd Allah ibn Dinar narrated to us, saying: I heard Ibn 'Umar (may Allah be pleased with them both) say: .

The Shaykh : Usamah ibn Zayd was a freed slave of the Messenger of Allah (peace and blessings be upon him), because Zayd ibn Harithah was a slave owned by the Messenger (peace and blessings be upon him), and then he freed him, so he became a freed slave, and his son was also a freed slave, because the son of a freed slave is a freed slave. And the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him) loved him, so he appointed him as commander of a detachment he sent out. So the people criticized his appointment, saying: How can he be appointed, when he is a freed slave, over free people? So he (may the prayer and peace of Allah be upon him) said: Who? Zayd ibn Harithah. This is an oath, and its hamzah is a hamzat al-wasl (connecting hamzah), and it is said "wa-ym Allah" or "wa-ayman Allah," and the meaning is "by the oath of Allah." "Khaliqan" means worthy and fit for it. "In kana" is this "in" is a lightened form of the heavy "in"... and the evidence for that is the entry of the lam in the predicate of the sentence that served as its predicate, and its subject is always the pronoun of the matter, usually omitted, though it may be mentioned, but the norm is that it is omitted. And his saying we say in it what we said in the first "in," and the pronoun in his saying "kana" refers back to Zayd. Then he said So the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him) came to love Usamah and love Zayd. And by this we know that this hadith corresponds to the chapter heading, where the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him) did not care about the criticism of Usamah or of his father, meaning he did not mind it or take it to heart. But it is obligatory for the one in authority who has the power to appoint commanders to choose the one who is best in his religion and his work, and it is not permissible to appoint anyone over a group when there is someone better than him among them. If he does so, by appointing a commander, even if he is the closest person to him, over a group in which there is someone better than him, then he has betrayed Allah and His Messenger and the believers. And that is because command is a trusteeship, and a trusteeship must be undertaken by the one who is more entitled to it than others.