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In this lecture, the speaker highlights the exemplary leadership of Hazreti Omer, the second caliph of Islam, emphasizing his commitment to justice and accountability in governance. He draws parallels between Omer's practices, such as the establishment of property origin laws and the oversight of governors, and contemporary issues of corruption in Muslim societies, particularly in Bosnia and Herzegovina. The speaker stresses that leadership in Islam is not a privilege but a responsibility, referencing Omer's insistence on transparency and integrity among public officials to prevent corruption.
Transcript (English)
0:00 Dear friends, peace be upon you.
0:02 One
0:05 of the four righteous caliphs was Hazrat Umar.
0:08 He is often mentioned as an example of justice, but
0:12 as an example
0:13 of a functional
0:14 state and a functional society caring for the state, and so on.
0:19 Today, we greatly lack Umar in Muslim societies, including our Bosnian-Herzegovinian,
0:27 and surely beyond.
0:29 Did you know that the law on the origin of property, which I believe was adopted here about two or three years ago,
0:38 This is not a modern matter, but a law introduced by Hazrat Omar long ago.
0:46 More than 140 years ago.
0:50 The law on the origin of wealth. Where do public officials
0:54 get such wealth?
0:55 Where
0:58 do they receive incomes that are far greater than their actual salaries?
1:03 Why is no one investigating this matter?
1:07 What is the level of corruption
1:09 among
1:10 representatives?
1:12 authorities at various levels
1:15 in relation to those who are honest?
1:17 It seems to me that these questions remain, in some way, to this day
1:23 a matter
1:25 internal issues, etc.
1:27 On the contrary,
1:29 this is not a matter of politics,
1:31 this is, for us Muslims, a matter of faith
1:34 because any form of corruption,
1:37 any form of bribery,
1:39 by any means forbidden
1:42 of acquiring wealth
1:44 is
1:45 therefore it is our collective responsibility to ask
1:49 What Hazrat Omar said to Amr ibn
1:53 In'Allah'
1:54 to both of them
1:55 from where did you get this?
1:58 Where did you get so much
2:01 real estate?
2:03 Where did you get so many vehicles?
2:08 What is it really about? Hazrat Umar, may Allah be pleased with him,
2:20 who succeeded Hazrat Abu Bakr, who ruled for a relatively short time,
2:22 and Hazrat Abu Bakr was the first caliph of the Muslims,
2:28 Hazrat Umar established
2:29 a social authority and a form of state that is a model
2:31 for Muslims
2:34 until the Day of Judgment.
2:36 Among other things, Hazrat Umar divided
2:39 the large Muslim state into smaller and lesser provinces.
2:40 The next sunnah of the Prophet (peace be upon him).
2:43 He sent to those provinces, to those regions, to those, we would say, cantons.
2:49 He sent governors,
2:50 he sent leaders.
2:52 So it couldn't be
2:54 personal there in the face of authority because the then authority didn't function that way,
2:58 due to the lack of cohesion between
3:01 the people and so on.
3:03 So during the time of Hazrat Umar, there were many of those provinces.
3:07 And Hazrat Umar (may Allah be pleased with him).
3:10 So you know the prominent companions like Sad ibn Nabi Waqas,
3:15 Amr ibn Al-As,
3:17 Abu Huraira,
3:18 may Allah be pleased with him,
3:19 and others,
3:21 selected
3:22 for glory in certain
3:24 provinces to be governors,
3:26 to be representatives,
3:28 to represent
3:30 Islam represents the Muslims.
3:32 And in some way, they establish
3:35 social justice in the places they were sent.
3:39 However, one thing that is often overlooked is
3:42 that Hazrat Omar, may Allah be pleased with him,
3:45 had a special,
3:48 unit, special men,
3:50 that is, special people,
3:51 whom he sent as inspectors
3:55 to those provinces.
3:56 so without knowledge
3:59 of the local governors
4:01 so,
4:02 is that in Sham, so yes
4:05 we send Avi, is that Amorobin in Lasa down in Egypt, is it Abu Huraira or someone else, so it is recorded
4:12 that he sent people
4:14 so to those provinces
4:16 And their task was to talk to the common people. To talk to ordinary people
4:23 And to control
4:25 what is the quality of life
4:27 people,
4:29 or what satisfaction
4:31 precisely
4:32 with the state,
4:33 the authorities in
4:35 that individual
4:36 context, what people generally think about the Islamic state at that time, and especially
4:43 what people think
4:44 about their governors,
4:46 their leaders.
4:48 One
4:49 of the things he would specifically
4:51 task them with was to report on
4:54 is to
4:56 monitor
4:57 the financial status or what we would say today, the asset report of his governors
5:04 in those places where Hazrat Umar sent them.
5:09 Why is this so? Because Hazrat Umar, before sending any governor,
5:15 would have their asset report. So he knew what that person owned.
5:22 However, after that, after this inspection,
5:27 Hazrat Umar would gather information about the state of life there,
5:35 how people live, what the ordinary person thinks,
5:36 what ordinary people are contemplating.
5:39 And especially,
5:41 he would monitor his governors.
5:43 Why? To prevent bribery,
5:45 to prevent corruption,
5:47 to prevent
5:48 any form of unlawful
5:56 enrichment by those in power. Because, you know, there is a saying in Bosnian that goes,
5:58 a fist of power
5:59 but it insults
6:04 a fist of power is better than a sack of gold
6:05 Why did people invent this? Why did they say this saying? Because with a fist of power
6:11 many sacks of gold are acquired.
6:14 Of course, in an unlawful way, so it will surely be
6:18 oppression on the Day of Judgment as our Prophet (s.a.w.s.)
6:22 informed us. Thus, authority in Islam, stewardship,
6:27 whether a person is a chief,
6:29 governor,
6:30 Prime Minister,
6:31 I don't know... Anything, Minister...
6:34 It is not a privilege
6:35 but rather a responsibility
6:38 to the Exalted Allah, but at the same time a responsibility
6:42 And towards positive laws,
6:45 or generally towards the people
6:47 who are led and governed. So, Hazrat Umar (may Allah be pleased with him) when he received information,
6:54 received information that Umar ibn Al-Khattab,
6:58 had become unnaturally wealthy,
7:01 So, it is, as our people would say, take this, meaning,
7:07 he simply had a lot of wealth.
7:10 He says, he calls him to account.
7:12 He invites him to Medina to come. And he comes to Medina, he must respond.
7:18 So, a very important thing is to control power, to have oversight over leaders.
7:26 We have situations, these are absurd situations, in almost all sectors,
7:31 specifically in Bosnia and Herzegovina,
7:33 when a director who is a political yes-man,
7:36 a political pawn,
7:38 a pawn of a certain party, any party,
7:41 We have a situation
7:43 where his party protects him, saying, 'You are one of us, don't worry,'
7:48 we will take care of you, etc.
7:50 So, this is absolutely
7:52 wrong. This is neither Islamic nor humane. It is something perverse.
7:58 So, something
8:00 to which we are witnessing. In this way, dozens, if you will, and hundreds of factories
8:05 have been destroyed in Bosnia and Herzegovina.
8:09 I don't know if anyone has ever been held accountable
8:14 for this, to answer in court for it. Deliberate destruction,
8:16 bad privatization,
8:19 economic
8:20 etc. So, Hazrat Umar is not like that. Hazrat Umar calls him and says,
8:25 when Amr ibn al-As came to him,
8:27 in Medina,
8:28 Hazrat Umar gave him those lists and showed them to him,
8:34 how much information he actually has about him and says to him...
8:38 Where did you get this wealth from?
8:41 Justify it to me.
8:42 Where did you get such wealth from?
8:45 Amer ibn Alas is said to have been a very capable man. A merchant,
8:50 a dignitary,
8:51 wealthy, wealthy, engaged in many affairs.
8:55 And it is said that Amribina Alas had
8:58 large herds
9:00 of camels, and he said those camels
9:03 multiplied,
9:04 so I sold them, and I had certain properties, I invested in some properties,
9:09 then I sold that later, and I earned from it, and so on.
9:13 Hazrat Umar said, I did not send you to Egypt to earn money there.
9:19 I did not send you
9:20 to Egypt to enrich yourself at the expense of those you lead.
9:25 I sent you to Egypt
9:27 to represent
9:28 Islam and the Islamic state there.
9:31 Now, Omar, this is a very interesting thing, there are two events from
9:37 their meeting that are very important. But this is special, we want to emphasize this, so Omar took part of the wealth.
9:45 He took
9:46 part of the wealth that was determined to
9:49 not have been acquired in a completely legal manner. That is, he had certain,
9:55 In a certain way,
9:56 he derived a benefit from the function he performed, which eased his
10:01 access to that money, that wealth.
10:05 So, Hazrat Umar took that money and placed it in the Muslim
10:11 fund to feed the poor,
10:14 the needy, etc.
10:17 Thus, this case, this case that speaks to us about the justice of Hazrat Umar,
10:27 also speaks of his wisdom, his vision as a statesman,
10:29 it speaks of the need
10:35 to control power and to hold those in power accountable, of the need to sanction