. J i ? . .r--J i ? (cont.)

They are the ones who are just with respect to rulings, people and what they are in charge of."4 [Then al-Nawawi praises the ruler for all the good that he had done. He asks Allah to continue his rule and to bless him .... ] Allah has made it obligatory to give 1 Here again, al-Nawawi is paraphrasing a hadith found in al-Bukhari and Muslim. 2 This text was recorded by Muslim. Actually, in al-Nawawi's letter he reversed the two sentences. 3 Recorded by al-Bukhari and Muslim. 4 This was recorded by Muslim. Again, al-Nawawi somewhat paraphrased the text. The Lifa of Imam al-Nawawi thanks for His blessings and He has promised to give more to those who are thankful. Allah has said, U /. .... ,,.. ,,. ,.. րց/'iֵ v; "If you give thanks, I will give you more" [Ibraaheem 7]. The Muslims have faced, due to this taking over of their property, such different forms of harm that no one could possibly put into words. You have sought from them proof that should not be required of them. None of the scholars of the Muslims have ever declared that land legal [for the rulers to take]. In fact, if someone possesses something, it is considered his property. It is not allowed to deny him or to require him to prove his ownership. The life of the Sultan is known to be of one who loves acting according to the Shariah. You advise your deputies to do such. So it is much more befitting that you also do so. You are responsible for freeing the people from this problem and solving all of their problems concerning it. If you free them, Allah will free you from every disliked deed, for these people are the weak, some of them are orphans, poor, weak and righteous people. It is through these people that you are aided, rescued and provided for. They are the inhabitants of the blessed land of Sham and the neighbors of the Prophets (peace be upon them). They are to be treated with due respect and should not be harmed for any reason. If the Sultan would see what hardship they are facing and their great grieving, he would release them immediately and would not delay. However, the matter is not being presented to him correctly. By Allah, rescue the Muslims and Allah will rescue you. Be kind with them and Allah will be kind with you. Bring them a solution soon before the rains come and they lose all their crops. Most of them inherited their lands from the previous generations and it is not possible for them to provide a script showing that they bought the land. If the Sultan is kind to them, then he has for him the supplication of the Prophet (peace be upon him) for those who are kind to his Ummah and he will also be helped against his enemies. Allah has said, "If you help (in the cause of) Allah, He will help you" [Muhammad 7]. The citizenry will also pray for you. Your dominion will be filled with blessings. It will be blessed in all of the good deeds you intend. There is a hadith from the Messenger of Allah (peace be upon him) that states, 4 1 Commentary on the Forty Hadith of al-Nawawi "Whoever establishes a good practice in Islam that is acted upon after him shall have recorded for him the reward of everyone who acted upon it without the reward of any of them being lessened. Whoever establishes an evil practice in Islam that is acted upon after him shall have recorded for him the burden of everyone who acted upon it without the burden of any of them being lessened."1 We ask Allah, the Noble, to guide the Sultan to a good deed by which he will be remembered until the Day of Judgment and to protect him from an evil practice. This is the advice to the Sultan that is obligatory upon us. We hope from Allah that Allah will inspire him to accept it. Peace be upon you and the mercy and blessings of Allah. All praises are due to Allah, the Lord of the Worlds. And the peace of blessings be upon our leader Muhammad, his family and his companions.2 Another narration states that the ruler was able to get a number of jurists, some out of fear and some for worldly benefit, to sign a fatwa allowing the ruler to do what he had decided upon. Some of the scholars refused to sign the decree. However, it is stated that the ruler had some of the scholars who did not sign the fatwa killed. 3 This seems a bit strange as it is somewhat out of line with what is known about al-Dhaahir Baibars, his relationship with the Muslim scholars and even with how al-Nawawi deals with him in his letters. Perhaps the stronger narration is the narration that states that the ruler became very upset with al-Nawawi after these encounters.