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Why don't you pledge allegiance to the Messenger of Allah
Malik al-Ashja'I, may Allah be pleased with him, reported:
We, nine, eight or seven men, were in the company of the Messenger of Allah (may the peace and blessings of Allah be upon him) and he said: Why don't you pledge allegiance to the Messenger of Allah? -while we had recently pledged allegiance. So we said: O Messenger of Allah, we have already pledged allegiance to you. He again said: Why don't you pledge allegiance to the Messenger of Allah? And we said: O Messenger of Allah, we have already pledged allegiance to you. He again said: Why don't you pledge allegiance to the Messenger of Allah? We stretched our hands and said: O Messenger of Allah. we have already pledged allegiance to you. Now tell (on what things) should we pledge allegiance to you. He said I (You must pledge allegiance) that you would worship Allah only and would not associate with Him anything, (and observe) five prayers, and obey- (and he said onething in an undertone) -that you would not beg people of anything. (And as a consequence of that) I saw that some of these people did not ask anyone to pick up the whip for them if it fell down.
The Prophet ( may the peace and blessings of Allah be upon him ) advised his companions to abstain from asking people and to be satisfied with what Allah decreed for them so that they do not look to what the people possess. He generally advised them to stick to asceticism in this world in general, and to rely on Allah the Almighty, to trust him and to supplicate him earnestly with humility.
In this commandment, the Prophet ( may the peace and blessings of Allah be upon him) paves the way for those who seek the glory. He establishes for them the path to Allah in a balanced manner. His companions, may Allah be pleased with him, asked him about the things that guarantee the happiness of this world and the Hereafter.
They asked the Prophet ( may the peace and blessings of Allah be upon him) about the terms of the pledge, its rules and conditions. Then he answered them clearly.
The saying of the Prophet ( may the peace and blessings of Allah be upon him) “Why don't you pledge allegiance to the Messenger of Allah?” in which he gently invites them to accept the terms of the pledge which he wants. The question here is meant to exaggerate the urge to pledge in allegiance with firmness and determination.
The concept of allegiance is derived from the sale of goods; that is to exchange the benefits between the seller and the buyer, in this sense the pledge in allegiance, when a person who puts his hand in his brother's hands to offer him something, is similar to the case of the seller and the buyer when each one puts his hand in the hand of the other so as to affirm the sale contract.
The true Muslim is the one who is proud of his Lord the Almighty, he lives in his care satisfaied with his judgment, thankful for his blessings, he sees that the tribulations are gifts so that he praises his Lord and continues to thank him in both prosperity and hardship, he does not forget to mention his Merciful Lord during the night and day; if it were not for the mention of Allah, the heart would not have reassured. The tranquility of the heart is the greatest blessing at all, and only attained by the faithful believers.
Pledging allegiance to the Prophet ( may the peace and blessings of Allah be upon him) entails the ultimate honor so hasten to pledge your Lord to worship him devotedly, to perform the five daily prayers in a congregation, to listen to and obey those who order you to do what is good and forbid you from doing what is evil, and to be satisfied of what Allah decreed for you and to refrain from looking to what the people possess as much as you can.
