روي أنه قال رسول الله صلى الله عليه وسلم: الملك في قريش، والقضاء في الأنصار، والأذان في الحبشة والأمانة في الأزد يعني اليمن.

It is narrated that the Prophet (pbuh) said: The [quality of] rule is in Quraish; the [quality of] legal judgment is in the Ansaar¹; the [quality of] making call to the prayers is in the people of Habsha²; and the [quality of] fulfilling trusts is in the people of Yemen.³

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General Notes

1. Lit: Helpers. The locals of Medinah were given the title of Ansaar.

2. i.e., Abyssinia.

3. In this narrative, the Prophet (pbuh) is ascribed to have mentioned some of the major qualities of some of the tribes and nations. These qualities generally are a natural result of the socio-political and moral background and the circumstances of these tribes and nations. The qualities that are valued and promoted at a collective level become aspirations for individuals living in that collectivity and, as a result, these qualities become more common in the individuals of that collectivity.

Notes on the Text of the Narrative:

This narrative, with some variations, has been reported in Tirmidhi's narrative no. 3936, Ahmad ibn Hanbal's narrative no. 8746 and 17690, Abd al-Razzaq's narrative no. 32395, Musnad Al-Shmiyyeen's narrative no. 1626 and Al-Mu'jam al-kabeer's narrative no. 298.

In Ahmad ibn Hanbal's narrative no. 17690, the sentence "الملك في قريش" (i.e., 'the [quality of] rule is in Qureish') have been reported synonymously as "الخلافة في قريش" (i.e., 'the [quality of] rule is in Qureish').

In Ahmad ibn Hanbal's narrative no. 17690, the sentence "القضاء في الأنصار" (i.e., 'the [quality of] legal judgment is in Ansaar') has been reported as "الحكم في الأنصار" (i.e., 'the [quality of] legal decisions is in Ansaar').

In Ahmad ibn Hanbal's narrative no. 17690, the sentence "الأذان في الحبشة" (i.e., 'the [quality of] making call to prayers is in the people of Habsha') has been reported as "الدعوة في الحبشة" (i.e., 'the [quality of] calling is in the people of Habsha').

In Abd al-Razzaq's narrative no. 32395, the sentence "الأمانة في اليمن" (i.e., 'the [quality of] fulfilling trusts is in the people of Yemen') has alternatively been reported as "السرعة في اليمن" (i.e., 'the [quality of] swiftness is in the people of Yemen').

In Ahmad ibn Hanbal's narrative no. 17690, there is an addition of "والهجرة في المسلمين والمهاجرين بعد" (i.e., 'And Hijrah will remain in the Muslims and the Muhajirs after this') at the end; while in Al-Mu'jam Al-Kabeer's narrative no. 298, there is an addition of "والجهاد والهجرة في المسلمين والمهاجرين بعد" (i.e., 'and Jihad and Hijrah will remain in the Muslims and the Muhajirs after this') at the end of the narrative.

(This write-up is prepared by the Hadith Cell of Javed Ahmad Ghamidi)

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