Greeting the Amir

'Umar ibn 'Abdu'l-'Aziz asked Abu Bakr ibn Abi Hathama, "Why did Abu Bakr write, 'From Abu Bakr, the Khalifa (Successor) of the Messenger of Allah' and then 'Umar wrote after him, 'From 'Umar ibn al-Khattab, the khalifa (successor) of Abu Bakr'? Who was the first to write 'the Amir al-Mu'minin'?" He replied, "My grandmother, ash-Shifa', related to me, and she was one of the first to write 'the Amir al-Mu'minin'?" He said, "My grandfather, ash-Shifa' related to me, (and she was one of the first Muhajirun and when 'Umar ibn al-Khattab entered the market, he visited her), saying, ''Umar ibn al-Khattab wrote to the governor of Iraq requesting him to send him two trustworthy noble men so that he could question them about Iraq and its people. He sent him a master of Iraq, Labid ibn Rabi'a and also 'Adi ibn Hatim, and they came to Madina. They made their camels kneel in the courtyard of the mosque, entered it and found 'Amr ibn al-'As. They said to him, ''Amr, ask permission for us to visit the Amir al-Mu'minin, 'Umar.' 'Amr got up and went to 'Umar. He said, 'Peace be upon you, Amir al-Mu'minin.' 'Umar said to him, 'Ibn al-'As, what made you use this name? You have deviated from what you normally say.' He said, 'Yes, Labid ibn Rabi'a and 'Adi ibn Hatim came and said to me, "Ask permission for us to visit the Amir al-Mu'minin." I said, "You two, by Allah, have hit upon the correct name. He is the amir and we are the believers."' The title originated on that day."

حَدَّثَنَا عَبْدُ الْغَفَّارِ بْنُ دَاوُدَ، قَالَ: حَدَّثَنَا يَعْقُوبُ بْنُ عَبْدِ الرَّحْمَنِ، عَنْ مُوسَى بْنِ عُقْبَةَ، عَنِ ابْنِ شِهَابٍ، أَنَّ عُمَرَ بْنَ عَبْدِ الْعَزِيزِ سَأَلَ أَبَا بَكْرِ بْنَ سُلَيْمَانَ بْنِ أَبِي حَثْمَةَ: لِمَ كَانَ أَبُو بَكْرٍ يَكْتُبُ: مِنْ أَبِي بَكْرٍ خَلِيفَةِ رَسُولِ اللهِ، ثُمَّ كَانَ عُمَرُ يَكْتُبُ بَعْدَهُ: مِنْ عُمَرَ بْنِ الْخَطَّابِ خَلِيفَةِ أَبِي بَكْرٍ، مَنْ أَوَّلُ مَنْ كَتَبَ: أَمِيرَ الْمُؤْمِنِينَ؟ فَقَالَ: حَدَّثَتْنِي جَدَّتِي الشِّفَاءُ، وَكَانَتْ مِنَ الْمُهَاجِرَاتِ الأُوَلِ، وَكَانَ عُمَرُ بْنُ الْخَطَّابِ رَضِيَ اللَّهُ عَنْهُ إِذَا هُوَ دَخَلَ السُّوقَ دَخَلَ عَلَيْهَا، قَالَتْ: كَتَبَ عُمَرُ بْنُ الْخَطَّابِ إِلَى عَامِلِ الْعِرَاقَيْنِ: أَنِ ابْعَثْ إِلَيَّ بِرَجُلَيْنِ جَلْدَيْنِ نَبِيلَيْنِ، أَسْأَلُهُمَا عَنِ الْعِرَاقِ وَأَهْلِهِ، فَبَعَثَ إِلَيْهِ صَاحِبُ الْعِرَاقَيْنِ بِلَبِيدِ بْنِ رَبِيعَةَ، وَعَدِيِّ بْنِ حَاتِمٍ، فَقَدِمَا الْمَدِينَةَ فَأَنَاخَا رَاحِلَتَيْهِمَا بِفِنَاءِ الْمَسْجِدِ، ثُمَّ دَخَلاَ الْمَسْجِدَ فَوَجَدَا عَمْرَو بْنَ الْعَاصِ، فَقَالاَ لَهُ: يَا عَمْرُو، اسْتَأْذِنْ لَنَا عَلَى أَمِيرِ الْمُؤْمِنِينَ عُمَرَ، فَوَثَبَ عَمْرٌو فَدَخَلَ عَلَى عُمَرَ فَقَالَ: السَّلاَمُ عَلَيْكَ يَا أَمِيرَ الْمُؤْمِنِينَ، فَقَالَ لَهُ عُمَرُ: مَا بَدَا لَكَ فِي هَذَا الِاسْمِ يَا ابْنَ الْعَاصِ؟ لَتَخْرُجَنَّ مِمَّا قُلْتَ، قَالَ: نَعَمْ، قَدِمَ لَبِيدُ بْنُ رَبِيعَةَ، وَعَدِيُّ بْنُ حَاتِمٍ، فَقَالاَ لِي: اسْتَأْذِنْ لَنَا عَلَى أَمِيرِ الْمُؤْمِنِينَ، فَقُلْتُ: أَنْتُمَا وَاللَّهِ أَصَبْتُمَا اسْمَهُ، وَإِنَّهُ الأَمِيرُ، وَنَحْنُ الْمُؤْمِنُونَ. فَجَرَى الْكِتَابُ مِنْ ذَلِكَ الْيَوْمِ.

'Ubaydullah ibn 'Abdullah said, "Mu'awiya went on his first hajj when he was the khalifa and 'Uthman ibn Hanif al-Ansari came to him and said, 'Peace be upon you, Amir, and the mercy of Allah.' The people of Syria objected to that and said, 'Who is this hypocrite who shortens the greeting of the Amir al-Mu'minin!' 'Uthman made his camel kneel and said, 'Amir al-Mu'minin! These men object to something which you know better than them. By Allah, I used to this greeting for Abu Bakr, 'Umar, and 'Uthman, and none of them objected to it.' Mu'awiya said to those of the people of Syria who had spoken, 'Take it easy! It was partly as he stated. But when the civil war engaged the people of Syria, they said, "Do not shorten the greeting of our khalifa in our presence (i.e. from Amir al-Mu'minin to Amir)." People of Madina, I will treat you as friends even though you use 'Amir" for a zakat collector.'"

حَدَّثَنَا أَبُو الْيَمَانِ، قَالَ: أَخْبَرَنَا شُعَيْبٌ، عَنِ الزُّهْرِيِّ قَالَ: أَخْبَرَنِي عُبَيْدُ اللهِ بْنُ عَبْدِ اللهِ قَالَ: قَدِمَ مُعَاوِيَةُ حَاجًّا حَجَّتَهُ الأُولَى وَهُوَ خَلِيفَةٌ، فَدَخَلَ عَلَيْهِ عُثْمَانُ بْنُ حُنَيْفٍ الأَنْصَارِيُّ فَقَالَ: السَّلاَمُ عَلَيْكَ أَيُّهَا الأَمِيرُ وَرَحْمَةُ اللهِ، فَأَنْكَرَهَا أَهْلُ الشَّامِ وَقَالُوا: مَنْ هَذَا الْمُنَافِقُ الَّذِي يُقَصِّرُ بِتَحِيَّةِ أَمِيرِ الْمُؤْمِنِينَ؟ فَبَرَكَ عُثْمَانُ عَلَى رُكْبَتِهِ ثُمَّ قَالَ: يَا أَمِيرَ الْمُؤْمِنِينَ، إِنَّ هَؤُلاَءِ أَنْكَرُوا عَلَيَّ أَمْرًا أَنْتَ أَعْلَمُ بِهِ مِنْهُمْ، فَوَاللَّهِ لَقَدْ حَيَّيْتُ بِهَا أَبَا بَكْرٍ وَعُمَرَ وَعُثْمَانَ، فَمَا أَنْكَرَهُ مِنْهُمْ أَحَدٌ، فَقَالَ مُعَاوِيَةُ لِمَنْ تَكَلَّمَ مِنْ أَهْلِ الشَّامِ: عَلَى رِسْلِكُمْ، فَإِنَّهُ قَدْ كَانَ بَعْضُ مَا يَقُولُ، وَلَكِنَّ أَهْلَ الشَّامِ قَدْ حَدَثَتْ هَذِهِ الْفِتَنُ، قَالُوا: لاَ تُقَصَّرُ عِنْدَنَا تَحِيَّةُ خَلِيفَتِنَا، فَإِنِّي إِخَالُكُمْ يَا أَهْلَ الْمَدِينَةِ تَقُولُونَ لِعَامِلِ الصَّدَقَةِ: أَيُّهَا الأمِيرُ.

Jabir said, "I visited al-Hajjaj and did not greet him."

حَدَّثَنَا أَبُو نُعَيْمٍ، قَالَ: حَدَّثَنَا سُفْيَانُ، عَنْ مُحَمَّدِ بْنِ الْمُنْكَدِرِ، عَنْ جَابِرٍ قَالَ: دَخَلْتُ عَلَى الْحَجَّاجِ فَمَا سَلَّمْتُ عَلَيْهِ.

Tamim ibn Hadhlam said, "I will mention the first to be greeted as 'Amir' in Kufa. Al-Mughira ibn Shu'ba left by the Bab ar-Rahba and a man of Kinda came up to him. They claim that it was Abu Qurra al-Kindi. He greeted him and said, 'Peace be upon you, O Amir, and the mercy of Allah.' He disliked it. So the man said, 'Peace be upon you, O Amir, and the mercy of Allah. Peace be upon you. Am I one of you or not?'" Sammak ibn Salama ad-Dabi said, "After that it became an established practice."

حَدَّثَنَا مُوسَى بْنُ إِسْمَاعِيلَ، قَالَ: حَدَّثَنَا أَبُو عَوَانَةَ، عَنْ مُغِيرَةَ، عَنْ سِمَاكِ بْنِ سَلَمَةَ الضَّبِّيِّ، عَنْ تَمِيمِ بْنِ حَذْلَمٍ قَالَ: إِنِّي لَأَذْكُرُ أَوَّلَ مَنْ سَلَّمَ عَلَيْهِ بِالإِمْرَةِ بِالْكُوفَةِ، خَرَجَ الْمُغِيرَةُ بْنُ شُعْبَةَ مِنْ بَابِ الرَّحَبَةِ، فَفَجَأَهُ رَجُلٌ مِنْ كِنْدَةَ، زَعَمُوا أَنَّهُ: أَبُو قُرَّةَ الْكِنْدِيُّ، فَسَلَّمَ عَلَيْهِ، فَقَالَ: السَّلاَمُ عَلَيْكَ أَيُّهَا الأَمِيرُ وَرَحْمَةُ اللهِ، السَّلاَمُ عَلَيْكُمْ، فَكَرِهَهُ، فَقَالَ: السَّلاَمُ عَلَيْكُمْ أَيُّهَا الأَمِيرُ وَرَحْمَةُ اللهِ، السَّلاَمُ عَلَيْكُمْ، هَلْ أَنَا إِلاَّ مِنْهُمْ، أَمْ لاَ؟ قَالَ سِمَاكٌ: ثُمَّ أَقَرَّ بِهَا بَعْدُ.