Ali was tied by the neck with a rope and the great...

Ali was tied by the neck with a rope and the great companions lived in the seclusion of their homes. Being forced by circumstances Abu Dharr observed patience for some time. At last he left Medina for Syria and settled there. After some time when he came back to Medina he saw that worldliness of the rulers was at its height. Royal pomp and show had taken the place of the moderate life observed by the Holy Prophet.

Favouritism and nepotism were the order of the day, and honesty and piety were the things of the past. The wealth of the Public Treasury was being squandered away. The wealth of Muslims was being used for personal needs. Every relative and well wisher of the Caliph had become a millionaire. Capitalism had expanded. There was an abundance of wealth. Nobody bothered about zakat. Nobody thought of helping the poor. Nobody cared for orphans and widows.

Seeing innumerable things of this kind, Abu Dharr tried to admonish the Caliph Uthman for the protection of Islamic ummah and Islamic State, and advised him as much as he could, but the Caliph did not pay heed to him. At last in view of the promise which he had given to the Holy Prophet and with that intensity of faith which Allah had preserved in his heart he came out on the scene and started publicizing the shortcomings of Uthman.

In this connection he also censured hoarding of wealth and capitalism and initiated his speech with those Qur'anic verses which criticize the hoarding of wealth. As Abu Dharr could not tolerate that the wealth of the public property be spent only upon the Caliph's relatives, and the orphans and widows die of starvation, he accelerated his preaching, and consequently he had to go from place to place.

He was exiled again and again sometimes he was banished from Medina and sent to Syria and sometimes he was forced to lead his life in a deserted place like Rabzah. It is quite obvious that the distribution of wealth is essential among the needy, but it is also worth considering on what principle the wealth is to be distributed among the poor and other entitled people. It was a principle with the Prophet that he distributed the wealth equally.

For spoils of war he said that the one-fifth of them is for Allah and His Prophet and four portions for the army of Islam in which all the warriors are equal share-holders. None is entitled to get more than the other. (Sunan Baihaqi).