CHAPTER FIFrEE..'lDebtless
The celebration that puncruated the hajj was over; the Prophet had per-
formed aU the rites and wanted to remrn to Medina, so he set Out with the
pilgrims who had come with him. They at last reached Medina and life
resumed its course. i\bny Muslims taught o r learned the principles of
Islam and the Quran, as well as the elements of religious practice with
their rules and conditions. T he taka! was collected according to the
norms that had recent]y been established by Revelation and the Prophet's
practice. t Thus, all the rites of the five pillars of Islam (arkan al-islmn) had
been codified, including pjlgrimage, which had just been completed, and
the Muslim community had received the information necessary to live
Islam in daily life and face new questions arising in the future.
The Prophet asked :Muadh ibn Jabal, whom he had named as a judge
in the new environment o f Yemen, "Through what will you judge?"
Muadh replied: " T hrough th e Book o f God." Muhammad th en asked,
''And if you find no thing in th e Book of God?" 1\ luadh went o n: " I shall
judge according to the tradition (sHflfJahl o f God's Messenger."
,Muhammad further asked, "And if you find nothing in the Messenger's
tradition?" l\Iuadh answered confidently: " 1 shall no t fail to make an
effort [':itahidHj to reach an o pinion." T his answer satisfied th e Prophet,
who concluded: "Praise be to God, who has guided His .Messenger's mes-
senger to what satisfies God's r ... lessenger.', 2 The gradation in J\luadh ibn
Jabal's answers contained the essence of the Prophet'S teaching and
offered th e mean s for the community to follow him and to remain faith-
ful to him through the ages: the Book of God-thc Quran-and the
whole body of traditions (ahadilb) o f the Prophet (collectively referred to