Part 31

is more precious to me than all you have brought. I could have killed you, but I would hate for this to be held as a precedent. Go pay his family bloodmoney and do not let me see your face again.’ " (Reported by Al-Baihaqi.)

It is reported that a man left his wife behind in San* aa’, leaving to her care her stepson, called Aseel. Now that she was alone, the woman had a_ lover take her husband's place. The woman one day told her lover, "This boy may disclose our secret, so kill him." But the man refused to. Thereupon, the woman would not answer her lover's calls, forcing him to yield to her demand. The young boy was hence murdered by the lover, another man, and the woman along with her maid; they all butchered him into pieces and put the parts in a leather bag and dumped it into a dry well nearby the village. The lover was afterwards arrested; he confessed to the crime and so did the rest of the murderers, Yala - then the governor — wrote Umar informing him of their crime. ~ Umar ordered them to be all put to death and said: "I swear that if all of the residents of San*aa’ had taken part in killing the boy, I would have killed them all." (Reported by Al-Bukhari.)

“Umar's Unique Loyalty and Gratitude:

“Umar set an example in loyalty and gratitude. Aslam narrates: "Once I went with “Umar Ibn Al-Khattaab to the market. A young woman followed him and said: 'O Commander of the Faithful! My husband died, leaving me little children. By Allah, they have not even a sheep's trotter to eat; they have no farms or animals. | am afraid that they may starve to death, and I am the daughter of Khufaf [bn Imaa' Al-Ghafari, and my father witnessed the Pledge of allegiance of AlHudaybiyah with the Prophet.’ ~Umar stood still and said, 'I welcome my near relatives.' Then he went towards a strong camel which was tied in the house, and carried on it two sacks

he had loaded with grains and put between them money and clothes, then gave her its rope to hold and said: ‘Lead it, and this provision will last long enough till Allah grants you a good supply.'. A man said, ‘O Commander of the Faithful! You have given her too much." '* Umar said disapprovingly: 'May your mother be bereaved of you! By Allah, I saw her father and brother besiege a fort for a long time and conquer it, and then we started discussing what our shares would be from the war booty." (Reported by Al-Bukhari.)

Similarly, ‘Abdullaah Ibn *Abbaas narrates: " “Umar Ibn Al-Khattaab departed for Syria and when he reached Sargh, the commanders of Muslim army, Abu *Ubaydah Ibn AlJarraaah and his companions met him and told him that an epidemic had broken out in the Levant. ~ Umar said, ‘Call the Muhajireen.' So ‘Umar consulted them and informed them that an epidemic had broken out in the Levant. They differed in their opinions; some of them pointed: 'We have come for a certain purpose and we do not think that it is proper to give it up.' Others however said (to ~ Umar): 'There have come along with you other people as well as the companions of Allah's Messenger, so we think we should not take them to this epidemic." So ‘Umar told them, 'Leave me now.' He then said, ‘Call the Ansaar for me." | called them, he consulted them and like the Muhajireen, they were divided on the issue. He then said to them, 'Leave me now,' and added, ‘Call for me the old men of Quraysh who emigrated in the year of the Conquest of Makkah.' I called them and they gave a unanimous opinion saying: ‘Our advice is that you should return with the people and do not take them to the place of the epidemic.’ So ~ Umar made an announcement: ‘I will ride back to Madinah in the morning, so you should do the same.’ Abu * Ubaydah Ibn AlJarraaah asked (Umar): ‘Are you running away from what Allah had predestined?’ ~Umar simply answered: 'Would that someone else had said such a thing, O Abu * Ubaydah! Yes, we

are running from what Allah had predestined to what Allah has predestined. Do you not agree that if you had camels that went down a_ valley having two places, one green and the other dry, you would graze them on the green one only if Allah had ordained that, and you would graze them on the dry one only if Allah had ordained that?' At that point, * Abdur-Rahmaan Ibn *Awf, who had been absent because of some job, showed up and said: 1 have some knowledge about this. I have heard Allah's Messenger say, ‘Jf you hear about it (an outbreak of plague) in a land, do not go to it; but if a plague breaks out in a country where you are staying, do not run away from it.' “Umar thanked Allah and returned to Madinah." (Reported by Al-Bukhari.)

“Umar was also the very embodiment of piety and genuine fear of Allah, Exalted be He. No words could possibly do justice to his feelings of piety and devoutness. While ~Uthmaan Ibn ~ Affaan was conducting business at Al-* Aaliyah on a scorching hot day, he spotted a man steering two sturdy male camels; the grounsd was as if it was paved with fire. “Uthmaan wondered: “The man could have stayed in the city till the weather cooled down, then set out on his trip!” ~Uthmaan ‘s servant looked closely and told his master, "You see who this man is?" ~Uthmaan took a good look and said: "I can see a man who has pulled his garment over his head, steering two sturdy male camels." The servant looked even closer and said, "Look!" *~Uthmaan looked again only to see “Umar Ibn Al-Khattaab! He said in amazement, "This is the Commander of the Faithful!" ~Uthmaan got up, opened the door and put out his head. He was lashed by the Samoom wind and so immediately withdrew his head. When ~Umar passed before him, ~Uthmaan asked him, “Whatever brings you out now?" ~Umar answered: “Two sturdy males of the charity

camels were left behind, and the other camels have already been marched. I wanted to catch up with them at the pasture preserve lest they should be lost and Allah will surely ask me about them." *Uthmaan said: "O Commander of the Faithful, have some water and shelter and we will take care of this." “Umar returned, "Go back to your shelter, ~ Uthmaan." ~ Uthmaan then said: "Whoever wishes to set eyes on a powerful honest man, let him look at “Umar; he was then gripped with sorrow."

(Reported by Ibn Al-Atheer.)

*Abdullaah Ibn ~Umar, may Allah be pleased with them both, narrates: "I bought camels and sent them to the pasture preserve. When they fattened, I brought them back. One day “Umar walked into the market and saw some fat camels. He asked, 'Who do they belong to?’ He was told, 'They belong to *Abdullaah Ibn ~Umar.' ~Umar then kept repeating: 'O “Abdullaah! Well done! Well done! Son of the Commander of the Faithful!’ I hurried to him and asked, ‘What is wrong, Commander of the Faithful?’ He asked me, ‘What about those camels?' I answered: 'They are some skinny camels I bought and sent to the pastures seeking what all Muslims do.’ ~ Umar returned: ‘Let the camels of the son of the Commander of the Faithful graze! Water the camels of the son of the Commander of the Faithful! Take your capital, ~ Abdullaah Ibn ~ Umar and direct the profit to Muslims’ treasury.'" (Quoted from Akhbaar ~Umar.)

Ibn ~Abbaas, may Allah be pleased with them both, reports: "* Umar Ibn Al-Khattaab asked me to go to him, which I did. There was spread in front of him a leather carpet all covered with gold. He said, ‘Go ahead and distribute this money among your people. Allah has kept such treasures from His Prophet, peace and blessings be upon him and from Abu Bakr and gave it to me. Only He knows best whether it is a blessing or a curse?’ I fell to distributing it and separating

shares. Yet, I heard a man weep. It turned out to be * Umar weeping and saying: 'l swear by Him in Whose Hands my soul is, Allah has not kept this from His Prophet or from Abu Bakr by way of affliction, nor did He give it to “Umar by way of a blessing.'" (Reported by Ibn Sa*d.)

It is narrated that the “Umar used to place his hand close to fire and say: "Are you able to tolerate this, Ibn AlKhattaab?" (Quoted from Akhbaar *Umar.)

“Ali Ibn Abu Taalib, may Allah be pleased with him, states: "I saw ‘Umar, may Allah be pleased with him, riding a small camel. I asked, ‘Where to, Commander of the Faithful?’ He answered, ‘One of the charity camels has fled.' I rejoined, "You have humiliated all your successors.’ He said, 'Do not blame me, Abu Al-Hasan. If a young she-goat were to be killed on the Euphrates coast, “Umar would be punished for it on Judgment Day.'"

Qatadah reports: Mu’ aikib was in charge of the Treasury during ~Umar's caliphate. One day he prepared to distribute all the money in the Treasury only to find a single Dirham in it, so he sent it to Ibn ~Umar. Mu aikib says, "I then went home. Shortly afterwards, ~“Umar's messenger arrived asking me to meet him. I walked in on him only to find the Dirham in the palm of his hand. *Umar asked, 'How can you do that, Mu aikib? Do you have any case against me? Is it your money or mine?’ I returned, ‘What is wrong?’ He answered: ‘Do you want the entire nation of Muhammad to hold me accountable for this Dirham?' " (Reported by Ibn Al-Jawzi.)

“Umar Ibn Al-Khattaab was an example to be followed in humbleness. Similarly, he led a harsh life of austerity and

lived on coarse food. The one single goal he aspired to was Paradise. “Umar used to patch his clothes with the skin of camels. Notwithstanding his lofty, awe-striking status, ~ Umar never hesitated to carry a water bottle on his shoulders. He would ride a donkey with no saddle and a riding camel bridled with fiber. He rarely laughed or joked with anyone. He wore a ting on which was engraved, "Death Teaches the Best Lesson, *Umar."

Qatadah reports: "When * Umar arrived in Syria, he was brought food, the like of which he had never tasted before. He therefore said: ‘This is for us? What about poor Muslims who live on barley bread, which never satisfies their hunger?’ Khalid Ibn Al-Waleed, may Allah be pleased with him, answered, ‘They will be rewarded with Paradise.’ *Umar's eyes thereupon were filled with tears, and he said: 'If this is our share, while they end up winning Paradise, they are way ahead of us." (Reported by Ibn Al-Jawzi.)