Part 34

and in times of plenty, I discharge my debts." (Reported by Ibn Sa‘ d and Sa* eed Ibn Mansoor.)

*Umar is also narrated to have gone out one day heading for the pulpit. He was then suffering from a malady and honey was prescribed for him. There was a vessel containing honey in the public Treasury. Yet, he said, "I will take it only if you permit me, otherwise it would be unlawful for me to do so." So they gave him permission to. (Reported by Ibn Sa*d.)

“Umar was reported to have stuck his hand in the posterior of a camel saying, "I worry I may be asked about what is inside of you."

Ibn ~Umar mentions: "Whenever “Umar intended to forbid people to do something, he told his own household, 'If ever | found out that any of you violated a prohibition of mine, my punishment would be doubled.'"

~“Umar was also narrated to have asked Salmaan, "Am I a king or a Caliph?" Salmaan answered, “If you levied a Dirham, or a little more or a little less, on Muslims and spend it on what it should not be spent on, you would be a king and not a Caliph.” Thereupon, ~Umar shed tears. (Reported by Ibn Sa*d.)

“Umar was also recounted to have wondered: “ I swear by Allah, I do not know whether I ama king ora caliph? Were I a king, that would be significant." He was then told: " OO Commander of the Faithful, there is a difference between the two." “Umar asked, “What is the difference?" The man answered: " A caliph takes none but what he should rightfully do and devotes it to none but to what he should do and you certainly do, praise be to Allah. But a king, on the other hand, oppresses people, taking from

this and giving that." “Umar was silent.

“Umar was reported to have said, "The way to handle matters is through firmness that involves no coercion, coupled with lenience that involves no weakness."

It is related that for a period of time, *Umar never depended on the Treasury to support himself or his household, until he was afflicted with poverty. He therefore sought the counsel of the Companions of the Prophet, peace and blessings be upon him. He said: "I have thought about this. So how much am I allowed to take?" “Ali answered: "Enough to buy you lunch and dinner." * Umar hence acted upon * Ali's counsel.

Though the Caliph, ‘Umar was far from being a dictator. He valued counseling and followed the advice he was given if he believed it to be sound. It is recounted that a woman said to *Umar: "My husband prays all night and fasts all day." ~Umar said, "You have thus best praised your husband." Ka*b Ibn Siwaar noted, “She is here to complain." ‘Umar asked, "How so?" Ka*b replied, "She does not sleep with her husband." “Umar returned: "Since you have got the point, what will be your ruling?" Ka*b answered: "O Commander of the Faithful, since Allah allows a man to marry four women, that means she is entitled to a day of every four days and a night of every four nights." (Reported by ~ Abur-Raziq.)

Similarly, on one of his night patrols, ~ Umar heard a woman sing verses of poetry in which she complained of her husband's absence saying: "O by Allah, had it not been for my fear of Allah, this bed would have been shaken and quaked by some illicit act committed on it." “Umar hurriedly went back to his daughter Hafsah and asked her: "How long can a woman endure the absence of her husband?" Hafsah replied: "A month, or two, or three, till a maximum of four months.” Being the

scrupulous merciful ruler he was, “Umar immediately sent for the woman's husband to come home and be with his wife. Further, he issued a command that all husbands taking part in Jihad are not to be away from their wives any longer than four months.

It is narrated that a son of ‘Umar Ibn Al-Khattaab's walked in on his father, all dressed up. ~ Umar beat him with his Dirah till his son cried. Hafsah asked him, "Why did you beat him?" He replied: "I realized he admired himself so I meant to humble him.”

It is reported that Abu Bakr said: "I swear by Allah, I wish I were a plant by the road, along which a camel would pass by, open its mouth, devour me, chew me up me, spit me out and discharge the rest of me as wastes rather than be a man." ~Umar then returned: "I wish I were a sheep fattened by its owners, so that when I grew as fat as I could, dear guests would call on them. My owners would thus slaughter me, grill some of me, dry some and eat me up rather than be a man." (Reported by Al-Bayhaqyy.)

It is stated that ~ Umar and * Uthmaan Ibn * Affaan were always in dispute over matters so that it might have seemed that they never agreed on a thing. However, they never parted except on good terms. (Reported by Al-Khateeb.)

In ~Umar's very first sermon, he is reported to have started off by praising Allah then proceeding, "I have been afflicted with you as my responsibility and you have been afflicted with me as your ruler, I am now in charge of you after the decease of both my companions (i.e. the Prophet and Abu Bakr). Whoever is in our presence shall be in our charge. Whoever is away shall be in the charge of powerful honest people. Whoever discharges his duties, we shall enable him to

do even better, while whoever sins we shall punish him. May Allah forgive your sins and mine." (Reported by Ibn Sa‘ d.)

Al-Hasan states: "* Umar sent a message to Hudhayfah to distribute among people their livelihood. The latter wrote back saying, 'We did distribute it, yet plenty of money is left.' “Umar then wrote him saying: 'This is Allah's bounty that He bestowed on them. It does not belong to Muhammad or to His household. So distribute it among the people.'"

It is narrated that a man asked ‘Umar: " Will you appoint your son *Abdullaah Ibn *Umar as your successor?" “Umar answered: “May Allah fight you! I swear by Allah that this was never my intention. Would I appoint as my successor a man who failed to do better than divorce his wife?"

It is an unfortunate situation that Muslims nowadays frequently engage in brawls and lapse in antagonism. This all boils down to a question of faith; present time Muslims lean on weak faith. They rarely ever turn to the Glorious Quran wherein Allah commands us to show mercy, tolerance and turn away from the ignorant.

Despite being the Commander of the Faithful, who was more than capable of taking revenge, “Umar Ibn Al-Khattaab, may Allah be pleased with him, could not but resign to Allah's command to show mercy.

Ibn *Abbaas, may Allah be pleased with him and his father, narrates: "*Uyaynah Ibn Hisn Ibn Hudhayfah, ~ called on his nephew, Al-Har Ibn Qays. He was one of those people whom *Umar condemned. Scjholars of the Quran were members of *Umar's consultative council, be they old or

young. “Uyaynah said to his nephew: 'O nephew, * Umar is pleased with you, so ask for his permission that I talk to him." Al-Har replied, ‘I will." Ibn ~Abbaas_ proceeds: Al-Har requested ~Umar's permission for his uncle, and ~Umar did grant him that. When *Uyaynah walked in on * Umar, he said: ' O Ibn Al-Khattaab, I swear by Allah, your offerings are not generous, and your judgment is not just.' *Umar was enraged and he was about to punish him, when Al-Har told him: 'O Commander of the Faithful, Allah, Exalted be He, said to His Prophet, peace and blessings be upon him:

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*Umar's Mercy on His Subjects:

Throughout *Umar's caliphate, Muslims basked in his endless mercy and kind-heartedness.

Zayd Ibn Aslam reports that his father said: "I accompanied *Umar Ibn Al-Khattaab, may Allah be pleased with him, to Harat-Waqim. When we reached Sirraar, we saw a blazing fire. “Umar said: 'O Aslam, I can see that those travelers have been overwhelmed by the night and the cold. Let us hurry to them.' We rushed all the way till we approached them. We spotted a woman surrounded by her children and a pot placed on fire; they were without food. ~ Umar said, ' Peace be on you, people of the light.’ (He hated to call them ‘people of the fire’.) The woman answered * Umar, ‘Peace be on you.’

~Umar asked, ' Can I come closer?' The woman replied, ‘Do if you mean well or else leave.’ “Umar stepped closer and asked, "What is wrong with you?' The woman returned, 'We have been overwhelmed by the night and the cold.’ ~ Umar again asked, ‘What is wrong with those boys?' She said, 'They are without food.' “Umar asked her, ‘What is in this pot?’ ‘Only water so as to keep them quiet till they fall asleep;' the woman rejoined, ‘may Allah punish ~ Umar for that.’ ~ Umar returned: ‘May Allah have mercy on you! How would ~ Umar know about you?’ The woman commented: 'How can he take charge of us then be heedless of our plight?!" ~Umar returned to me and said, ‘Let us go.' We hurried back till we arrived at the flour store. He took out a sack of flour and an amount of oil, then said to me, ‘Put it on my back.' I said, ‘I will carry it for you.' He repeated his command twice or three times and every time I said, ' I will carry it for you.' He finally told me: ‘Will you carry my sins for me on Judgment Day? May you be bereaved of your mother.' I placed the load on his back, whereupon he left and J followed him. We hurried back to the woman. ~ Umar put down his load before her, He took out some of the flour and told her, ‘Pour the flour while I stir for you.’ “Umar kept blowing on the fire beneath the pot. He had a long beard; I watched the smoke go up in the air through his beard, until the food in the pot was cooked. ~Umar took the pot off the fire and said: ' Feed them and I will cool the food for you.’ “Umar did not prepare to leave until the children had had their fill of the food. He then left her the rest of it. When ~ Umar and [ got up, the woman effusively kept praising him: ‘May you be handsomely rewarded! You ought to be in charge of our affairs instead of the Commander of the Faithful!' ~ Umar returned: ‘Should you go to the Commander of the Faithful, you will find me there!’ “Umar then walked away for a short distance then sat down on the ground facing them. I kept telling him, ‘This does not become you!’ Yet, he would not speak to me. I watched the little boys brawl, laugh then peacefully fall asleep. 207