The Leadership of Umar Ibn Khaththab

The Leadership of Umar Ibn Khaththab -may Allah be pleased with him-

The Leadership of Umar Ibn Khaththab -may Allah be pleased with him-

One day, when Umar Ibn al Khaththab – may Allah be pleased with him-, leader of the believers, bought a horse. He lead it to walk several steps quite far from it’s seller, then he rode to try the horse. It turned out that the horse got bruises on it’s body. Then he tried to settle the matter himself, by returning it and assumed that the seller had tricked him. but the seller refused to take the horse back from him. Then, what should the leader of the believers do to this stubborn man? Would he order to imprison him? Or would he made a false accusation against him?? No, he filed a claim to get his right back.

But the man he claimed insisted that he should be the one to choose their judge.Finally, he chose Shuraih, a well-known judge for his justice. Whereas Umar -may Allah be pleased with him- sat as the suspect. And the judge’s decision put the blame on Umar -may Allah be pleased with him- according to the law, and the he told Umar, “Take what you have bought, or return it as you’ve received it.” Happily, Umar -may Allah be pleased with him- looked at Shuraih and said, “Is there any decision but this?”. He didn’t attempt to imprison the judge, or accuse his employees of destabilizing the country. In fact, he appointed him to be the judge in Kufah as the reward.

When the fabrics from Yemen had arrived and been distributed to the muslims justly and evenly, Umar bin al Khaththab -may Allah be pleased with him- wore a larger cloth than his share (because he was a tall man). The muslims touched the fabric, because it was distributed transparently. When Umar -may Allah be pleased with him- stepped up using his clothes to the pulpit to deliver a sermon and motivate people to fight in Allah’s Cause, and told them, “Listen O People, and Obey!” . There were no response. Then he said again, “Listen O People, and Obey!”. There were still no warm acceptance, instead, there was a loud voice directed to him, “There’s no need to hear nor obey.” In such condition, dozens of sword-clad troops didn’t strike the people, but fascinatingly, everything calmed down automatically.

When the situation became calmed, Umar -may Allah be pleased with him- asked the man who shouted the words, “Why? May Allah the Glorified and Exalted have mercy upon you.” Then the man said over boldly, “You have taken fabric as we did, but how did you cut it whereas you are taller than us? There must be something exclusively done for you.” Umar -may Allah be pleased with him- defended himself. He sent for his son, Abdullah Ibn Umar, -may Allah be pleased with them both-, and Abdullah announced that he had given his fabric part to his father so that Umar -may Allah be pleased with him- was able to make a whole clothes that could cover his aurah and he could join his people. Hearing that, the man sat down quietly and said, “Now we will listen and obey.”

Umar -may Allah be pleased with him- lived as the common people lived. He lit the lamp at night. He talked to people with the lamp to illuminate them if the talk was for the country’s interests. If the people he met talked about matters out of the affairs of the muslims, he turned off the lamp, saying, “This lamp belongs to the country. Thus, it shouldn’t used to accomplish private affairs.”

On friday, people were already gathering waiting for their preacher, Umar -may Allah be pleased with him-. He was late thus they waited quite a long time for him. Then he- may Allah be pleased with him- went out to see them and stepped on the pulpit. He told the muslims the reason of his lateness, when they asked him about it. It turned out to be, the leader of the believers washed his clothes this morning. He had no other clothes but it thus he had to wait until it dried, and he could use it, then he might come to the mosque to preach.

Umar went out to patrol at night in order to dig information in society. He arrived at Ali’s village after travelled for five miles from Medina. He went to see, and there was a tent inside it which fire was burning in front of it. When he got closer, he saw a lady and around her were little children crying. Umar -may Allah be pleased with him- asked about their condition, and the woman answered, “We are struck by cold and hardship of a the night.” Umar -may Allah be pleased with him- said, “Why do the children cry?”. She replied, “They are crying because of starvation.” Umar asked again, “What is inside the pot?” She replied, “The water I use to silence them until they fall asleep.” Then the lady said,

“Allah is between us and Umar.” She didn’t know that man whom she was speaking to was Umar -may Allah be pleased with him-. Umar -may Allah be pleased with him- asked her, ” May Allah the Glorified and Exalted haver mercy upon you. Doesn’t Umar -may Allah be pleased with him- know about your condition?”. She replied, “Allah be Glorified, does he take care of us? The proof is that he has forgotten us.” Then Umar -may Allah be pleased with him- walked immediately to the Bait al Mal. He came back carried something on his shoulder. He brought them a good quality flour and oils, on his own back. He refused anyone to replace him, saying that indeed, none could replace him to carry his own sins at the Last Day. Umar -may Allah be pleased with him- cooked food for the lady’s children while she was left astonished with his action. She said to Umar -may Allah be pleased with him-, “May Allah the Glorified and Exalted reward you with goodness. By Allah, you are more deserve to hold the authority than Umar -may Allah be pleased with him, leader of the believers.”

One day, Abu Musa al Ash’ary -may Allah be pleased with him- punished a soldier from the Iraq troops regimen, and he shaved the soldier’s hair. The soldier thought that the punishment wasn’t fair, and he collected a bulk of his hair and placed it on Umar’s chair -may Allah be pleased with him-, and said, “This is the way your men treat us.” Then Umar’s face -may Allah be pleased with him- beamed, and he said, “Indeed, I prefer everyone to have the courage as this man, to all lands that I’ve managed to get free. They are our people and that is our inheritance. There is no nobility for you, O our master.”

Once, while Umar -may Allah be pleased with him- was walking at night, suddenly there was a woman who called out the name of Nashr Ibn Hajjaj. She wanted to drink alcohol and meet Nashr. She said,

“Is there any way to the alcohol so that I can drink it, or any way to meet Nashr Ibn Hajjaj?”

Then Umar -may Allah be pleased with him- sent a letter to Nashr. In fact, Nashr Ibn Hajjaj was the most capable man in creating poems, and the handsomest man too. Then Umar -may Allah be pleased with him- ordered so that his hair being shortened. By this, he got even handsomer. After that, Umar -may Allah be pleased with him- ordered him to wear a turban, and he wore it, and it added to his handsomeness and ornaments. Umar -may Allah be please with him- then said, “I would not be peace with the existence of a man whose name is calling out by women.” Umar -may Allah be pleased with him- gave him plenty of money and sent him to Bashrah so that he might start a business that busying him from thinking about women and busying women from thinking about him.

Amr Ibn Al Ash -may Allah be pleased with him- was the governor of Egypt. His son trained the horse to prepare before a race. One day, some residents of Egypt challenged him to do a horse race. Then there was a feud between them over whose horse that had won the race. The governor’s son was angry and hit the egyptian, saying, “Do you dare to step over the son of honorable people?”. The egyptian disliked the treatment he got, and filed a claim to the leader of the believers, Umar -may Allah be pleased with him-. Umar -may Allah be pleased with him- called the governor of Egypt (Amr Ibn Al Ash -may Allah be pleased with him-) and his son, and he also called the egyptian, gathered some people, and ordered the egyptian to hit his opponent, saying, “Hit the son of the honorable people.” The Umar -may Allah be pleased with him- also ordered him to hit the governor, because his son would not be brave to hit others but because of his power. He then yelled at Amr Ibn al Ash -may Allah be pleased with him- telling him that, “Since when you two enslave people, whereas they were born from their mothers as free men.”

Umar Ibn al Khaththab -may Allah be pleased with him- was a man who always cried due to his fear of Allah the Glorified and Exalted, until people might see two black lines on his face because of so many tears he had shed. He was a man who truly fear Allah the Glorified and Exalted. Beside that all, he said, “I wish my mother never gave birth to me. I wish I am a piece of hair on the deceased body of Abu Bakr -may Allah be pleased with him.”. He also said, “If there is someone announcing that all men is going to enter the Paradise but one, I am afraid that I am that one man.”

Reference: Consolation of the Pious Men, 101 Fresh, Real, and Full of wisdom stories) First edition. Published by: Pustaka Arafah.

Article of www.Whatisquran.com

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