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'They are people with high status prestige' (qasida 15:48) This is the motto of this section, which is for talking about the companions and beloved ones to our prophet Mohammad [PPBUH]. You can find all special expressions in the Glossary. We need your comments to develop this site for you.
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The prince of believers: Umar ibn Abdel-Aziz
After the time of the wise orthodox caliphs, and after Muslims have forgotten about the justice of Caliphs, there came Umar ibn Abdel-Aziz [AAH]. He is the grandson of Umar ibn al-Khattab [AAH], from his son Asim and the righteous girl who refused to disobey the prince of believers Umar ibn al-Khattab and cheat secretly as she would not do that in public [a very known story; as her poor mother told her to add water to the milk during the night, and she said: O, Mother! Umar the prince of believers said not to. So her mother said: he is not seeing you now. She replied: if he cannot see me, Allah can. By accident Umar was passing by and he heard their argument, so he made a mark on their house. In the morning, he called on his son and asked him to marry this girl, so he did, because of her honesty]. We are going to talk about his justice and righteousness to the extent that he was known as the fifth wise orthodox caliphs. Malik ibn Dinar said: When Umar got the caliphate, the shepherds on top of the mountains said: Who is the righteous caliph that is in charge now? People said: How did you find out about him? The shepherds said: When a righteous caliph is in charge, the wolfs and lions leave us alone. So, do you see how the wild animals knew about his righteousness and justice? Mejahed said that there are seven guiding leaders, five of them have come [Abu-Bakr, Umar, Osman, Ali, and Umar ibn Abdel-Aziz] and two are yet to come. So Mejahed mentioned him as one of the guiding leaders, meaning the wise orthodox caliphs. Rabah ibn Obaydah narrated on how Umar ibn Abdel-Aziz was augured well about the caliphate and the guidance. He said: "I once saw Umar ibn Abdel-Aziz, as he was the prince [ruler] of al-Medina [long before he became caliph], and an old man was leaning on his hand. I followed him to ask him about the old man, and he said "did you see him Rabah?", and I said "yes", he continued "That was my brother al-Khedr [PBUH], he came to me to tell me that I will be getting the caliphate and I will be fair with it". In another narration, Umar said: "I see you as a good man Reyah, that was my brother al-Khedr [PBUH] came to give me good tidings that I will be responsible [caliph] and I will be fair with it". Umro ibn Qayis said that when Umar ibn Abdel-Aziz became the ruler they heard a voice saying: [Today, it is brought and settled upon Umar the guider, and its pillar rose] His manners, fairness, goodness can’t be just confined in the following lines, rather it is just an example of his wonderful traits. Rabah ibn Obaydah said: Umar ibn Abdel-Aziz used to eat bread mixed with honey. Once, he asked his wife for some honey but there was none at home, later on she brought him some honey and after he ate it, he asked her from where she has got it. She told him that she sent her servant with the money who rode the mule, that was used for mail delivery, to buy it for him. He said: "I swear on you to bring it to me?". Then he took the whole amount of honey, sold it it for more money. He then gave his wife the money she spent, and put the rest in the Muslims Money House and said "So, the animals that belong to Muslims were fatigued to fulfill my desire" and he refused to accept the fact that his wife used the mail mule to buy his food from the market.
Sahl
ibn Sadaqa, his servant, narrated that
when Umar ibn Abdel-Aziz has become the Caliph
people heard loud Abdel-Aziz Soliman ibn Umar ibn Abdel-Aziz narrated that: when Omar Ibn Abdel-Aziz buried Soliman Ibn Abdel-Malik and came out of his tomb he heard land shaking (noise) and when he asked: "what was that?" he was told that: "O prince of believers! it is the procession of caliphate". He left this procession and rode his mule. When the chief of police came, with his spear, to walk in front of him, he said to him: "You leave me alone, I am just one of the Muslims". He then walked with the rest of the people to the mosque and he climbed the pulpit, all people came to listen to him, and he said: "O people, I was afflicted with this matter (being the caliph) without my consent. I am setting you free to choose for yourselves whom to become your new caliph", The people shouted one single shout: "We chose you, prince of believers, take charge of us with our blessing". When he saw that people have voted for him and they have calmed down, he thanked Allah and prayed for the Prophet [PPBUH] and said:
"I advise you to fear Allah,
because fearing Allah can compensate for everything while
nothing can compensate for it. Work for your
afterlife, for those who work for their afterlife, Allah
will take care of their earthly life
[Donia].
Fix your inner self, so Allah
may fix your publicity. Keep
remembering death and be well prepared for
it before it comes to you, and
takes away all pleasures. Who can find a living
father between him and Adam [PBUH], so it can
be an excuse for him to go on dreaming about living forever. This nation
will never disagree about
their God,
their Prophet
[PPBUH],
or their Quran. But
they will disagree about dinar
and dirham. I
swear that, I do not give
anyone what he does not deserve, or keep from anyone what
he deserves".
Then
he raised his voice saying: "O people, who obeys Allah must be obeyed and who
disobeys Allah has no right to be obeyed. So obey me as long as I obey Allah, and if
I don’t, then I have no right
for your obedience".
He then came down and
ordered to sell all of the fancy clothes and curtains
that was kept from previous caliphs and put their
selling money in the Muslim’s Money House. After
that he went to take a nap. His son Abdul-Malik
ibn Umar came to him and said "O,
prince of believers, what are you doing?"
His father replied "I am taking a nap, son".
His son insisted: "You
want to take a nap before
correcting the injustice that
has been done?" His father answered "O son, I have been
awake all night working on your uncle Soliman’s
funeral. I will correct
all the injustice as soon as I
pray Al-Dhuhr". His son kept going: "O,
prince of believers, and how would you know that you will live until
Al-Dhuhr?". His father asked him to come closer and he kissed him
between his eyes and said: "Thank
Allah, Who gave me a son like you to help
me with my religious tasks".
He left sleeping and went out.
He asked his guard to
call on people to bring their problems and
injustice to be looked at. A
Christian man with white
hair and beard from the city of Hams [in Syria]
stood up to him and said: "I am asking you
for the Book of Allah". Umar said: "What for?".
The man said: "My land was forcibly taken
from me by Al-Abbas
ibn Al-Walid ibn Abdel-Malik"
-Al-Abbas was sitting among
the rest of the people- Umar asked Al-Abbas:
"What would you say
about that?". Al-Abbas replied: "The
prince of believers, Al-Walid
ibn Abdel-Malik, gave it to me
and he wrote me
a register for it". [He
meant his father; a former caliph and uncle of Umar]. Umar asked the
Christian man "What would
you say about that?". The man repeated: "I am asking you
the Book of Allah".
Umar said:
"The Book of
Allah is more deserving to be followed than the
book of al-Walid
ibn Abdel-Malik"
and he ordered al-Abbas to give the man back his land, so
he Umar started returning any unjustly taken properties that have been with him [as caliph] or with his family [because of the former caliphs], one by one. When Umar ibn Al-Walid ibn Abdel-Malik knew about what Umar [AAH] did, he wrote him a letter saying: "You criticized all of the caliphs before you, and did not follow their way. This is out of your hatred for them and your detest for their sons, so you did cut what Allah ordered to be connected [family ties of kinship]. You forcibly and unjustly took their money and put it into the Muslims’ Money House. So fear Allah, O, Ibn Abdel-Aziz and watch Him because you got so far. You have just been appointed and you devoted the injustice to your family. I swear by Allah, who gave Mohammad [PPBUH] what he have, that your reign, which you said it was bad for you, has made you far enough from Allah. So cut down on your unjust behavior, and know that you are watched by the Almighty and in his hands. He, Almighty, will not leave you for long, and ask Soliman ibn Abdel-Malik about what he did to the Muslims". When Umar read his letter he wrote back to him: "In the Name of Allâh, the Most Beneficent, the Most Merciful, from the slave of Allah Umar, the prince of believers, to Umar ibn Al-Walid: Peace upon all Messengers and praise be to Allah the Lord of the worlds ... I have received your letter, and I will answer you by some of it: The beginning of your story is that your mother, Pananah, was a slave who was used to wonder in the markets of Hams. A shriveled-up man bought her with the Muslims' money and gave her as a gift to your father, so she became pregnant with you. So you were such an evil child and you grew up to be tyrannical and stubborn. And now you are claiming that I am an unfair since I deprived you and your family from the money of Allah which is really belonging to the relatives of the Prophet [PPBUH], the poor, and the widows. Who is more unjust than me, and left the covenant of Allah, is the one who put you in charge of the Muslim soldiers, while you were still a foolish boy, to rule them with only your views. He did not intent in doing that except for the love of the father to his son. So woe to you and woe to your father. What a large number of opponents you and your father will have on the Judgment Day, and how is he going to survive that?! Who is also, more unjust than me, and left the covenant of Allah, is the one who put al-Hajaj ibn Youseif in charge of the one fifth of the Arabs [the part of the booties that was dedicated to the trip of the Prophet, PPBUH], spilling the forbidden blood and taking the forbidden money. Who is also, more unjust than me, and left the covenant of Allah, is the one who put Qurrah ibn Shurik, a rude Arab, in charge of Egypt, and allowed him to drink, play, and sing. Who is also, more unjust than me, and left the covenant of Allah, is the one who gave the right to Aleya, the barbarian, in having a share in the one fifth of the Arab. So wait O, Pananah’s son when it is all done and all the money is back where it belongs, then I will have nothing better to do, than what I see just for you, which is selling you back as a slave and dividing your price between the orphans, the poor, and the widows, as they all have right in you [referring to his mother being bought from their money]. Peace be upon us, as it is not for the unjust people" So, he promised to return him back to his origin, as a slave just like his mother who were bought with a stolen money. When the Muslim outsiders knew about Umar’s fairness and his correction of all the injustice, they decided not to fight him. (narrated from many sources). Al-Aageri narrated that Al-Farazdaq said, when Umar [AAH] died: [Many are the righteous rules you made for them! that were dead before you, and will die after you] [Oh what a tragedy for me and all of us that the fair people became buried in the holes] The source of all Hadith is the book of the news of Umar ibn Abdel-Aziz by Abu-Bakr Al-Aageri (died 360 A.H.) [360 after Hegira].
Edited by Samer-allayl Translated by Shayma |
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Whoever wants to read more about the great companions, can browse the companions pages in al-Ahbab site.
Editors Team |
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