In the name of Allah, the Most Gracious, the Most Merciful.
The best of generations in their conduct and as an example,
Following the Messenger when he strove or excelled.
Mawaddah Association
Presents
Portraits from the Life of the Tabi'un
By Dr. Abd al-Rahman Ra'fat al-Basha,
May Allah have mercy upon him.
Salim ibn Abd Allah ibn Umar,
May Allah have mercy upon him.
The Commander of the Faithful, Umar ibn al-Khattab (may Allah be pleased with him),
Had a number of children.
But his son, Abd Allah,
Was the one who resembled him most.
Abd Allah ibn Umar (may Allah be pleased with him) also had
A number of children,
More than his father had.
Yet his son, Salim,
Was the one who resembled him most.
So let us follow the life story of Salim ibn Abd Allah,
The grandson of al-Faruq,
And the person most like him in character and appearance,
In religion and in demeanor.
Salim ibn Abd Allah lived in the embrace of Tayyibah (Madinah) the Pure.
And Tayyibah, at that time,
Was draped in garments of wealth and prosperity,
The likes of which it had never witnessed before.
For its provision came to it in abundance from every place.
The Umayyad caliphs provided it with sources of wealth
That one could never have imagined.
But Salim ibn Abd Allah
Did not turn toward the world as others did,
Nor did he concern himself with its fleeting offerings
As others were concerned with them.
Rather, he renounced what was in the hands of the people, desiring what was with Allah.
He turned away from the immediate life,
Hoping for success in the Hereafter.
The Umayyad caliphs tried to shower him with wealth,
Just as they showered others,
But they found him indifferent to what they possessed,
Deeming the world and all it contained as insignificant.
For in a certain year,
Sulayman ibn Abd al-Malik came to Makkah for Hajj.
When he began the circumambulation of arrival (tawaf al-qudum),
He saw Salim ibn Abd Allah sitting opposite the Ka'bah in humility,
Moving his tongue with the Qur'an in devotion and reverence,
With tears streaming down his cheeks,
As if there were an ocean of tears behind his eyes.
When the Caliph finished his tawaf,
And prayed two rak'ahs for the Sunnah of the tawaf,
He headed toward where Salim ibn Abd Allah was sitting.
The people cleared a path for him,
Until he took his place beside him,
Coming so close that his knee almost touched his.
Yet Salim did not notice him, nor did he turn toward him,
Because he was absorbed in what he was doing,
Occupied with the remembrance of Allah, oblivious to everything else.
The Caliph began to watch Salim with a sidelong glance,
Seeking an opportunity when he would stop reciting,
And cease his weeping, so that he might speak to him.
When the opportunity arose, he leaned toward him and said,
"Peace be upon you, O Abu Umar, and the mercy of Allah."
He replied, "And upon you be peace, and the mercy of Allah the Almighty,
And His blessings." The Caliph said in a low voice,
"Ask me for a need, that I may fulfill it for you, O Abu Umar."
But Salim did not answer him with anything.
The Caliph thought he had not heard him,
So he leaned closer than before and said,
"I desire that you ask me for a need so that I may fulfill it for you."
Salim said, "By Allah, I am ashamed
To be in the House of Allah, the Majestic and Exalted,
And then ask anyone other than Him."
The Caliph felt embarrassed and fell silent,
But he remained sitting in his place.
Salim rose, intending to return to his lodging,
And the crowds of people followed him;
One asking him about a hadith of the
Messenger of Allah (peace and blessings of Allah be upon him),
Another seeking a legal ruling (fatwa) on a matter of religion,
A third seeking advice on a worldly affair,
And a fourth asking him for supplication.
Among those who followed him
Was the Caliph of the Muslims, Sulayman ibn Abd al-Malik.
When the people saw him,
They made room for him until his shoulder touched
The shoulder of Salim ibn Abd Allah.
He leaned toward him and whispered in his ear, saying,
"Here we are, we have now
Left the mosque, so ask me for a need
That I may fulfill it for you." Salim said,
"Is it from the needs of the world or the needs of..."
The Caliph became flustered and said,
"Rather, from the needs of the world."
Salim said to him, "I have not asked
For the needs of the world from the One who owns it,
So how could I ask for them from one who does not own them?"
The Caliph felt ashamed before him,
Greeted him, and turned away, saying,
"How noble you are, O family of al-Khattab,
In your asceticism and piety!
May Allah, the Majestic and Exalted, bless you.
May Allah bless you, O family."
In the year before that,
Al-Walid ibn Abd al-Malik performed Hajj.
When the people departed from Arafat,
The Caliph met Salim ibn Abd Allah
In Muzdalifah while he was in the state of ihram.
He greeted him warmly,
Then looked at his exposed body,
Which looked like a sturdy structure,
And said to him, "You have a fine physique, O Abu Umar.
What is your primary food?"
He replied, "Bread and oil."
"And if I find meat sometimes, I eat it."
He said, "Bread and oil?"
He said, "Yes."
He asked, "Do you crave it?"
He replied, "If I do not crave it, I leave it;
If I become hungry, I crave it."
And just as Salim resembled his grandfather, al-Faruq,
In turning away from the world
And renouncing its fleeting offerings,
He also resembled him in speaking out
With the word of truth,
No matter how heavy the burden,
Or how severe the consequences.
Among such instances is when he entered upon al-Hajjaj.
Al-Hajjaj welcomed him, brought his seat close,
And was excessive in honoring him.
While they were in that state,
Al-Hajjaj was brought a group of men,
With disheveled hair, dusty bodies,
Pale faces, and bound in shackles.
Al-Hajjaj turned to Salim
And said, "These are rebels,
Corruptors in the land."
Then he gave him a sword,
Pointed to the first of them, and said,
"Take care of him; rise and strike his neck."
Salim took the sword from the hand of al-Hajjaj
And walked toward the man,
While the eyes of the people were fixed upon him,
Watching what he would do.
When he stood over the man, he said to him,
"Are you a Muslim?" He replied, "Yes."
"And this question..."
"Proceed to carry out what you were ordered to do."
Salim said to him, "Did you pray the morning prayer?"
The man said,
"I told you I am a Muslim."
"Then you ask me if I prayed the morning prayer?"
"Do you think there is a Muslim who does not pray?"
Salim said,
"I am asking you, did you pray the morning prayer today?"
"May Allah guide you."
"I told you, yes."
"And I asked you to carry out what this tyrant ordered you to do,"
"Otherwise you expose yourself to his wrath."
Salim returned to al-Hajjaj,
Threw the sword before him, and said,
"The man testifies that he is a Muslim,
And says that he prayed the morning prayer today."
"It has reached me that the Messenger of Allah (peace and blessings of Allah be upon him)
Said, 'Whoever prays the morning prayer,
He is under the protection of Allah.'"
"And I will not kill a man who has entered the protection of Allah, the Almighty and Exalted."
Al-Hajjaj said to him,
Angrily, "We are not killing him
For leaving the morning prayer,"
"But we are killing him because he is among those who aided in"
"The killing of the Caliph Uthman ibn Affan."
Salim said to him,
"Who is more entitled than I or you to the blood of Uthman?"
Al-Hajjaj fell silent
And could not offer a reply.
Later, one of the witnesses of the gathering arrived in Madinah
And informed Abd Allah ibn Umar
Of what al-Hajjaj had requested of his son, Salim.
He did not wait to hear the rest of the news,
But immediately prompted his narrator, saying,
"And what did Salim do regarding the order of al-Hajjaj?"
He told him, "He did such and such."
He felt relieved and said,
"Astute, astute; wise, wise."
When the Caliphate passed
To Umar ibn Abd al-Aziz,
He wrote to Salim ibn Abd Allah, saying,
"To proceed: Allah, the Almighty and Exalted,
Has tested me with what He has tested me with, regarding the leadership
Of the affairs of the Muslims, without consultation."
"So I ask Allah, who tested me with this matter,
To aid me in it."
"When this letter of mine reaches you,"
"Send me the books of Umar ibn al-Khattab,"
"His judgments, and his biography,"
"For I am determined to follow his biography,"
"And walk upon his path, if Allah aids me"
"In that. Peace."
Salim wrote to him, saying: "To proceed,
I have received your letter in which you mention
that Allah, the Almighty and Majestic, has tested you
with the leadership of the Muslims without your seeking it,
nor your consultation, and that you wish to follow
the path of 'Umar; do not let it escape you
that you are in a time other than the time of 'Umar,
and that among your men there is no one who resembles
the men of 'Umar, but
know that if you intend the truth and desire it,
Allah will aid you in it and provide for you
officials who will uphold it for you,
and He will bring them to you from where you do not expect.
For the aid of Allah for the servant is in proportion to
his intention; whoever has a complete intention
for good, the aid of Allah for him is complete,
and whoever has a deficient intention, the aid of
Allah for him is diminished in proportion to his deficiency.
And if your soul tempts you toward
that which does not please Allah, the Majestic and Exalted,
then remember those who were before you from among the rulers
who preceded you in departing from this world,
and ask yourself:
How did their eyes, with which they used to
gaze upon pleasures, decompose?
And how did their bellies, with which they used to
never be satisfied from desires, tear apart?
And how did they become carcasses,
and had the mounds of the earth not concealed them,
we would have been distressed by their stench,
and we would have felt harm from their foul odor.
Peace be upon you, and the mercy of Allah, the Exalted,
and His blessings."
Salim ibn 'Abdullah ibn 'Umar ibn al-Khattab lived
a long life,
filled with piety and overflowing with guidance.
In it, he turned away from the adornment and glitter of the world,
and throughout it, he turned toward that which pleases Allah.
He ate only the simplest of food,
and wore only the coarsest of garments.
He fought against the Romans with the Muslim armies as a common soldier,
and he fulfilled the needs of the Muslims,
and was as tender toward them as a mother.
When certainty came to him
in the year one hundred and six of the Hijrah,
the city of Madinah shook with grief for him,
and his passing left a pang in every heart,
and a tear on every cheek.
People, all the people, went out to escort
his funeral and witness his burial.
Hisham ibn 'Abd al-Malik
was present in Madinah at that time,
so he went out to pray over him and escort him.
When he saw the crowding of the people and their outpouring,
their great number awed him,
and it stirred in his breast a sense of envy.
He asked himself, saying:
"I wonder how many of these people would come out
if the Caliph of the Muslims were to die in
this city of theirs?"
Then he said to Ibrahim ibn Hisham al-Makhzumi,
his governor over Madinah:
"Impose upon the people of Madinah that they send
four thousand men to the frontier borders,
year after year, four thousand."
There was no one in the time of Salim
ibn 'Abdullah who was more similar
to those who had passed away from the righteous
in asceticism, virtue, and way of life.
Imam Malik [said]:
They departed and left behind
a question in the conscience:
Is there a star like them
that has risen and shone?
They filled life
with pride through their deeds,
and the world of the living was adorned by them.