Part of Glimpses from the Lives of the Tabi‘un (the Successors) (series completed)
· Lesson 19 of 37
Pictures from the lives of the followers | D. Abdul Rahman Raafat Al-Basha | Episode (19) | Omar bin Abdulaziz, may God have mercy on him
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Transcript
Machine translation — may contain errors
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In the name of Allah, the Most Gracious, the Most Merciful.
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The best of generations in stances and exemplary conduct,
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He followed the Messenger whenever he strove or spoke.
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Mawaddah Association
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presents:
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"Portraits from the Lives of the Tabi'un"
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by Dr. Abd al-Rahman Ra'fat al-Basha,
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may Allah have mercy on him.
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'Umar ibn 'Abd al-'Aziz,
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may Allah have mercy on him.
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Speaking of the devout and ascetic caliph,
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the fifth of the Rightly-Guided Caliphs,
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is a discourse sweeter than the fragrance of musk
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and more radiant than blooming gardens.
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His remarkable and illustrious biography
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is a fragrant oasis:
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wherever you alight within it,
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you find tender verdure,
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splendid blossoms,
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and ripe, harvest-ready fruit.
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And if it is not within our power
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to fully encompass that biography right now—
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one that has adorned the brow of history—
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that does not prevent us
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from plucking a flower from its garden
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and drawing a gleam from its radiant light;
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for what cannot be attained entirely
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should not be abandoned completely.
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Here, then, are three portraits
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from the life of 'Umar ibn 'Abd al-'Aziz,
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to be followed by further portraits in a subsequent volume,
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if Allah wills and grants ease.
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As for the first of these portraits,
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it is related to us by Salamah ibn Dinar,
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the scholar, judge, and elder of Medina,
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who said:
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"I came before the Caliph of the Muslims,
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'Umar ibn 'Abd al-'Aziz,
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while he was at Khunasirah in the district of Aleppo.
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Advanced age had already overtaken me,
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and a long time had passed since I had last met him.
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I found him seated at the head of the room,
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yet I did not recognize him,
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so greatly had his condition changed from what I had known of him
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back when he was governor of Medina.
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He welcomed me and said,
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'Come close to me, O Abu Hazim.'
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When I drew near to him, I said,
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'Are you not the Commander of the Faithful, 'Umar ibn 'Abd al-'Aziz?'
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He replied, 'Indeed, I am.'
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I said,
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'Was your face not radiant,
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your skin supple,
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and your life comfortable and opulent?'
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He said, 'Indeed, it was.'
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I said,
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'Then what has altered your appearance so,
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now that you possess the gold and silver of the world
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and have become the Commander of the Faithful?'
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He asked,
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'And what has changed about me, O Abu Hazim?'
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I replied,
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'Your body has grown emaciated,
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your skin rough,
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your face pale,
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and the luster in your eyes has grown dim.'
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He wept and said,
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'How then would you find me if you were to see me in my grave after three days,
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with my eyeballs having flowed down upon my cheeks,
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my abdomen ruptured and split open,
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and worms freely roaming through my body?
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Had you seen me then, O Abu Hazim,
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you would disown recognizing me even more than you do today.'
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Then he raised his eyes toward me and said,
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'Do you not remember a hadith
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that you once narrated to me in Medina, O Abu Hazim?'
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I replied,
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'I narrated many hadiths to you,
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O Commander of the Faithful;
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which one do you mean?'
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He said,
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'The hadith narrated by Abu Hurayrah.'
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I said, 'Yes,
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do you recall it, O Commander of the Faithful?'
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He said,
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'Recite it to me again,
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for I wish to hear it directly from you.'
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I said,
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'I heard Abu Hurayrah say:
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I heard the Messenger of Allah, peace and blessings of Allah be upon him, say:
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"Ahead of you lies a steep, rugged, and arduous mountain pass;
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none shall cross it save those who are lean and slender."'
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Thereupon, 'Umar wept so intensely
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that I feared his gall bladder would burst.
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Then he wiped away his tears, turned to me, and said,
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'Do you blame me, O Abu Hazim,
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if I starve and emaciate myself for that steep ascent,
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hoping thereby to be delivered from it?
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Yet I scarcely think I will be saved.'
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As for the second portrait from the life of 'Umar,
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al-Tabari relates it to us on the authority of al-Tufayl ibn Mirdas,
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who said:
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When the Commander of the Faithful, 'Umar ibn 'Abd al-'Aziz,
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assumed the caliphate,
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he wrote to Sulayman ibn Abi al-Sari,
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his governor over Sogdia, a letter in which he said:
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'Establish inns throughout your lands
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to host Muslims.
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Whenever any of them passes by,
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host them for a day and a night,
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attend to their needs,
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and care for their mounts.
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If he suffers from exhaustion or fatigue,
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host him for two days and two nights
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and comfort him.
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If he is stranded, having no provisions
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and no mount to carry him,
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give him what will satisfy his need
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and convey him back to his homeland.'
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The governor promptly complied with the command of the Commander of the Faithful
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and erected the inns he had ordered him to prepare.
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News of this spread far and wide,
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and people across the eastern
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and western reaches of the Islamic lands began speaking of it,
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extolling the justice and piety of the Caliph.
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Consequently, the notables of Samarkand
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went as a delegation to its governor, Sulayman
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ibn Abi al-Sari, and said:
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'Your predecessor, Qutaybah ibn Muslim al-Bahili,
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invaded our lands without prior warning
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and did not follow the proper conduct of warfare that you,
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the community of Muslims, observe.
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For we have learned that you invite your enemies
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to embrace Islam;
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if they refuse, you call upon them to pay the jizyah;
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and if they refuse, you declare war against them.
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But we have witnessed such justice and piety from your Caliph
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as to embolden us to lodge a complaint against your army to you,
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and to seek your justice against what was inflicted upon us
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by one of your commanders.
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Therefore, grant permission, O governor,
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for a delegation from among us to travel to your Caliph
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and submit our grievance to him.
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If we are in the right,
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let it be granted to us;
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and if not, we shall return as we came.'
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Sulayman granted permission for a delegation from among them
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to go before the Caliph in Damascus.
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When they arrived at the seat of the caliphate,
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they presented their case to the Caliph of the Muslims,
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'Umar ibn 'Abd al-'Aziz.
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Thereupon, the Caliph wrote a letter to his governor, Sulayman ibn Abi al-Sari, saying: 'To proceed: When this letter of mine
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reaches you, appoint a judge for the people of Samarkand to look into their grievance. If he rules
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in their favor, order the Muslim army to evacuate their city, instruct the Muslims residing
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among them to depart, and return to the state you and they were in before
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Qutaybah ibn Muslim al-Bahili entered their lands.' When the delegation returned to Sulayman ibn Abi
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al-Sari and delivered the letter of the Commander of the Faithful to him, he immediately appointed for them the chief judge,
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Jumay' ibn Hadir al-Naji, who examined their grievance, investigated their account thoroughly,
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and heard the testimony of a number of Muslim soldiers and commanders. Once the validity of
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their claim became evident to him, he ruled in their favor. At that, the governor commanded the Muslim troops
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to vacate the city for them, return to their military camps, and confront them anew:
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either entering their land through a peaceful treaty, prevailing over
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them in open warfare, or failing to conquer it altogether. When the notables
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of the people heard the verdict of the chief judge of the Muslims in their favor, they said to one another, 'Woe to you! You have
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mingled with these people, lived alongside them, and seen their conduct, justice,
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and truthfulness. Therefore, let them remain among you, be pleased to live beside them,
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and find comfort in their companionship.' As for the third portrait from the life of 'Umar,
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may Allah be pleased with him, Ibn 'Abd al-Hakam relates it in his precious book entitled
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*Sirat 'Umar ibn 'Abd al-'Aziz*, saying: 'When death approached 'Umar,
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Maslamah ibn 'Abd al-Malik entered upon him and said, 'O Commander of the Faithful, you have weaned
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the mouths of your children from this wealth, so would that you entrust their care to me or to whomever you prefer
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from your household.' When he finished speaking, 'Umar said, 'Help me sit up.' So they helped him sit up, and he said,
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'I have heard your words, O Maslamah. As for your statement that I have weaned the mouths of my children
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from this wealth, by Allah, I have not withheld any right that belonged to them, nor was I ever
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going to give them anything that was not theirs. And as for your suggestion that I entrust them to you or to
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whomever I prefer from my household, my only guardian and trustee over them is Allah, Who revealed
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the Book in truth, and He protects the righteous. Know, O Maslamah, that my sons
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are of two kinds: either a righteous, God-fearing man whom Allah will enrich from His bounty and grant
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a way out in his affairs, or a wicked man bent on sin, and I will never
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be the first to assist him with wealth in disobeying Allah Almighty.' Then he said, 'Call
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my children to me.' So they summoned them, and they were a dozen or so boys. When he saw them, his eyes welled
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with tears, and he said, 'May my soul be ransomed for youths whom I leave in poverty, possessing nothing!'
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He wept silently, then turned to them and said, 'O my sons, I have
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left you immense good; for you will not pass by any Muslim
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or dhimmi without them acknowledging that they owe you a right. O my sons, before you
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lies a choice between two matters: either you become wealthy and your father enters
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the Fire, or you remain poor and he enters Paradise; and I believe nothing other
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than that you would prefer your father's rescue from the Fire over wealth.' Then he looked
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at them gently and said, 'Stand and go, may Allah protect you; stand and go, may Allah provide
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for you.' Maslamah then turned to him and said, 'I have something better than that, O
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Commander of the Faithful.' He asked, 'And what is it?' He replied, 'I possess three hundred thousand dinars,
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and I gift them to you: distribute them among them, or give them away in charity if you wish.' 'Umar said to him,
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'Or something even better than that, O Maslamah?' He asked, 'And what is that, O Commander of the Faithful?' He said,
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'Return it to those from whom you took it, for you have no rightful claim to it.' Tears welled in the eyes of
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Maslamah, and he said, 'May Allah have mercy on you, O Commander of the Faithful, in life and in death! You have softened
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our hardened hearts, reminded them when they were heedless, and preserved for us a legacy
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among the righteous.' Later, people traced the fortunes of 'Umar's sons after his passing, and they observed
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that not one of them ever fell into need or poverty; and true are the words of Allah the Almighty when He says...
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'Umar Ibn 'Abd al-'Aziz is counted by the people of knowledge among the practicing scholars
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and the Rightly-Guided Caliphs, radiant in his principled stances and exemplary conduct, following the Messenger whenever
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he strove or spoke. They were once here, reviving the drought of our lives, and in our midst their memory continues
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to soar high. They departed, leaving within the conscience a question: has any star ever risen
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and shone like them? They filled life with glories through their deeds, and through them, the world of patience blossomed.