Chapter 6: Incidents With His Wife
Incident With His Wife:
Fatimah, the daughter of Abd al-Malik and wife of Umar, owned unique and precious jewellery given as a gift from her father.
Umar bin Abd al-Aziz said to her that she had two choices: either to return this jewellery to the Bayt al-mal or he would separate from her, because he did not want such ornaments to remain with her now that he was the caliph.
Fatimah replied that she would choose him over the jewellery many times over and because of her choice, the jewellery was taken and placed in the Bayt al-mal (Muslim Treasure).
Umar’s Encounter with his Wife, Fatimah After Becoming the Caliph:
Shortly after his appointment as the Caliph, Fatimah entered and found Umar praying, with tears flowing down his beard.
She asked: O Commander of the Faithful, what is wrong? Why are you weeping?
Umar ibn Abd al-Aziz replied that he had been given authority over the entire Muslim community, Arabs and non-Arabs alike, and that this was a burden.
He explained that he was thinking about the poor, the sick who had nothing, the unclothed and distressed, the oppressed, those in prison, the elderly, and large families with very little means, spread across all regions.
Umar bin Abd al-Aziz said he feared that Allah SWT would question him about them on the Day of Judgement and that he might have no excuse before Him, and that fear made him cry.