Episode 22: Life of Umar ibn al-Khattab
The Title of ‘Al-Faruq’:
Umar’s nickname ‘Al-Faruq’ was given to him by the Prophet Muhammad ﷺ.
‘Al-Faruq’ means – the one who differentiates between truth and falsehood.
Abdullah ibn Abbas once asked Umar: Due to what have you been given the name Al-Faruq?
Umar ibn al-Khattab told Abdullah ibn Abbas the story of how he accepted Islam and soon after taking his Shahadah, the Prophet Muhammad ﷺ organised the Muslims of Makkah and arranged them into two lines.
One line was led by Hamza ibn Abdul Muttalib and the second line was led by Umar.
The Muslims then marched into Masjid Al-Haram openly and publicly in front of the Quraysh and because of this, the Prophet Muhammad ﷺ named Umar ibn al-Khattab, ‘Al-Faruq’.
Testimonies of Umar’s Character:
Once Aisha bint Abi Bakr was asked: Who is the one who gave Umar the title ‘Al-Faruq?’
Aisha answered: The Messenger of Allah is the one who gave Umar this honourable title.
Al-Shifa bint Abdullah (also known as Layla) said about Umar: When he would speak, he would make sure that people listened to what he was saying. When he would walk, he would walk fast. When he would hit someone, he would make sure that person got hurt. When he would eat, he would eat as much as he needed to eat. He is a truly pious person.
His Simplicity in Food:
Umar ibn al-Khattab would eat food that was rough and not refined because he wanted to prevent becoming attached to the Dunya.
Umar ibn al-Khattab had a servant named Yarfa and one day, he was in the mood to eat some fish and he mentioned it to his servant.
Yarfa heard this and wanted to get some fish for him. Without telling him what he was planning to do, he asked Umar for permission to have some time off.
Yarfa then took his camel from Madinah and went to the sea, which was a two day journey and he brought some fresh fish and went back to Madinah.
After the four days of travelling, Yarfa was washing the camel and removing the sweat off its body.
Umar ibn al-Khattab happened to see him doing this and asked: O Yarfa, what is this? Why was your camel sweating so much?
Yarfa replied: O Amir al-Mu’minin, I know that you had that craving for fish so I took my camel and I went all the way to the sea and I brought fish back for you.
Umar ibn al-Khattab then responded: Just to satisfy the desire of Umar, you tortured that animal? Wallahi, Umar will not taste that fish!
On another occasion, Umar ibn al-Khattab entered his home and he was hungry so he asked his wife: Is there anything to eat? His wife responded: There is food under the bed.
Umar looked under the bed and found a few dates and some water which he consumed and he was satisfied with this.
Umar ibn al-Khattab then thought to himself: why do some people feel that they need to nourish their body with what is haram, when you can have simple halal, clean, pure food like this.
Umar ibn al-Khattab said: The curse of Allah SWT is upon the person whose stomach is the cause for him entering the fire of Jahannam.
His Simplicity in Clothing:
Umar ibn al-Khattab used to dress in a way that showed no attachment to the life of this world.
Ali ibn Abi Talib said about Umar: I saw Umar wearing a lower garment that had 21 patches in it.
Anas ibn Malik said: I saw on the shirt of Umar, between the shoulders four patches.
Once on the day of Jummah, Umar ibn al-Khattab was supposed to give the Khutbah and the people were waiting for him but he was unusually late.
Finally, he came and when he ascended the mimbar, he apologised and said: the reason for why I was prevented from coming here earlier, was because of this shirt of mine. I didn’t have any other shirt other than this and I had to wash it and wait for it to dry.
His Goal in Life:
Umar ibn al-Khattab’s only goal was to please Allah SWT and gain success in the Akhirah.