Episode 30: Life of Umar ibn al-Khattab
Umar as Protector of Families:
One of the nicknames of Umar ibn al-Khattab during his Caliph was ‘the Father of the Families.’
This was because, he used to take care of women and families when their husbands were away on Jihad.
Umar’s Humility and Service to the People:
Umar ibn al-Khattab would go to their homes and ask them: Do you have any needs? Can I take care of anything for you?
Umar would tell the women: If you need to buy anything, I don’t want you to be deceived by the merchants in the marketplace. I am afraid that some of the merchants might not be honest. They know that you are a woman and you don’t have much experience in the marketplace. They may think that they can trick these women and sell items at a much higher price without them knowing. I would hate for you to be deceived.
Umar continued: Whoever amongst you wants to buy something, send your servant with me and I will go to the market personally and buy whatever you need and send it back to your servants.
As for the families that were poor, Umar ibn al-Khattab would use funds from the Bayt-al-mal (Muslim treasury) to take care of them.
The husbands would often write letters to their wives back home and Umar ibn al-Khattab would personally take these letters and deliver them to the families.
Umar would say to the women: if you know how to read, then here are your letters. But if you are not able to read (there were many women at that time that couldn’t read), then come close to the door and I will personally read the letter to you.
Umar ibn al-Khattab also told the women: If you want to write letters to your husbands, then please do so as well. The messengers go from Madinah regularly, so if you ever want to send letters to your husbands, you are more than welcome to do so.
Umar would personally provide them with paper and ink and would tell them: If you know how to write, then go ahead and write. If you don’t know how to write, come close to the door and dictate to me what you want to say and I will write it down.
Umar’s Generosity During Travels:
When Umar ibn al-Khattab would be travelling on his journeys, he would make sure that there was one camel that was loaded with dates and water.
During the journey, if anyone came to him with some sort of an issue while on a journey, before he would listen to them, Umar would offer them to have some dates and water.
They usually used to travel at night and would rest during the day. When it was time to restart the journey, Umar would get everyone ready and instruct them to start moving forward, and he would be the last one to go as he inspected the area to see if anyone forgot anything.
Umar ibn al-Khattab would also gather any lost belongings and carry it for the remainder of the journey.
Helping out a man from Juhayna:
A man from Juhayna mentioned that his father sent him with some goats to go to Madinah and sell.
The young man brought his goats and he was riding on a donkey. As he was approaching Madinah, the supplies on the donkey were about to fall down and the young man needed support to make sure that the supplies didn’t fall.
On the outskirts of Madinah, he asked the first person he saw: Sir, can you help me? Can you help me fix these supplies on my donkey so they don’t fall down?
The young man didn’t know that this was the Amir al-Mu’minin, Umar ibn al-Khattab, who agreed to help and tied up the supplies to make sure that they were fixed in its position.
Umar then asked: What is your name? The young man replied: I am so-and-so from Juhayna.
Umar commanded: when you go back to your father, tell him that Amir al-Mu’minin advises him: Don’t slaughter your goats when they are so young. Let them grow a little bit and then slaughter them.
The young man asked: who are you? Umar replied: Umar ibn al-Khattab.
The young man was shocked by this and he could not believe that the leader of the Muslim world had just helped him fix his load on his donkey.
This demonstrated the humbleness of Umar ibn al-Khattab.
Helping a Poor Woman At Night:
One night, while Umar ibn al-Khattab was checking up on everybody in Madinah, he saw a woman who was carrying a number of heavy water skins and asked her: what is the situation, why are you doing this?
The woman replied: I have many young kids so I cannot leave them in the daytime and my husband is out of town. I don’t have any servants so this is the only time I can go and get water to bring back to my home. Umar replied: Let me help you carry the water.
Umar ibn al-Khattab carried the water on his back until he reached her home. Before he left, he said: I think you should go tomorrow to Amir al-Mu’minin and I’m sure he will help you out, he will give you a servant.
The woman was surprised by this and she asked: Who am I? I am just a poor woman. How will I have access to Amir al-Mu’minin?
Umar ibn al-Khattab replied: Don’t worry, just go. I’m sure that you will be able to meet him.
The next morning, the woman went to the Amir al-Mu’minin and she found the same man that helped her the night before. She was shocked by this and out of her fear, she started to run away.
Umar ibn al-Khattab sent a servant to her home and ordered for her to receive some extra assistance from the Bayt-al-mal (Muslim treasury).
Justice with Compassion:
If someone did something wrong but the person had an acceptable excuse, Umar ibn al-Khattab out of his fairness, would accept the excuse.
Once, a man in Makkah cut some of the trees in the city in order to make fodder to feed his camel. However, this act was not permissible.
When Umar ibn al-Khattab came to know about this, he ordered for the man to be brought to him and Umar said: cutting trees in Makkah, it is not permissible and it is Haram. Why did you do this?
The man replied: I know that it is Haram, but my camel was hungry and I was afraid that if I didn’t feed it, it may actually die. I did not have any food for it or money to buy the camel food, and I needed that camel to get me to my home. If my camel died, I would be stuck and I would have no way to go home. This is why I did it.
Umar ibn al-Khattab brought this man in his presence with the intention to punish him. However, after he heard this explanation, he understood and decided to let the man go.
Umar ordered for him to be given a camel from the camels of Sadaqah and ordered for the camel to be loaded up with food.
Umar ibn al-Khattab told the man: Take this camel, go on your way and do not ever cut trees from the Haram (Makkah) again.
Secret Charity to the Elderly:
One night, Umar ibn al-Khattab was out in Madinah and he entered someone’s home. Talhah ibn Ubaydallah noticed this and was very curious.
The next morning, Talhah went to the same house and knocked on the door, asking for permission to enter.
When he entered the house, he found a very old blind woman who was sitting on a chair. Talhah saw this and asked her: Who is this man that comes to your house in the night and why does he come?
The old woman replied: I don’t know who he is, but he has been helping me for a long time. He comes and asks me if I need anything, brings food to me, brings supplies to me, he cleans the trash from my home and takes it out. He takes care of me but I don’t know who he is.
Talhah then left the home and said to himself: May your mother be bereft of you O, Talhah. Are you trying to find faults in Umar? What are you trying to do?
Guarding the Caravan at Night:
Abdur-Rahman ibn Awf mentioned: Once, a caravan of businessmen came to Madinah and they had a lot of merchandise with them and had their women and children present as well.
When the night came, the caravan needed security because of the valuable merchandise that they had.
Umar ibn al-Khattab approached Abdur-Rahman ibn Awf and said: What do you say, you and I will be the security for this caravan.
Abdur-Rahman agreed to do this and they both guarded the caravan in the night.
Responding to a Crying Baby Multiple Times:
During the first part of the night, a baby started to cry.
Umar ibn al-Khattab heard this cry and went to the mother and said: Fear Allah, and take care of your baby, it is crying too much.
After a few hours, the baby started to cry again and Umar went back to the mother and said the same statement again.
He went back and during the last part of the night, the baby was crying again. Umar ibn al-Khattab went to the mother for a third time and said: Woe to you, it seems like you are not a good mother.
The mother was angered by this, but she didn’t know that he was the Amir al-Mu’minin.
She told Umar ibn al-Khattab: You have been bothering me the whole night. You know the reason why my baby is crying? It is because I am trying to wean my baby off breast milk. I am trying to feed my baby solid food and he is not liking it. This is why he was crying.
Umar asked: How old is your baby? The mother replied: Only a few months.
Umar was surprised by this and asked: why are you trying to get him off your milk? The period of nursing is two years.
The mother replied: you know the reason why I am trying to make him eat solid foods? It is because the policy of Umar ibn al-Khattab is that he gives an allowance to all children, but that allowance only starts when the baby is not drinking the mother’s milk anymore. As for babies who are still suckling from their mothers, they don’t get any allowance. I need my baby to start eating solid food so that he will get that allowance.
Umar was shocked by this and he told her: Woe to you. Don’t be in a rush to get him off your milk. Let him continue to drink your milk, this can be dangerous for him.
For the rest of the night, Umar ibn al-Khattab was worried as he was thinking about the policy and thought to himself: How many other women are like this? They stop feeding their babies milk as they want the allowance from the Bayt-al-mal because of my policy. How many children from the Muslims have I harmed from this policy?
When the time for Fajr came, he led the prayer as normal.
Abdur-Rahman ibn Awf said: that day when Umar led the Fajr prayer, we had no idea what Surahs he recited in that prayer, because he was crying so much.
The Baby Allowance Policy Change:
After the prayer was completed, Umar ibn al-Khattab said about himself: what has Umar done? Umar is ruined, Umar is ruined! How many of the children of the Muslims have I killed with this policy of mine? Perhaps the mothers force them to stop drinking their milk early, and this may have caused harm to the children, and maybe some children died because of my policy. What have I done?
Umar ibn al-Khattab got the town caller (the person who was responsible for announcing things around the city) to go around and announce: From today, all children that are born will have an allowance from the treasury, from the day that they are born, whether they are suckling or not suckling. So, do not deprive your children of your milk.
Umar ibn al-Khattab had this policy implemented all around the Muslim world.