Page 20 - Issue 26

The Islamic Bulletin Volume XX No. 26 Page 20
Khalifa Umar Ibn Khuttab.
One particularly interesting story occurred during the reign of
Khalifa Umar Ibn Khuttab. Unlike other leaders, Khalifa Umar
would walk around the city at night to see if everything and
everyone was fine. He would try to solve problems if made
aware of anything not right. One night, he went in disguise as
not to be recognized by the citizens. He was accompanied by
his good friend, Ibn Abbas. As they made their way to all parts
of the city, they finally reached a neighborhood where very poor
people lived. When he was walking by a very small house, he
heard a mother telling her daughter to add water to the milk that
they were going to sell so that they would have a greater
quantity of milk. The daughter told her mother that although
they did that prior to becoming Muslims, now that they were
Muslim, they could no longer practice deceitful business deal-
ings. The mother again insisted that her daughter add water to
the milk. The daughter replied, “No. The Khalifa said that we
should not practice deceitful acts.”
The mother said, “We are too poor. It is the only way we can
earn enough money to provide for us. The Khalifa has forgotten
us, and he won’t know what we did.”
The daughter said, “Such an income would not be lawful; as a
Muslim I would not do anything whereby other Muslims are
deceived.”
The mother said, “But there is neither the Khalifa nor any of his
officers here to see what we do.
Daughter, go to bed now and tomorrow I will myself mix the
milk with water for you.”
The daughter refused to take part in the plan of her mother. She
said, “The Khalifa may or may not be here, but his order must
be obeyed. You may escape the notice of the Khalifa and his
officers, but how can we escape the notice of Allah and our
own conscience?” She also said, “Omar cannot see us but the
God Umar can see us.” The daughter refused to take part in the
plan of her mother.
Thereupon the mother remained quiet. The lamp was extin-
guished and the mother and the daughter went to sleep.
Having heard all of this, Khalifa Umar knew of the mother’s
plan. The next day, Khalifa Umar sent a man to buy milk from
the woman. To his surprise, the milk didn’t have any water
added to it. The daughter knew right from wrong and was strong
enough to hold her ground with her mother.
Khalifa Umar said to his friend, “The daughter stayed strong even
when her mother wanted her to do something wrong. She
deserves a reward. What reward should I give her?”
”She should be rewarded with some money,” said lbn Abbas.
Khalifa Umar said, “A daughter like her would be a great wife for
my son. Someday she would make a good mother—strong,
honest, and a great role-model. Because she is so good, she
should be given the greatest gift in the nation, because everyone
in the nation should learn how to be good like her.”
The Khalifa sent for the young woman and her mother to come
to his court. The mother shivered because she was afraid when
she stood before the mighty ruler, but the young woman stood
boldly and without fear.
Then, in front of everyone, Khalifa Umar told how he had
overheard the mother and daughter talking about adding water to
the milk, and how the daughter had done what was right, even
when her mother told her not to.
Someone said that the mother should be punished, but the
Khalifa said that usually he would, but he had forgiven her
because her daughter was so good. Then he turned to the
daughter and said, “Islam needs daughters like you and as a
Khalifa of Islam, it is my job to reward you. I would like to
reward you by having you as my daughter.”
Then the Khalifa called his sons and said to them, “Here is a
wonderful young woman who would make a great wife and
mother. I don’t know a better bride than this girl who is so
good.” Abdullah and Abdur Rahman, the oldest sons of the
Khalifa, were already married. Asim, the third son wasn’t married
yet, and he offered to marry the young woman. When the
young woman and her mother agreed, Asim married her and the
milkmaid became the daughter-in-law of the Khalifa. From this
union was born a daughter, Layla, who became in due course
the mother of Omar bin Abdul Aziz, who became one of the
most great and unique Khalifas.
Khalifa Omar Bin Abdul Aziz
Omar Bin Abdul Aziz was born in 682 A.C., in Medina,
Saudi Arabia. During his childhood, he memorized the entire
Quran. Omar was a direct dissident, on his mother’s side, of the
famous Amir ul-Momineen, Umar ibn Khattab (RA). He inherited
many good traits and
manners from his great
grandfather that also
made him into one of
the great Khalifas.
When Omar Bin Abdul-
Aziz first became
Khalifa, he made the
following changes that
strengthened the
administration:
· All taxes were
abolished. People
commented that there
was nothing in the treasury and most of the savings were used
to help the poor and needy. He replied by saying, “…the state
STORIES OF THE SAHABA