Historical Tales and Anecdotes of the Time of the Early Khalifahs/Anecdote of 'Omar's Justice
ANECDOTE OF ʾOMAR'S JUSTICE.
TRANSLATOR'S PREFATORY NOTE.
ʾOmar-ibn-el-Khattâb was the second Khalîfah of the Rashid[1] dynasty, and traced connection with the Prophet through Kaʾab the son of Lúwa, from whom the Prophet was descended in the eighth generation. ʾOmar was born thirteen years after the Prophet, and was the fortieth person who professed el-Islám, which profession greatly increased the spread of the true faith. Muslims affirm that his conversion was a miracle wrought in answer to the Prophet's prayer. ʾOmar-ibn-el-Khattâb and Amr-abi-Jahl were two of the Prophet's bitterest enemies, and were of high estate and greatly esteemed amongst the Arabs. The Prophet, therefore, knowing that the conversion of either of them would much aid the progress of el-Islám, prayed that God would cause one of them to profess. And in answer to this prayer ʾOmar-ibn-el-Khattâb became a true believer, but Amr-abi-Jahl died an infidel. Hafash ʾOmar's daughter, was one of the Prophet's wives. ʾOmar succeeded Abu-Bekr in the Khalîfate A.H. 13. He was murdered by a Persian of the Magian religion named Abi-Lŭlŭah el-Fayruz, who was a slave belonging to el-Mughîrah-ibn-Shuàbah, in A.H. 23, aged 63 years. He was buried at el-Medînah, in the same building as the Prophet and his e was buried first successor Abu-Bekr.
IT is related of ʾOmar that on his return from Damascus to el-Medînah, he withdrew himself from the public in order to study more minutely the circumstances of his subjects. Happening to pass by the hovel of an old woman, and turning towards her, she addressed him, saying, "And what is ʾOmar doing?"
"He has returned from Damascus in safety," was his reply. Whereupon she exclaimed, "Has the fellow, indeed? May he obtain no recompense from God on my account!"
"And wherefore?" asked ʾOmar.
"Because," she replied, "since he has held rule over the Muslims he has never given me one dinâr; no, nor even a dirhem."[2]
"But," said he, "how is it possible for ʾOmar to know anything of your condition; and you living in such a place as this?"
"The Lord be praised!" she cried. "By Allâh! I could not have supposed that a ruler over men existed, who was in ignorance of anything that occurred between the east and the west of his dominions."
Then ʾOmar wept, and said inwardly, "O ʾOmar! every one is better acquainted with the Divine law than thou, even old women. Alas, O ʾOmar!" Then he said to her, "O handmaid of Allâh! for how much will you sell me the injustice you have received from ʾOmar? For I would redeem him from hell-fire."
"Do not mock me," she cried, "as God may have mercy upon you."
"I am not mocking you," said ʾOmar. And he did not leave her until he had bought her injustice for five-and-twenty dinârs.
Now whilst he was thus occupied, behold! ʾAly the son of Abu-Tâlib,[3] and ʾAbd-Allâh the son of Masʾûd,[4] arrived at the place, and cried, "Peace be upon thee, O Commander of the Faithful!" Upon hearing which the old woman smote her head with her hand, and exclaimed, "Alas! what a misfortune! I have insulted the Commander of the Faithful to his face." But ʾOmar said to her, "You have done no wrong. May God have mercy upon you!" And then he asked for a piece of parchment, that he might write upon it; but as none could be found, he cut off a piece of his shirt, and wrote upon it, "In the name of God, the Compassionate, the Merciful: this is what ʾOmar has purchased from Such-an-one—The injustice which she has suffered from the time he began to reign over the Khalifate, to such and such a day, for five-and-twenty dinârs out of what she may claim from him on his appearance at the Resurrection before God Almighty—and ʾOmar is exempted from it.[5] Witnesses to this—ʾAly, and the son of Masʾûd."
Then ʾOmar gave the writing to his son, and said, "When I am dead, lay this in my winding-sheet, that I may appear with it when I rise in the presence of my Lord.[6]
- ↑ Rashîd means taking a right course, holding a right belief, orthodox. It is an appellative specially applied to the four first Khalîfahs, Abu-Bekr, ʾOmar, ʾOthmân, and ʾAly; but also applicable to other Imâms who followed the same course as those four.
- ↑ "The dinâr of the Arabs was a perpetuation of the golden solidus of Constantine, which appears to have borne the name of denarius in the eastern provinces, and it preserved for many hundred years the weight and intrinsic value of the Roman coin, though in the fourteenth century the dinâr of Egypt and Syria had certainly fallen below this. The dirhem more vaguely represented the drachma, or rather the Roman (silver) denarius, to which the former name was applied in the Greek provinces." (See Castiglione, Monete Cufiche, lxi. seqq.)
In these pages I have not attempted to render the sums mentioned, in even approximate sums of English money; and for this reason: according to the period and the place, the worth of the dinâr varied between 9s. 6d. and 14s. 10d. And in like manner the dirhems were at different times and places valued at from ten to twenty-five to the dinâr. Those who are curious will, however, find an interesting note upon this subject in the second volume of Col. Yule's Cathay, and the Way thither, from which work I took the extract given above.
The oldest gold dinârs are of A.H. 91 and 92. The following is a description of the oldest dinâr I have seen. It was struck in A.H. 96 (A.D. 714–15), during the Khalîfate of el-Walîd-ibn-ʾAbd-el-Málik, the sixth of the Benu-ʾOmeyyah Khalîfahs:—
INSCRIPTIONS.
Obverse. ((Area) There is no God but God. He is one. He hath no partner. (Negation of the Trinity.) (Circle) Muhammad is the Apostle of God, Who hath sent him with the true Guidance and Religion, that he should manifest it above all other religions. Reverse. ((Area) God is one. God is eternal. He neither begets (negation of Christ being the Son of God) nor is begotten. (Negation of Christ being God.) (Circle) In the name of God. This dinâr was struck (in the) year 96. - ↑ ʾAly, the son of Abu-Tâlib, became in after-years the fourth Khalîfah of the Rashîd dynasty. His father, Abu-Tâlib, was the Prophet's paternal uncle; and he (ʾAly) married Fâtimah-ez-Záhrah, the Prophet's daughter. He was born thirty years after the Prophet, and professed el-Islám two days after the Prophet received his mission, being the first who did so after Khadîjah daughter of Khuilîd, the Prophet's wife. ʾAly was the father of Hásan and Husein, and succeeded ʾOthmân-ibn-ʾAffân in A.H. 35 (A.D. 656). He was murdered by ʾAbd-er-Rahmân, ibn-Mulgâm, el-Murâdy, in A.H. 40, aged 63 years, after a reign of four years and nine months. He was buried at el-Kûfah, and his grave is famous. To this day it is visited by the pious.
- ↑ ʾAbd-Allâh-ibn-Masʾûd was one of the first to profess el-Islám, and was amongst those who fled into Egypt from the persecution of the Kuraish. He was a learbed man, and celebrated amongst the Associates, to whom he was known as Sahib es Sawâd wa ʾs Siwâk (lord of blackness and toothsticks), the former probably because he was lord or proprietor of the rural districts (called Sawâd) of el-Kûfah, to which place he belonged; and the latter because he may have possessed a district or plantation of a certain tree called Arâk, from the branches and roots of which the Siwâk or Miswâk (toothstick) is made. Sawâdi means belonging to the Sawâd (or cultivated plains) of ʾIrâk. This region was so called because the Arabs of the dsert, when they first saw the verdure of the trees, exclaimed, "What is that sawâd (dark thing)?" and this ever afterwards continued to be its name. ʾAbd-Allâh died A.H. 23 (A.D. 653), at el-Medînah, aged between 60 and 70 years, and was buried there in the cemetery called el-Bâkiyă, in the reign of ʾOthmân-ibn-ʾAffân, the third of the er-Rashîd Khalîfahs.
- ↑ Attention to the affairs of the poor, and almsgiving, are amongst the first principles of Muhammadism. But the old woman condoned the injustice she had experienced by receiving compensation for it at the time.
- ↑ The circumstance related in the above anecdote would seem to have occurred on the return of ʾOmar to el-Medînah after the reduction of Jerusalem in the 16th year of the Hijrah. After several conferences between the patriarch of that place and the Muslim general, it was finally agreed that the city should be surrendered to the Arabs on condition that the inhabitants should receive from the Khalîfah's own hands the articles of their security and protection. On receiving tidings of which, ʾOmar therefore set out from el-Medînah, attended by a numerous retinue. He rode upon a red camel, and carried with him two sacks—one of which contained his provision, consisting of barley, rice, or wheat, sodden and unhusked, and the other fruits. Before him he carried a leathern bottle to contain water, and behind him a wooden platter, out of which every one of his fellow-travellers, without distinction, ate with him. His clothes, according to Theophanes, were made of camel's hair, and were in a very ragged and tattered condition. The same author relates that when ʾOmar entered the Church of the Resurrection at Jerusalem, he appeared in such sordid and filthy attire as gave great offence to the patriarch Sophronius, who with much difficulty prevailed upon him to put on some clean clothes till his own foul rags were washed. After the reduction of Jerusalem, and whilst the Muslim general was besieging Antioch, one ʾOmar-ibn-Rafaʾa, who had been taken captive by the Greeks, embraced Christianity, and was after his baptism received with great kindness both by the bishops and the Emperor Heraclius himself. The latter questioned him concerning the Khalîfah, and desired to know what could induce him to appear in such mean attire, so different from that of other princes, when he had taken so much wealth from the Christians. "The consideration of the other world, and the fear of God," replied ʾOmar. When further asked what sort of a palace the Khalîfah had, "One of mud," he answered. "Who are his attendants?" asked the Emperor. "Beggars and poor people." "What tapestry does he sit upn?" "Justice and equity." "What is his throne?" "Abstinence and certain knowledge." "What is his treasure?" "Trust in God." "Who are his guards?" "The stoutest of the Unitarians. And knowest thou not, O king!" continued ʾOmar, "that some have said to him, O ʾOmar! thou possessest the treasures of the Cæsars; kings and great men are also subdued unto thee; why, therefore puttest thou not on rich garments? To whom he made answer, Ye seek the outward world, but I the favour of Him who is Lord both of that and the other."