"We have a serious grievance with Umar"

ditta

Alhamdu'Lillaah
Staff member
As-salaamu'alaykum,

One day Umar went out to Hurrah Waaqim, a rocky area of land just outside of Madeenah. His companion during this particular excursion was Aslam, his freed slave. When the two of them reached a place called Siraar – which is situated 3 miles outside of Madeenah – they discerned in the distance a small fire being ignited. Obviously, some people had made camp out in the open desert, and, thinking that they might need some help, Umar ordered Aslam to accompany him towards the direction of the fire.

Both Umar and Aslam ran towards the camp site, and when they drew near to it, they saw a woman watching over a group of children, who were busy crying out loud. And beside the woman there was a pot hanging over a flame of fire. Umar called out to the woman, saying to her,

“Peace be upon you, O people of the light.”

Aslam, the narrator of this story, pointed out that Umar disliked saying to them,

“O people of the fire.”

- lest they think he meant, not the fire that they had ignited for cooking, but the Hell fire.

“And peace be upon you.”

- the woman answered.

Umar asked,

“May I come nearer (to you)?”

The woman replied,

“Either come nearer with the intention of doing well (by us), or leave (us alone).”

Umar asked,

“What is the matter with you?”

- having come close enough to speak to her without having to raise his voice. The woman complained about the harsh conditions of the night and of the cold weather outside, after which Umar asked,

“And what is the matter with these children? Why are they crying out loud.”

The woman replied tersely,

“Hunger.”

Umar asked,

“(If it is hunger that the children suffer from) then what is cooking in this pot?”

The woman replied,

“It is only water.”

- explaining that she had placed a pot over a flaming fire in order to “calm the children down until they fell asleep.” She then went on to say,

“By Allah, we have a serious grievance with Umar.”

She obviously did not know that she was, at that very moment, addressing none other than Umar.

“May Allah have mercy on you,”

“Umar does not know about your situation.”

- said Umar.

“He is given authority over us, and then he forgets us.”

- said the woman plaintively.

Umar then returned to where Aslam was waiting for him, and the two of them then ran off in the distance, and they continued to run until they reached a flour mill. Umar purchased a sack of flour and some cooking fat, and he then asked Aslam to load the said items onto his shoulder.

Aslam said,

“I will carry them for you.”

Umar exclaimed,

“May you have no mother! And will you carry the burden of my sins for me on the Day of Resurrection?”

Left with no choice, Aslam loaded the heavy sack onto Umar’s shoulder, and in spite of the heavy load he was carrying, Umar ran all the way back to the woman’s camp site.

Aslam related that, upon reaching the woman’s camp site, Umar filled the woman’s pot with flour and cooking fat, and cooked a large batch of broth for her and her children. Aslam described how he saw Umar blowing underneath the pot, while smoke was coming out from between the hairs of Umar’s beard. Umar cooked the broth and stayed where he was until the woman and her children became full and stopped eating.

Then when Umar and Aslam stood up to leave, the woman said to Umar,

“May Allah reward you well (for your kindness). You are more deserving of being leader than is the Leader of the Believers.”

Still not identifying himself, Umar humbly replied,

“Speak well. And when you go to the Leader of the Believers, you will find me there, Allah willing!”

Umar then gave the woman some space, but still did not leave. Curious as to why Umar was not leaving, Aslam asked,

“Is there something else you need to do here?”

But Umar gave no reply. Instead, Umar silently watched on as the children settled down and fell asleep. After he was sure that the children were all asleep Umar stood up, praised Allah, turned to Aslam, and said,

“O Aslam, hunger caused them to stay awake and cry. And so I did not want to leave until I saw (them content, happy, and calm).”

(Al-Kaamil fit-Tareekh 2/214; At-Tabari, 5/200)

Even though it often goes unnoticed in history books, this soft and gentle side of Umar had always been a fundamental part of his character.
 
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