Umar's Pious Example: A Lesson In Worldly Detachment

Learning from the Pious: The Story of Umar ibn al-Khattab's Zuhd

Insha'Allah, piece by piece, I want to learn and take lessons from this. The first being that these sahaba were gathered in the masjid talking about the other sahaba. They're learning from themselves, but primarily from their elders.

The sahaba were speaking about Abu Bakr and Umar رضي الله عنهما. This is after they have passed away. And so, they speak about them to learn from them.

There's a saying of Sufyan ibn 'Uyaynah:

That the rahmat of Allah descends at the mention of the pious.

There's a lot to learn and benefit from the company of the pious — we know that. We know that in the ayat, we know that in the ahadith. The guidance of shari'ah is to spend time with good company. To have people that support you, to have people that help you — help you towards Allah, help you grow.

But in the absence of those pious elders, a replacement for that is to talk about them and to learn from them. To read their biographies, to learn about what kind of people they were. And so we see this happening in the Jami'ah masjid of Basra with the sahaba.

The Story of Ahnaf ibn Qays and Umar's Reaction

Specifically, one sahabi by the name of Ahnaf ibn Qays al-Tamimi رضي الله عنه narrates a story of his own, where he mentions that on occasion, Umar ibn al-Khattab رضي الله عنه, when he was khalifah, had sent them on a small expedition towards Iraq.

He says: we got to Iraq and Allah granted us the conquest, and we found lots of silver. We collected it — it's part of the treasure of wars — we pick it up and we take it back. He mentioned that some of it we actually wore ourselves. We put it on, we donned it upon ourselves. We went back and we met Umar رضي الله عنه.

He continues and he says: Umar رضي الله عنه is not looking at us. He's not talking to us. He sees us, he turns away. And that's obviously difficult on their hearts — they look up to him. And it's a moment of stress for them, so they go to his son. They go to Abdullah ibn Umar رضي الله عنه. They explain what's happening.

Abdullah ibn Umar looks at them and says:

He says: look, Amir al-Mu'minin, my father Umar رضي الله عنه, he's seeing that you're wearing something that Nabi ﷺ never wore — and neither did the Khalifah Abu Bakr al-Siddiq رضي الله عنه ever wear it. This is the reason.

So they go — Ahnaf ibn Qays continues the story. He says: I went home, we all went home, we changed our clothes, we took off all that silver that we were wearing, and we put on our normal outfits, our daily clothes, what we're used to wearing. And so Ahnaf ibn Qays says: we all go back now to Umar رضي الله عنه. And Umar رضي الله عنه is elated. He's meeting each and every single one of us, person by person.

Umar رضي الله عنه is coming to us and he's greeting us, hugging each and every single person individually, as if he's never seen us before. He's so happy that we're there.

This was a quality that Nabi ﷺ had — a separation from the dunya, a distaste for the dunya. Umar رضي الله عنه gets whatever silver they had gathered and distributes it. And then it's mentioned in the story that there was a dish made of reeds that had some dessert in it. The dessert was made out of dates and whatever fat they would use — high quality, different colors, red and yellow, smelling nice.

Umar رضي الله عنه tasted it and said: you know, this dessert is so good — I swear to you, you would have sons killing their fathers and brothers killing their brothers for this dessert. It's that good. And he goes and has it delivered to all of the children of the martyrs from the time of Nabi ﷺ — the sahaba that were martyred and shaheed in the time of Nabi ﷺ — he has the dessert sent to them, distributed to them.

The Sahaba's Concern and the Approach to the Mothers of the Believers

Then he gets up, he leaves, some of the sahaba leave with him. But amongst those staying back, they start to talk. SubhanAllah, look at this man — look at Umar رضي الله عنه — in his abstinence, in his ascetic lifestyle, how nothing of the dunya impresses him.

And they're talking, and they're saying: we're in a position where we feel at times maybe inferior. We have so many delegations coming from the Mashriq, from the Maghrib, from Qaysar, from Kisra, from every direction — we have delegations, we have messengers, so many political figures coming to us. And our leader is wearing tattered jubbah. We should do something. Someone should go to Umar رضي الله عنه and tell him: wear nice clothes, we can get you some, we can bring food for you every morning and evening — and whoever is with you can join — we can provide all of that.

And so they're speaking to the elders amongst themselves: you guys spent a lot of time with Nabi ﷺ, you know him well, you can go speak to him. And they say: not us — but you know who's the man for the job? Let's go to Ali. Ali ibn Abi Talib رضي الله عنه has a close relationship with Umar. He's helping take care of the wives of Nabi ﷺ. And we know the daughter of Umar رضي الله عنه, Hafsa رضي الله عنها, is a wife of Nabi ﷺ — she's Umm al-Mu'minin, the mother of the believers. So he has some connection to the family, he's closer.

So these sahaba go to Ali رضي الله عنه. Ali رضي الله عنه says:

I'm not going to be doing that. But I can tell you someone else will help you. And he sends them to the wives of Nabi ﷺ. He says: go to them. Those are the mothers of the believers — they are the ones who will have the courage to speak to Umar رضي الله عنه.

So they go — with the same idea, that Umar رضي الله عنه should be upgrading, matching his quality of life to his station. They go to Aisha رضي الله عنها and Hafsa رضي الله عنها, these two specifically. And Aisha رضي الله عنها says: I'll ask him. With her confidence she says: I'm ready to.

Hafsa رضي الله عنها is there as well — and we know she's the daughter — she says: look, I know my father.

I don't think he's going to do it. But you can go and see for yourself — وَسَيَبِينُ لَكِ ذَلِكَ — go and check for yourself, see what happens.

The Knowledge and Zuhd of Ali and Aisha

We have to understand where these sahaba are coming from. Ali رضي الله عنه and Aisha رضي الله عنها — they know, they understand what Nabi ﷺ wanted. Both of them grew up in the tarbiyah of Nabi ﷺ. They both grew up under his tutelage. They understand what Nabi ﷺ wants.

Ali رضي الله عنه is the one who said to the dunya:

He told the dunya: I've divorced you. Go bother someone else. Go deceive someone else. Be someone else's problem.

Aisha رضي الله عنها has her own stories — we could go on. She was the one who said: after Nabi ﷺ, the first bid'ah that came up was the fact that people were eating to their fill. Not that they were overeating — she doesn't say that. She says people were eating to their fill. Where did this bid'ah come from? This didn't happen in the time of Nabi ﷺ.

They know what Nabi ﷺ's ideals are. They're not unaware, they're not ghafil of the dunya. They know the harms of the dunya much better than we do. Despite that, even they're agreeing that Umar رضي الله عنه is at a place where we should try to encourage him to change himself a little bit.

Umar's Response: The Example of the Prophet ﷺ

And so they go — Aisha رضي الله عنها and Hafsa رضي الله عنها — they go to Umar رضي الله عنه. He welcomes them, he has them sit down, with all the honor and respect the mothers deserve. Aisha رضي الله عنها asks: can I say something? Umar رضي الله عنه says: of course, go ahead.

So she says: look, Nabi ﷺ — we all know — he had nothing to do with the dunya. He never connected himself to the dunya at all. He had his own life, he lived his life, and he left with Allah happy with him. And my father Abu Bakr رضي الله عنه lived a similar life. But my father was busy keeping deen alive — he was busy fighting the batil, fighting the oppression. Abu Bakr رضي الله عنه had some political things to deal with. After Nabi ﷺ passed away, Abu Bakr رضي الله عنه had to deal with all of the uprisings, had to maintain stability. He had other responsibilities that prevented him from doing more.

But we're at a point now where the entire world is coming to us. Nations we've never spoken to before are sending their delegations under our conquest. You're in a different place, Umar. You're not like them.

She says: look, we're in a good place, we're in a better place, and we hope that Allah will increase and that Islam will continue like this. But it would be good for you to match that, to match the situation you're in now. And look at the clothes you're wearing — your jubbah has 12 patches. We can bring food for you, we can take care of everything. We have so much wealth coming in. At least take the bare minimum for yourself.

You can imagine how Umar رضي الله عنه would respond — the mothers of the believers in front of him, his own daughter in front of him. Umar رضي الله عنه starts crying.

And he says: I ask you by Allah — by Allah, have you ever known Nabi ﷺ to have eaten ten days in a row? Five days in a row? Three days in a row? Have you ever known Nabi ﷺ to have eaten twice in one day? Never.

He turns to Aisha رضي الله عنها. He says: Aisha, do you know that once there was a table brought to Nabi ﷺ? You know how high that table was? One shibr — فِرْتِفَاعُهُ شِبْرٌ — one span off the ground. And Nabi ﷺ told them to get rid of that table and put the food on the ground. Aisha, do you know that? She says: Allahumma na'am. Yes, I know.

He says: you want to talk about my jubbah? Do you know his jubbah was so rough that the scratches could be seen on his body? Do you know that? She says: Allahumma na'am. Yes, we know.

He turns to Hafsa رضي الله عنها, his own daughter. He says: Hafsa, you're the one that told me — you told me that Nabi ﷺ, on his mat — he had a mat, in the daytime it would be his couch, in the nighttime it would be his bed — that on occasion you took that mat and folded it. And Nabi ﷺ slept on that mat and didn't wake up until Bilal came and gave the adhan. You told me. Nabi ﷺ had asked you: what did you do to this mat? Did you fold this?

What are you doing to me? What do I have to do with the dunya? Why are you making this bed soft for me? You're taking me away from Allah.

He's crying and he's saying: Nabi ﷺ lived like this:

Nabi ﷺ lived his life with sajdah, he lived his life with ruku, he lived his life crying in tears, begging of Allah. He says: Umar will never eat of quality. Umar will never wear of quality. Umar will never eat two types of food together. I won't eat meat except once a month. And he says: this is how he lived until he died.

The Warning of the Dunya

This dunya that Nabi ﷺ warned us of — this is not something to be taken lightly. People will try to convince you otherwise. Allah says in the Qur'an:

Allah says that the Hour is coming — and it's so hidden that I almost completely hid it — in the sense that you don't know about it, you don't know when it is. أَكَادُ أُخْفِيهَا — for the accountability purposes. لِتُجْزَىٰ كُلُّ نَفْسٍ بِمَا تَسْعَىٰ — but it's there, and the Qiyamah is going to come, and it's there for you to be held accountable. فَلَا يَصُدَّنَّكَ عَنْهَا مَن لَّا يُؤْمِنُ بِهَا — so don't let the people who don't believe make you negligent of that Hour. Let them not stop you, let them not make you forgetful. وَاتَّبَعَ هَوَاهُ فَتَرْدَىٰ — those that don't believe, those that follow their desires, their nafs — if you follow them, if you let them make you heedless of Qiyamah, neglectful of what's coming — فَتَرْدَىٰ — you'll be destroyed.

The Hadith of Jannah and Jahannam

We know the hadith: the angels are sent, Jibreel عليه السلام is sent to go look at Jannah. Allah sends him — go look at Jannah, go see what's surrounding it. He says: I've seen such terrible difficulties, I don't understand how anyone's going to get to Jannah. The amount of sacrifice, the amount of discomfort required — to get to Jannah, that pathway is so difficult. How is anyone going to get there?

Then Allah tells him: go look at Jahannam. Go look at the fire. He says: there are so many desires and pleasurable things surrounding Jahannam — I don't understand how anyone is going to avoid them. How is anyone going to get away from it?

These are things for us to pay attention to. What did Allah want from us? How is our interaction with the dunya? This test is such — Allah wants you to succeed, that's there — but it is a test. You put a mousetrap down. When you go buy mousetraps, what do you ask the employee? What does the mouse like to eat the most? What is the most attractive thing to the mouse? You're not going to ask what the mouse dislikes. What does the mouse love more than anything else? And that's what you're going to put in the trap. Not because you love the mouse.

There will be people around you constantly in the dunya. Don't think it's because Allah loves them. Don't think it's because they're right about anything. Allah mentions this again and again — to the mushrikeen that were denying Qiyamah in front of Nabi ﷺ — Allah mentions this as a lesson for all of us. Don't think that the goodness of this dunya is anything.

What Are You Sending Ahead for Tomorrow?

You know the ayat in the last ruku of Surah al-Hashr:

O you who believe, fear Allah. وَلْتَنظُرْ نَفْسٌ مَّا قَدَّمَتْ لِغَدٍ — and look at what you're going to present for tomorrow. What does tomorrow mean? Tomorrow means, of course, the akhirah, the hereafter. We say this amongst each other — you have to be cognizant that tomorrow you're going to be standing in front of Allah. We understand that tomorrow is not literal. It doesn't mean tomorrow is Saturday, February 8th, tomorrow. It means metaphorically tomorrow. But when you're in Jannah, living eons, and you realize what a blip this world was — how miniscule an amount of time this world was — as soon as you realize that, yeah, غَدٌ was the right word. It is tomorrow. There's no time left.

Du'a

May Allah give us the tawfiq to understand what has been said, to practice on what has been said. May Allah allow all of us to gather on the Day of Qiyamah without regrets, with something to be proud of, and with something to show Allah. May Allah be happy and pleased with all of us on the Day of Qiyamah.