The piety of Umar bin Abdul Azeez

Umar bin Abdul Azeez is considered fifth caliph among the Khulafa ar-Rashideen(The rightly guided caliphs). Most of the scholars among Muslims say that the Khulafa ar-Rashideen are five:Abu bakr, Umar, Uthman, Ali, and Umar bin abdul Azeez. (May Allah be Pleased with them)

Before becoming caliph Umar bin Abdul Azeez wore showy and costly clothes. However, after becoming caliph he adopted the life style of a poor in his food and clothing. 

Malik bin Dinar relates “People used to say,”If anyone can be said to be a Zahid(ascetic), he is Umar bin Abdul Azeez. (Because the world came to him and he renounced it).

After Umar bin Abdul Azeez took oath for caliphate, they brought a horse from the royal stable for him. But he refused by saying his personal mule was sufficient for him. And when he was returning home his slave said to him, “You look sad”. He said, “If anybody has a right to be grieved today, it is me. Is it a light burden? Before I am asked to explain the written register of my actions, I will have to give the people their dues”. And when he entered his house, he started weeping until his beard became wet. His wife becoming alarmed and asked him whether he was well. He said, “How can I be well? The burden of the entire ummah has been put around my neck. I have been overburdened with the naked, the hungry, the sick, the oppressed, the travelers, the captives, the children, and the poor with large families. I am weeping for the fear of being asked to render accounts and my possible failure to do so on the day of Reckoning”.

After becoming caliph he said to his wife, “Deposit all your jewelry in the treasury or I shall part with you, because I don’t like that you, your jewelry and I should live under the same roof”. His wife soon sent all her jewelry to the treasury. 

Yunus bin shabib says, “I had seen Umar bin Abdul Azeez before he became caliph. Then the belt of his trouser was sunken into his abdomen due to his plumpness but after he became caliph he became so thin that each and every bone could be counted”.

Umar bin Abdul Azeez’s son says, “Abu Jafar Mansoor asked me about his wealth when he died. I said four hundred dinars and had he lived a few more days, it would have come down more”.

Maslama bin Abdul Malik says, “I visited Umar bin Abdul Azeez during his sickness. I saw that he was wearing a dirty shirt. I said to my sister (that is his wife), “Why don’t you wash his shirt? She said “He has no other shirt to change into”.

His slave Abu Omayya says, “One day I said to my master’s respectable wife, “I am sick of eating lentils” she said, “Your master eats them daily”

His wife states during his caliphate when he used to come home from outside he would go in to prostration and he would fall asleep weeping. When he woke, he would start weeping again. 

Sayeed bin Saweed says that once when Umar bin abdul Azeez came to lead the congregational prayer on Friday, he saw his shirt had patches in front and in the back. A man said to him,” Amir al Muminun, Allah has given you everything. Why don’t you get new clothes tailored? He continued to ponder for some time with his head bent and then said, “Moderation in prosperity and forgiveness in power are great things”.

Once he asked his slave to heat water for him. The slave went and brought it by heating it in royal kitchen. When he came to know where it came from, he sent firewood worth a dirham to replace it. 

It was his custom that so long as people kept sitting by him and talking about affairs of state, he kept the lamp of the treasury burning and when they left, he put it out and lit his own lamp.

Mohamed ibn Fadala relates that Abdullah (son of Umar bin Abdul Azeez) passed by an ascetic who lived on an island. The ascetic saw him and went to him though he had never gone to anyone before and began to say to him,” Do you know why I came to you?” He replied in the negative. Then he said,” Simply because you are son of a righteous and just Imam(leader).

Ata relates that Umar bin Abdul Azeez used to gather legal scholars at night and discussed death and Doomsday with them causing him to weep so much as if there was a dead body in front of him. Abi Sayeb says that he had not seen a man greater in fearing Allah than Umar bin Abdul Azeez.

Obaid bin Hassan says that when his end came and the pain of death started, he asked the people to leave him alone and everybody went out. Maslama bin Abdul Malik and his wife Fatima bin Abdul Malik remained standing at the door. They heard him say, “Bismillah, (in the name of Allah), Please come. These faces are neither of men nor Jinn” and then he recited, (Quran translation) “That home of the Hereafter (i.e. Paradise), We shall assign to those who rebel not against the truth with pride and oppression in the land nor do mischief by committing crimes. And the good end is for the Muttaqun (pious).(28:83).

When Imam Hasan al Basri was informed of his death, he said, “The best man in the world has died”.

*Information taken from “The history of Islam” by Akbar Shah Najeebabadi

Miscellaneous accounts about death

When al-Hasan ibn Ali (May Allah be pleased with him) was dying, he asked people to take him out to the hall. Then he said: “O Lord, I trust myself in you”.

On his death Muadh ibn Jabal (May Allah be pleased with him) said: “Look if the day has broken? “They looked and answered negative. Later on, he was informed that it was morning. Then he remarked: “I seek refuge in Allah from a night whose morning leads to Hell-fire. Welcome to death, an absent visitor and a beloved returning while we are defected. O Lord, I used to fear you, but now I expect good from you. You know that I never loved this world or long stay in it. I used to observe fasting on extremely hot days, praying at long nights of winter, and joining scholars in their circles of knowledge”.

Abu Muslim said:”I visited Abu Ad-Darda(May Allah be pleased with him) on his death. He said, “Would you get prepared for this day and for this hour? “Then he breathed his last”.

Salman al-Farisi(May Allah be pleased with him) wept on his death. Asked about this, he said: “The Prophet (Peace be upon him) commanded us to have sufficient provisions for the hereafter”.

Al-Mazini said that he visited Ash-Shafi’i on his deathbed. He said, “I asked him, how are you?” He replied,” I am leaving this world, leaving my brothers, meeting my sins, drinking the cup of death, and returning to the Almighty. But I do not know to Hell or Paradise my spirit will be admitted”.

Abu Ad- Darda (May Allah be pleased with him) was once asked about his visit to grave. He said “I visit people who remind me of death. They never back bite me when I depart”.

Maymun ibn Mahran said, “I joined Umar ibn Abdul Azeez in his visit to graves. Beholding them he wept and told me, “Maymun , these are the tombs of the predecessors from the Banu Umayyah. Look, as if they never shared this world’s delight. Do you not see them lying being exemplary to others. They have decayed”. Then he shed tears and said, By Allah I know non better that the dead who have been saved from Almighty’s torture”.

Al-Hasan al-Basri said, “Death has exposed this world, leaving no delight for sensible people therein”

When Ibn Umar remembered death, he trembled like birds. He used to convene with the jurists every night talking about death and the hereafter. Then they shed tears as if they were in funerals.

Hamid al-Qasyrasi said: “Though we know death is certain, we have not prepared ourselves for it. Though we know paradise is definite, we have not worked for it. Though we know the hell fire is sure, we have not feared it. So why are you delighted? What are you waiting for? Death is the first visitor from the Almighty bringing good or evil tidings. Brothers get closer to your Lord”.

Habib Ibn Muhammad’s wife said that Habib used to tell me,”If I die today get so-and-so to bath me”. She was asked if he had seen a dream of his death. She replied that he used to tell her likewise every day.

Source: Mukhtasar Minhaj Al-Qadisin (towars the hereafter) by Ibn Qudamah Al-Maqdisi Translated by Wa'il 'A.Shihab

Mother of Umar ibn Abdul Azeez

"Narrated `Abdullah ibn Zayd ibn Aslam, from his father, from his grandfather, who said: `When I was accompanying `Umar ibn al-Khattab on his patrol of Madinah at night, he felt tired, so he leant against a wall. It was the middle of the night, and (we heard) a woman say to her daughter, "O my daughter, get up and mix that milk with some water." The girl said, "O Mother, did you not hear the decree of Amir al-Mu'minin (chief of the believers) today?" The mother said, "What was that?" The girl said, "He ordered someone to announce in a loud voice that milk should not be mixed with water." The mother said, "Get up and mix the milk with water; you are in a place where `Umar cannot see you." The girl told her mother, "I cannot obey Him (Allah) in public and disobey him in private."

`Umar heard this, and told me: "O Aslam, go to that place and see who that girl is, and to whom she was speaking, and whether she has a husband." So I went to that place, and I saw that she was unmarried, the other woman was her mother, and neither of them had a husband. I came to `Umar and told him what I had found out. He called his sons together, and said to them: "Do any of you need a wife, so I can arrange the marriage for you? If I had the desire to get married, I would have been the first one to marry this young woman." `Abdullah said: "I have a wife." `Abd al-Rahman said: "I have a wife." `Asim said: "I do not have a wife, so let me marry her."

So `Umar arranged for her to be married to `Asim. She gave him a daughter, who grew up to be the mother of `Umar ibn `Abd al-`Aziz.'"

Source : "Ideal Muslimah" by Dr. Muhammad Ali al-Hashimi (Translated by Nasiruddin Al-Khattab) quoted from Ahkam al-Nisa' (pp. 441, 442) by Ibn al-Jawzi, Sifat al-Safwah and Wafiyat al-A'yan

Exhortation of the Predecessors to Taqwa

My dear Muslim brother and sister! You should be informed that the predecessors - may Allah be pleased with them - always exhorted one another towards taqwa.

Abu Bakr radhiallahu `anhu used to say in his khutba: 'I advise you to observe taqwa and to praise Allah as He deserves to be praised. Mix hope and fear and combine importunity with asking (for help). Allah has promised Zakariyah `alayhis salaam and his family:

"They used to race towards goodness, invoke Us with hope and fear and they were devout to Us." (Al-Anbiyaa, 90)

When Abu Bakr radhiallahu `anhu was about to die, he called Omar radhiallahu `anhu and advised him first and foremost to fear Allah.

Omar radhiallahu `anhu wrote to his son radhiallahu `anhu:

I advise you to fear Allah, for whoever fears Him has protected himself from His punishment. Whoever offers Him a loan, He will repay (reward) him and whoever thanks Him, He will give him more. Make taqwa your goal and the polish of your heart.'

Ali radhiallahu `anhu deputised someone for an expedition and said:

'I advise you to fear Allah Whom you have to meet and besides Whom you have no destination. He controls the world and the Hereafter.'

Omar ibn Abdul Aziz rahimahullah wrote to a man:

'I advise you to observe fear of Allah Who accepts nothing except that (taqwa), Who shows mercy only to its adherents and Who rewards only on its account. There are many who preach it, but few who practice it. May Allah make us all among those who have taqwa.'

When Omar radhiallahu `anhu became khalifah he gave a sermon and said: 'I advise you to fear Allah and be good because He is with those who fear and do good.'

A man was about to leave for Hajj and asked him (Omar) to advise him. He said: 'Fear Allah, for whoever fears Him will never feel lonely.'

Shu`ba said that whenever he used to prepare for a journey, he would ask Hakam if he (Hakam) required anything. He would say: 'I advise you with the words of the Prophet (sallallahu `alayhi wa sallam) when he advised Muadh (radhiallahu `anhu): 'Fear Allah wherever you are, follow up a mistake with kindness for it will erase it and approach people with good manners.''

A predecessor wrote to one of his brothers:

'I advise you to fear Allah because it is the best thing you can hide, the most beautiful thing you can reveal and the most valuable thing you can treasure. May Allah help us both to observe it and give us both its reward.'

Another person wrote to his brother:

'I advise you and myself to observe taqwa for it is the best provision for the world and the Hereafter. Make it a means for every good deed and a deterrent against every evil. Allah has guaranteed those with taqwa deliverance from their anxieties and provisions from unexpected quarters.'

When Ali radhiallahu `anhu returned from battle of Siffin, he passed by a graveyard outside Kufa and said:
'O you who live on the houses that create loneliness and in deserted places! O People of dust and alienation! O people of isolation and loneliness! You are, for us, scouts and we , for you, followers'.
'The houses? well they have become inhabited again. The wives? well they have remarried. The wealth? well it has been distributed'.
'This is news we have for you. What news do you have for us'.
Then Ali radhiallahu `anhu turned toward his army and said
'If they were permitted to speak, they would inform you the best provision is Fearing Allah(Taqwa)'.

Source: Taqwa, The Provision of the believers

Some narrations regarding the terrors of the grave

It is narrated from Anas (radhiallahu `anhu) that the Prophet (sallallahu `alayhi wa sallam) said, 'Were it not for the fear that you would stop burying your dead, I would have asked Allah to make you hear the punishment of the grave.'

In the hadith of Jabir ibn 'Abdullah (radhiallahu `anhu), it is narrated from the Prophet (sallallahu `alayhi wa sallam) that he said, 'Do not wish for death, for the terrors from the onset are more severe.'

It is narrated from Hani' the servant of 'Uthman (radhiallahu `anhu) that he said,

"Whenever 'Uthman stood at a grave, he would weep until his beard became wet so it was said to him, 'You remember Paradise and Hell but you do not cry. Yet you cry over this?!' He said, 'Indeed, the Messenger of Allah (sallallahu `alayhi wa sallam) said,

'The grave is the first step of the Hereafter so if one is saved from it, then what comes after is easier to bear. And if one is not saved from it, then what comes after is more difficult.' Then he said, 'The Messenger of Allah (sallallahu `alayhi wa sallam) said, 'I have not seen a sight except that the grave is more horrific.'

Rabi' ibn Khuthaym used to prepare himself for this night. It is narrated that he dug a hole in his house and whenever he felt hardness in his heart, he would enter this hole. He would imagine himself to have died and regretted, asking to be returned to the world! He would say,

"… 'My Lord! Send me back So that I may do good in that which I have left behind!'… "

[al-Mu'minun: 99-100]

Then he would answer himself saying: 'You have now been returned, O' Rabi'!' The effects of this would be seen from him for days, i.e. it would be seen in his 'ibadah (worship), struggle in doing good and in his fear (of Allah).

Yazid al-Raqqashi used to say to himself, 'Woe to you O' Yazid! Who will pray on your behalf after death? Who will fast on your behalf after death? Who will seek the Pleasure of Allah on your behalf after death?'

Then he would say, 'O people! Won't you weep and lament over yourselves for what remains of your lives? How will it be for a person for whom death is promised, for whom the grave is his home, the dust his bed, the worms his companion, and yet with all this he still awaits the greatest of terrors. How will such a person be?'

Wahb ibn al-Wird: It reached us that a knowledgeable man went to 'Umar ibn 'Abd al-'Aziz and said, 'Subhan Allah! – as if he was surprised by 'Umar's state. He said, 'You've changed after us!' 'Umar said, 'Can you really see that?' He said, 'More than you think!' So 'Umar said to him, 'Then what if you were to see me after three days, when I've been buried in my grave… when the two eyes come out and pour onto the two cheeks, when the lips draw together over the teeth, when the mouth gapes open, when the stomach protrudes over the chest and matter exits from behind?!'

Then he would cry, rahimahullah.

'Umar ibn 'Abd al-'Aziz gave an admonishing reminder to his companions one day and some of what he said was,

'If you pass by them (i.e. the dwellers of the grave), then call out to them if you can! And pass by their troops and leaders and see how close their ranks are now! Ask their rich what has remained of his riches, and ask their poor, what became of his poverty. Ask them about their tongues with which they spoke and their eyes with which they used to view the delights and pleasures. Ask them about their soft skins, beautiful faces and fine bodies, what have the worms done to them underneath the shrouds?! It has indeed eaten away their tongues and dirtied their faces, it has wiped away their beauty and broke their spines, it has exposed their limbs and tore up their corpses. So where are their protective coverings and domed shrines? Where are their maids and slaves? Where are their wealth and treasures? Are they now not at the stations of loneliness? Is not day and night the same to them? Are they not in a gloomy place of darkness? It has come in between them and their doing good deeds, they have indeed left behind their beloved ones, wealth and families.

O' you who will reside in the grave tomorrow! What has caused you to become heedless in this world? Where is your vast home and river continuously flowing? Where are your ripe fruits and where has the softness of your clothes gone? Where is your perfume and fragrance, and where are your garments set aside for summer and winter? O if only I knew, which of your two cheeks has the punishment began with… O you who resides next to destruction, you've come to the station of death.

If only I knew, how will the Angel of Death meet me upon my departure from this world? And what message will he give me from my Lord?

Then he ('Umar ibn 'Abd al-'Aziz) left but he did not live after that except for one week.

Al-Hasan once accompanied a Janaza (funeral prayer) and sat at the edge of the grave. He said, 'If this is the end stage of a matter (i.e. the life of this world), then it is only befitting that one should be ascetic at its beginning stages. And if this is the beginning stage of a matter (the hereafter), then it is only befitting that one should fear its end stage.'

It is narrated from 'Ali ibn Abi Talib (radhiallahu `anhu) that he said in his Khutbah (sermon),

'O slaves of Allah! Be cautious of death; be cautious of death, for there is no escaping it. If you stand up to it, it will take you and if you flee from it then it will only catch up with you. Death is tied to your forelocks so seek salvation, seek salvation. Indeed there is behind you an ardent seeker and that is the grave. Surely, the grave is either a garden from the gardens of Paradise or a ditch from the ditches of Hell. It speaks everyday saying 'I am the home of darkness, I am the home of loneliness, I am the home of the worms.' Indeed after that will be a Day more severe than that day, a Day in which a child will become grey-haired and an adult will be in a drunken state,

"… and you shall see mankind as in a drunken state, yet they will not be drunk, but severe will be the Torment of Allah." [al-Hajj: 2]

Source: The Grave is our Appointed Place (Dar al-Watan, Riyadh) Translated by Farhia Yahya

The Advice of al-Hasan

Al-Hasan once wrote the following short letter to Umar bin Abdul Azeez:

"Fear what Allah told you to fear. Take what is in your hands, and use it for what is to come. At the moment of death, sure news will come to you and peace."


Umar wrote back, asking al-Hasan to advise him some more. Al-Hasan wrote back:

"Indeed the terror of the Day of Resurrection is greater than you might think. Indeed, frightful matters are near at hand. You will have to face all of that, either by facing it all and being saved, or by facing it all and being destroyed. Know that he who takes account of his own deeds will succeed, and that he who is negligent in this regard will fail. Whoever looks at the outcomes of his actions will be saved, while he who obeys his desires will be misguided. Whoever is patient and forbearing will gain profits. Whoever remains awake and vigilant regarding his deeds will be safe, whoever is safe reflects, whoever reflects sees, whoever sees understands, and whoever understands knows. Then if you slip, return and repent. And when you are remorseful, then refrain [from sins]. When you are ignorant, ask. And when you are angry, restrain your anger."

Source: from the book "Stories of repentance"

A sermon by Umar ibn Abdul Azzez

According to Abdallaah bin Bakr bin Habeeb al-Sahmee: We were told by a man in the mosque of al-Junaabidh that `Umar bin `Abd al-`Azeez delivered a sermon to the people in Khunaasirah in which he said:

O people, you were not created in vain, nor will you be left to yourselves [See 75:36]. Rather, you will return to a place in whichAllaah will descend in order to judge among you and distinguish between you. Destitute and lost are those who forsake the all- encompassing mercy of Allaah, and they will be excluded from Paradise, the borders of which are as wide as the heavens and the earth. Don't you know that protection, tomorrow, will be limited to those who feared Allaah [today], and to those who sold something ephemeral for something permanent, something small for something great, and fear for protection? Don't you realize that you are the descendants of those who have perished, that those who remain will take their place after you, and that this will continue until you are all returned to Allaah? Every day you dispatch to Allaah, at all times of the day, someone who has died, his term having come to an end. You bury him in a crack in the earth and then leave him without a pillow or a bed. He has parted from his loved ones, severed his connections with the living, and taken up residence in the earth, whereupon he comes face to face with the accounting. He is mortgaged to his deeds: He needs his accomplishments, but not the material things he left on earth.

Therefore, fear Allaah before death descends and its appointed times expire. I swear by Allaah that I say those words to you knowing that I myself have committed more sins than any of you; I therefore ask Allaah for forgiveness and I repent. Whenever we learn that one of you needs something, I try to satisfy his need to the extent that I am able. Whenever I can provide satisfaction to one of you out of my possessions, I seek to treat him as my equal and my relative, so that my life and his life are of equal value. I swear by Allaah that had I wanted something else, namely, affluence, then it would have been easy for me to utter the word, aware as I am of the means for obtaining this. But Allaah has issued in an eloquent Book and a just example (sunnah) by means of which He guides us to obedience and proscribes disobedience.

He lifted up the edge of his robe and began to cry and sob, causing the people around him to break into tears. Then he stepped down. That was the last sermon he gave before he died, may Allaah have mercy on him.

/For variant versions of this sermon, see Ibn `Abd al-Hakam, Seerah 43-45, 132-33; Ibn Katheer, Bidaayah, IX, 199; This translation was taken from The History of al-Tabaree, Vol XXIV, by D.S.Powers/

Source: http://www.islaam.com/Article.aspx?id=83