Divine Characteristics of a Ruler

When Suleiman Ibn Marwan was on his death-bed, the thought of Allah and the Day of Judgement made him very restless and afraid, because lots of injustice had been meted out during his Caliphate. So he consulted a pious man as to how this could be remedied. The pious man advised him to hand-over his Caliphate to Umar Ibn Abd-Al Aziz, the most noblest of men, after his death. So the Caliph wrote his will on a piece of paper and kept it in a sealed box. He made an announcement among his relatives and courtiers that, after his death they should open the box and accept as Caliph, whose name he had written in the paper.
But when Umar Ibn Abd-Al Aziz heard this, he requested them to remove his name from the box, because he feared the intensity of the responsibility of a Caliph. But nothing could be done now, as it was the command of the Caliph. After Suleiman’s death, when the box was opened they found the name of Umar Ibn Abd-Al Aziz as was decreed, and he was made the Caliph accordingly. The new Caliph almost fainted with the enormity of the burden he had to bear, fearing that he might not be able to render justice equally, and rule in a fair and just manner.
He came to his wife Fatima(who came from a royal family) and asked her to hand over all her jewelry to the Baitul-Mal ( Public Treasury). He also told her that they would not be living a life of ease and luxury, and she was free to leave, if she so desired. But if she wants to help him in administering a truthful and just rule over the people whom The Almighty had given them responsibility, he would want nothing more than that. She chose to stay with her husband, and gave up all her jewelry, except for a precious stone which her father had given her. But Umar told her to give everything up, so she had to relent.
Umar worked very hard during the period of his rule. He was selfless and thought of how he could improve the condition of his people, eliminate their problems and give them justice. He sent his men to every part of the country to see the real condition of his people, encouraged the common-man to come to him with their problems, helped the poor and the orphans and kept his doors open for everyone, be it night or day. There were times he would cry, thinking that he had not been able to rule justly.
‘Umar bin-‘Abd-al-‘Aziz also asked his people to bring to his attention, the case of those who are unable to express their needs, to help him in administering a just rule, to guide him when he goes wrong, not to give in to gossip, and to refrain from interfering in the affairs of others so as to maintain peace. He always welcomed suggestions concerning the welfare of the people and was ever ready to hear their cause.
Such was the character of ‘Umar bin-‘Abd-al-‘Aziz, a man not intoxicated by his succession to the Caliphate, nor dazzled by its pomp but worked hard to fulfill other people’s happiness, that he had no time to consider for his own needs.
The first thing the Caliph did, on his accession to the Caliphate, was to return all the lands and properties the previous Caliph had taken, to its rightful owners. Then he repaid all the previous debts the previous Caliphate incurred. He checked all the accounts to see whether all the dues had been cleared, and made sure that justice was given, to those denied earlier, rights accorded to those who were trodden. History bears witness to the fact that, within two months of his rule, he cleared 50,000 cases of injustice, and gave them justice.
One day, a poor woman went to visit the Caliph’s wife Fatima. At the gate, she met a lady crushing wheat so she asked her; “ where is the lady Fatima?” At this the lady at the gate replied, “ I am Fatima the wife of the Caliph.” The old woman in surprise, asked, “Are you really the lady Fatima? Why are you in this condition? The whole kingdom is living in luxury, and you, the Holy Caliph’s wife lives in this condition?” Fatima replied, “If we lead a luxurious life, the entire kingdom would suffer. So we have sacrificed our luxury for the sake of the people.” Then the old woman saw a man working on the walls of the palace. She also noticed that the man kept on looking in their direction. So she said,” Please replace that man, as he is always looking in your direction.” At this Fatima replied, “He is my husband, the Caliph!”
Just before the Caliph’s death, a man came up to him and said,” You have done injustice to your children. Inspite of being a king, you have left them nothing. They would be like beggars.” Hazrat Umar replied, “ I cannot give someone else’s rights to my sons, nor would I give them what is not mine. If they obey Allah, and are truthful in their dealings, He will bless them. But if they chose otherwise, then it is upto them.” It is said that he left only a few dirhams for each of his sons.
After his death, Fatima’s brothers came to her and said that the Caliph must have left a fortune for them. But Fatima replied,: O my brothers, he has not left anything for you all. Ever since he became a Caliph, he would spend most of his days and nights in prayers, and would cry saying,” O Allah, please forgive me if I have not been able to fulfill my duties properly. Have mercy on me on the Day of Judgement, when I will be held responsible for the entire Muslim community!”
On many occasions Fatima used to ask her husband,” O commander of the faithful, why are you weeping?” And he used to reply,” O Fatima, I have been vested with authority over the Muslim community, and it is a heavy responsibility. There are thousands of people who are starving, destitute, naked, in distress, and oppressed in every nook and corner of the kingdom. I am responsible for them all. If I am not able to help them all, what will I answer to The Almighty on the Day of Judgement? This is the reason why I weep, and ask mercy from The Almighty.”
History tells us that the sons of Umar became religious like their father, and Allah blessed them with wealth and happiness. They helped people and spent their wealth for the cause of the poor . Whereas the sons of Suleiman became beggars, and used to beg infront of their father’s Mosque saying, “ O people, it is my father who had constructed this Mosque for the cause of Allah. Give us some money!”
‘Umar when alive, was determined to attend to the needs and petitions of his people. He wanted to fulfill his duties as a good and just king. He used to get very worried most of the time. Once, his Deputy asked him, “ Why are you always worried?” He replied, “ Why should I not be worried, when I am responsible for the needs and problems of everyone in the kingdom? What will I answer to The Almighty on that Day, if I am not able to give everyone his due?”
Such was his sense of accountability and his determination to act justly towards all his subjects in every respect. He would also never pass Judgment without the advice of his subjects and his learned associates. It is said that when he succeeded to the Caliphate, he called upon Muhammad, Rajah and Salim who were learned advisors saying: “I am faced with the burden of responsibility, please give me advice.”
Muhammad bin-Lab had advised him as such: “Treat the elderly as your own father; the younger as your brother, and the small child as you own son. Act righteously towards your father, mend your relationship with your brother and be kind to your son.”
Rajah bin-Haywa said: “ Try to please people with what would be pleasing to you, and dislike for others what would be unpleasant for you.”
And Salim bin-‘Abdullah advised him: “Refrain from the desires of this world, and think of your latest meal as your last meal before death.”

His Refusal to Accept Presents

A man offered ‘‘Umar bin-‘Abd-al’Aziz, an apple as a gift, and said: “ O Commander of the Faithful, The Almighty’s messenger used to accept presents.” To this he replied, “Indeed, any Gift offered to the prophet was really a free gift; but as far as we are concerned, it means bribery.” This answer exemplifies the poet’s saying ;
“Strip yourselves of worldly things
For naked is how you were born.”

Guidelines to Piety and Virtue

‘Umar used to advise his companions and fellow administrators in every possible field. He once wrote: “ If the power you have allows you to oppress any people, then remember that the power of The Almighty The Almighty always stands over you.”
He wrote to Addi- bin-Addi saying: “ Verily, Islam offers us the Prophet’s tradition (Sunnah), and a Muslim’s compulsory duties (fard), and the Shari ah (Islamic code of laws). Anyone who follows them completes his faith (Imam); but anyone who does not, does not fulfil his faith. As long as I live, I shall explain this to you so that you may act upon it but when I die, it would be upto you to follow it.”
He wrote to some of his administrators saying, “To heed the words of The Almighty [taqwah] is your duty. The Almighty does not want anything besides this.. He is merciful only to those who possess this knowledge and his reward will be only for them.”
He used to say: “The most loved qualities in The Almighty’s sight are a sincere heart full of forgiveness.”
“If a person is kind and compassionate to his fellow men in this world, The Almighty will be most kind and compassionate to him on the Judgement Day.”

Umar’s Humility;

One night ‘Umar had a guest in his house. The lamp in the house went out, so the guest wanted to repair it, but ‘ Umar did not allow him to do so. He got up himself to repair the lamp. Then said: “ I have stood up, and I am ‘ Umar; I sat down, and I am still ‘ Umar!” The messenger of The Almighty has said: “ Anyone who is humble before The Almighty will be exalted, and any one, who glorifies Him, is protected by Him.”
Once a man approached ‘ Umar, raising his voice. ‘ Umar merely said: “ Do you want the devil to fill me with anger? Do you want me to lose the reward of self-control in the Hereafter when we will all meet before the throne of The Almighty Allah?”
Thus ‘ Umar turned away from him and overlooked the matter. How gentle and forgiving was Umar! Even though he had the power to retaliate, he were gentle to those who spoke foolishly to him. The servants of the Merciful are described as follows: “ They are those who walk around the earth gently, and if some ignorant person addresses them, they say: ‘ Peace!’” [Q: 25:63].

‘Umar’s Even Temper

‘Umar bin-‘Abd-al’Aziz became famous for his forbearance and self-control he manifested in many situations. One night ‘Umar entered a mosque. It was dark inside and a guard was standing behind him. While walking in the mosque, he stumbled over a sleeping man. The man raised his voice and shouted in ‘Umar’s face: “Are you crazy?” ‘Umar replied: “No.” The guard wanted to attack the man, but ‘Umar prevented him saying, “He only asked me if I were crazy, so I told him that I was not.” This quality of forbearance teaches us to suppress our anger, and to forgive in the face of a superior power.”
Once ‘Umar’s son went out to play with some other boys, and got injured by one of them. Fatima started screaming and became frantic when she heard about it. When ‘Umar enquired about what had happened, the boy’s mother, a poor, old woman, approached ‘ Umar and apologised for what her son had done. She pleaded, “ After all, he is only an orphan.” The Caliph readily forgave them.

‘Umar the Ascetic

‘Umar bin-‘Abd-al’Aziz [May The Almighty be pleased with him!] was raised in the house of his father, ‘Abd-al-‘Aziz bin-Marwan. He had a special education, combined with a luxurious upbringing and was exposed to the height of ease and comfort. He used to wear a garment which was worth four hundred dirhams, and even used to remark, “ How coarse is this garment!”
But when he assumed the Caliphate, he refrained from the luxuries of life. He used to wear a coarse garment worth fourteen dirhams only, and considered this as being too expensive. His biography records that ‘Umar once came to his wife, and said: “O Fatima, give me a dirham to buy some grapes.” He was told that a dirham was not enough; so ‘Umar said: “Indeed, this is easier for us than to free ourselves from the chains of Hell tomorrow.”
The wealth to the Muslim Empire lay at his feet. He could squander it without anyone questioning him about it. But he would not do so, for he was mindful of The Almighty, the Most High. He never spent any money from the Baitul-Mal, and used to eat the simplest of food. All luxurious things were banished from his house and he spent the rest of his life like a peasant.