الأربعاء، 13 فبراير 2013

‎"Abu Bakr was like that when I was more misguided than my family's camel"



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‎"Abu Bakr was like that when I was more misguided than my family's camel"

Jubair ibn Nafeer related that group of men said to Umar ibn al-Khattaab,

“We have never met any man who judges more justly than you do; nor any man who speaks the truth more reliably and consistently than you do; nor a man who is more severe against the hypocrites than you are, O Leader of the Believers. After the Messenger of Allah you are the best of people.”

Awf ibn Maalik did not even give Umar a chance to respond to their praise instead he quickly interjected,

“By Allah, you are all lying. After the Messenger of Allah (died), we have indeed seen someone who is better (than Umar).”

“Who is that man?”

- someone asked.

Awf replied,

“Abu Bakr (radiyAllahu anh).”

Umar said,

“Awf has spoken the truth and the rest of you have lied. By Allah, Abu Bakr was better than the fragrance of al-Misk (the best kind of perfume) and he was like that at a time when I was more misguided than my family’s camel.”

Umar was referring to when he was still a polytheist for Abu Bakr embraced Islam six years before he did the same.

(Manaaqib Umar, by ibn al-Jawzi, pg. 14 and Mahd as-Sawaab, 2/586)

It is a sign of humbleness to show respect to one’s superiors. Umar as illustrated in the previous example paid respect not just to the living but also to the dead. With the passing of years, some people forgot about the best of the Prophet’s Companions, Abu Bakr. But Umar did not let them forget; instead he reminded them about Abu Bakr’s superiority and about his noble character. Umar’s response – “Awf has spoken the truth, and the rest of you have lied, By Allah, Abu Bakr was better than the fragrance of al-Misk – was a testimony both to his loyalty and to his strong faith.

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