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insufficient measure, who when others measure for them they make full measure, but when they measure
out, or weigh out for others, they give less than due. Do such not think that they shall be raised up on a
Mighty Day? The Day when all mankind shall stand before the Lord of the Worlds" (83:1-6). Then he
repeated again and again "The Day when all mankind shall stand before the Lord of the Worlds" while
his tears were rolling down like heavy rain falls from the sky until he fell down because of his
tremendous sorrow and crying.
His generosity, asceticism and piety all worked together in complete harmony to shape the most
magnificent merits of that great man. He gave out abundantly because he was generous. He granted the
fine halaal things because he was pious, never caring if his generosity left him poor because he was
ascetic.
lbn `Umar (May Allah be pleased with him) was one of those who had high incomes. He was a
successful, honest merchant for a greater part of his life, and his income from the treasury (Bait Al-Maal)
was abundant. However, he never saved that money for himself, but always spent it copiously on the
poor, the needy, and beggars.
Ayub Ibn Waa'il Ar-Rassiby tells us about one of his generous acts: One day lbn `Umar was granted
4,000 dirhams and a piece of velvet. The next day Ayub Ibn Waa'il saw him in the market buying his
camel some fodder on credit. lbn Waa'il went to his house asking his close relatives, "Wasn't Abu `Abd
Ar-Rahman (i.e. `Abd Allah Ibn `Umar granted 4,000 dirhams and a piece of velvet yesterday?" They
said, "Yes." He then told them that he had seen him in the market buying fodder for his camel and could
not find money for it. They told him, "He didn't go to sleep before distributing all of it, then he carried
the velvet on his back and went out. When he returned it wasn't with him. We asked him about it, and he
said, `I gave it to a poor person.
lbn Waa'il went out shaking his head until he entered the market. There he climbed to a higher
ground and shouted to the people, "O merchants, what do you do with your life? Here is Ibn `Umar who's
been granted 4,000 dirhams, so he distributes them, then the next morning he buys fodder for his camel
on credit?!"
The one to whom Muhammad (PBUH) was tutor and `Umar his father must be a great man,
deserving all that is great.
Ibn `Umar's generosity, asceticism, and piety, these three qualities demonstrate how sincere his
imitation of the Prophetic model was and how sincere his worship.
He imitated the Prophet (PBUH) to the extent that he stood with his camel, where the Prophet had
once stood saying, "A camel foot may stand over a camel foot." His respect, good behavior, and
admiration towards his father reached also to a far extent. `Umar's personality forced his foes, his
relatives, and, above all, his sons to pay him respect. I say, the one who belongs to that Prophet and that
kind of father should never be a slave of money. Large amounts of money came to him but soon passed,
just crossing his house at that moment.
His generosity was never a means of arrogance. He always dedicated himself to the poor and needy,
rarely eating his meal alone: orphans and poor people were always present. He often blamed some of his
sons when they invited the rich, and not the poor ones, to their banquets, thereupon saying, "You leave
the hungry behind and invite the sated ones." The poor knew his tenderness, felt his kindness and
sympathy, so they sat down across his path for him to take them to his house. When he saw them he was
like a sweet scented flower surrounded by a drove of bees to suck its nectar.
Money in his hands was a slave, not a master, a means for necessities and not luxury. Money was
not his alone. The poor had a right to it, a mutually corresponding right, with no privilege kept to
himself. His self-denial helped him to reach such great generosity that he never stored, endeavored, or
had a vivid interest toward the worldly life. On the contrary, he never wished to possess more than a
gown to cover his body and just enough food to keep him alive.