Chapter 1: Umar ibn al-Khattab

"I respond to you my Lord! I respond to Your call. You have no partner. I respond to your call. All praise, thanks and blessings are for You. All sovereignity is for You. And you have no partners with You."

Hundreds of people clad in pure white clothing cried out in unison, as they circled around the Ka'bah.

It was a sweltering hot day, which is normal in the harsh deserts of Arabia.

Men and women raised their hands up to their faces and prayed for their well-being and asked for whatever they desired.

Among them, there was a tall man. His hair had whitened due to his old age, and his hairline had receded significantly. He clearly stood out from the crowd because of his size.

"My Lord, give me neither too much, nor too little of the riches of this world, so that I may neither overstep my limits nor forget my responsibilities. A small but sufficient amount is better than what is plentiful but causes distraction," He said, with a humble voice.

"My Lord, I have advanced in age, and lost much of my strength, while my subjects have increased. Take me to You while I am able to fulfill my responsibilities, abandoning none," He continued.

His name was Umar, the son of Khattab. He was the ruler of one the greatest empires in history, and here he was, dressed in the same clothes his subjects dressed in, and performing prayers right next to them.

After the prayers, he gathered his people and started addressing them.

"A ruler's most important duty towards his people, is to give priorities to their duties towards God, as taught in their religion representing His guidance," He exclaimed, with a deep and loud voice. The people stood and listened carefully, since their Caliph was talking.

"It is our task to bid you, to fulfill what God has commanded you as His obedient servants....and to refrain from sinful disobedience to Him. We also have to implement God's commandments as they apply equally to all people, in complete fulfilment of justice. In doing so, we provide a chance for the ignorant to learn, the careless to take heed, and the one seeking lead to follow suit."

The people nodded and continued to listen.

"To be a true believer is not achieved by wishful thinking, but by clear action. The more diligent people are, the greater is their reward from God. Indeed, jihad is the topmost duty of all. The people who are engaged in jihad are those who abandon sinful practices and those who indulge in them. Some people claim to have participated in jihad, but true jihad for God's cause is to steer away from sin."

The heat intensified as the speech continued.

"Nothing is dearer to God Almighty and of greater benefit to mankind than a ruler's kindness based on true knowledge and insight. Nothing is more hateful to God than a ruler's ignorance and stupidity. By God, I do not appoint governers and officials in your provinces so that they will beat you up or take away your money. I send them to you to instruct you in your faith and teach you the way the Prophet (peace be upon him) has shown us."

As he mentioned the prophet, the people said, "peace and blessings of Allah be upon him" out of respect to their late Prophet. Umar continued.

"Whoever is treated differently, should put their complaints to me. By God, the one in who's hand is my soul, I will ensure that justice is done to them. If I fail to do so, then I become a partner in such injustice. It is much better for me to remove a governer everday than to leave a despot in his position for an hour longer. For changing governers, is much easier than to change the people."

The people nodded in agreement.

"If setting things right for a community requires replacing their governer, then it is certainly easy. Therefore whoever is in a position of authority in any area of people's affairs, must fear God in the way he treats his people. To all these I say, do not beat people up to humiliate them. Do not deny their rights, showing them little care, and do not place them in hardship, making them feel lost."

The people watched the old yet steadfast Umar ibn al Khattab speak to them in a way, as if he is leaving them soon.

"My people, when you have completed your pilgrimage, let the people of different regions meet me together with their governers and officials so that I can look into their situations. I will consider their disputes and give my judgement, making sure that the weak are given their rights and justice is done to all. May peace be upon all of you."

With that, Umar ends his speech, and walks away with his walking stick in hand.

The people continue with their own duties and went on with their work.

Umar gets on a camel, and starts his journey back, possibly to his home. He has a few companions accompanying him. They too are on their own camels. They all wore loose clothing, as it helped air flow throughout their bodies. This helped them to feel cool, even in the harsh climate of Arabia.

They started their journey to their destination. Just a few minutes into the journey, Umar uses his walking stick to tap the guy who's walking his camel to make him stop.

Their journey came to sudden halt, as Umar stared off into the distance. He was looking in the direction of an area where people would come to feed their camels when on a long journey, and would take rest while their camels replenished their energy.

One of Umar's companions went close to Umar to ask him why they stopped so abruptly. His companion thought that maybe Umar wanted to stop because he wanted to rest for a while.

"Would you like to stop here for rest, O Ameer al- Mu'mineen (leader of the believers)?" Umar's companion asked with care.

He then notices tears streaming down Umar's strong, noble face. Out of worry he asks:

"What makes you tearful, O Ameer al- Mu'mineen (leader of the believers)?"

Umar responds with a deep voice, "My feelings of gratitude to God for His boundless grace, and my fear of being tested with it. There is no God but Allah the almighty, who grants whatever He pleases to whomever he wills."

Umar then points his walking stick at the rest place for travellers and camels, and says:

"I can look at myself tending my father

al-Khattab's camels in this valley. He was a rough, hard man, working me to exhaustion, and beating me up if I slackened. Now...I am in a position with no one to stand between me and God."

Umar smiles, seeing his younger self tending the camels in this same rest place several years ago. He was reminiscing the years before the Prophet Muhammad (peace be upon him) came with his message.

...

6 years before the mission of the Prophet

Umar is busy feeding his goats and camels, in the usual area which he always uses. The area was owned by Quriash. Quraish is the strongest tribe in Makkah, and has several small clans within it as well.

It was a hot sweltering day as usual. Young Umar wiped off the sweat on his forehead using the cloth from his turban.

He was tall, strong and very well built. Mostly due to his endless labour. He only had a moustache and was pretty young in age.

He walks up to a small pond, sits down and washes his arms clean.

He hears the neighing of horses from a distance and lifts his head up to see a group of men entering the rest area, to feed their horses and rest.

He glares at them, being ready for an aggressive behaviour from them.

They walk up to Umar who was just washing his hands near the pond, on their horses, and one of the travellers ask:

"May we water our animals at your well young man?"

The traveller had two men behind him, who were also on horses.

"Who are you people?" Umar asks, not breaking eye contact.

"We belong to the tribe of Khuza'ah," The traveller replied.

Umar holds the head of his cane with both his hands and taps it on the ground, asking:

"What if I refuse?"

Umar glared at them, waiting for them to respond. It was clear that they didn't wait for Umar to finish watering his cattle.

"Then we go back in peace, hoping to find what we want with some noble person," The traveller said, smirking.

"A noble man gives for a gentle approach what he denies for a rough one. When we have finished and begun to move our camels away, you may then bring your camels. You are most welcome," Umar replied, critiquing how they didn't wait for him to finish his work first.

"May I know the name of this generous young man?" The traveller asked, clearly impressed by Umar's wit and wisdom.

"Umar," Umar replied with a smile. "Umar ibn al- Khattab."

"Of which clan of Quraish?" The traveller asked, still on his horse.

"And how do you know that I belong to the Quraish?" Umar asks, amused and curious.

"The Quraishi looks cannot be mistaken," The man replied with a smile, praising Umar.

"I belong to the clan of Adiyy," Umar said.

"Kind and noble people," The traveller said, complimenting Umar's clan.

Umar then walks off with a sickle and starts harvesting firewood, which is mostly used for cooking food and keeping warm in the night.

He collects three large stacks of firewood. He carries one on his back, while tying the other two to the back of his donkey.

He travels back to the areas of residence, as he walks through the spaces between the small dirt and stone houses. These houses were near the Ka'bah.

He holds on to the leash of his donkey, which had two stacks of firewood on each side and directed it to where he was going.

He stops at a certain house, and taps a few times on the door, waiting for the owner of the house to open the door.

He taps it a few more times.

The door opens, and his aunt steps out with a smile on her face.

"Umar!" She says, happy to see him.

"Here is the firewood you need, aunt. Shall I bring it in?" Umar asks, placing his hand on the large stack of firewood he brought for her.

"Leave it here for now. Won't you come in and have something to eat?" His aunt asks, concerned if he is being overworked by his father, al-Khattab again.

"No, I won't eat until I have delivered the rest of the firewood to my other aunts. I must not be late returning to al-Khattab's camels. Otherwise, he'll be angry," Umar said, assuring his aunt that he can handle it.

"If you like, we would speak to him to reduce your workload," She asks, worried.

"I do not wish for lighter work, but for a strong body, my aunt," Umar replied, smirking.

"This, you have been given," She replied, smiling. "May God give you increased strength, O son of Hantamah."

Hantamah was Umar's mother. The wife of Al-Khattab.

Umar turns around to leave as he has to deliver the firewood to his other aunts as well.

"Wait a moment, Umar," His aunt says, as she hurries into her house to bring him something before he leaves.

"This is for you: dates from Yathrib and raisins from Taif," She said, handing the large sack to him.

Umar bends down to match her height and nods with a grateful smile, as he receives the sack.

He then sets off to his other two aunts' houses and gives them the firewood as well.

He walks through the streets as he sees pagan rituals being done, people walking around. A slave man was holding something which resembles an umbrella over the head of his master to give him shade.

Umar holds onto the leash, walking his donkey alongside him, through the busy streets.

He arrives at his father, al-Khattab's home and starts tying his exhausted donkey to a tree.

Al-Khattab storms out of his house, clearly upset.

"What brings you here at this time? What about the camels?" Al-Khattab asks, as he meets Umar outside his home. He looked angry.

"I gathered some firewood for my maternal aunts," Umar says, continuing to tie his donkey.

"What about the camels?!" al-Khattab aks shaking both his hands in frustration.

"Your camels are all right. But should you not first ask about the person attending the camels? Your own son?" Umar turns to his father and asks.

Umar always felt as if his father never cared for his physical health.

"My son is all right when the camels are all right," al-Khattab says, still angry.

Umar then says as he walks towards his father's front door:

"Then, rest assured that the camels are well, in Manjanan Valley. I did not leave until-"

"What keeps you here, then?!" al-Khattab asks, stopping him from entering the house to rest. "I fear lest someone should attempt to drive them away."

Umar replies:

"Who dares do that when they are well marked with your own mark?"

al-Khattab says:

"Al-Khattab is not the same position as Utbah Ibn Rabeeah, the chief of the Abd-Shams clan. Or Al-Waleed Ibn-Mugheerah, the chief of the Makhzoom clan, or-"

"Do we not all belong to the Quraish, the master tribe in Arabia?" Umar says, wondering why clans within Quriash are treated differently even though they are all from the same tribe.

Al-Khattab nods and says, "This is true when the rest of the Arabs try to rival us. When we are back with our own people, we are not in the same position."

Al-Khattab points out that if non-Quraishi Arabs all came against the Quraish, then all the clans within Quriash will immediately start working alongside each other. But when there is no such conflict, they all the clans go back to treating each other unfairly, and competing against one another.

Umar listens carefully as his father continues. He sees people praying to stone staues near the Ka'bah. A practice which has been going on even before the ancestors of Umar's father.

al-Khattab continues:

"These belong to Hashim clan, the others to the Abd Shams clan, those to the Makhzoom clan and those to the Jumah clan. Moreover, people rise in status through wealth and commerce. If you stay away from your father's camels and someone leads them away, then-"

"You mentioned wealth and trade...May I do some trading?" Umar asks with excitement and curiousity.

"You want to do some business, but from where will you get your capital?" al-Khattab asks.

"From my father, al-Khattab," Umar replies, swiftly.

al-Khattab exclaims:

"What? al-Khattab's money belongs to al-Khattab until he dies, which event does not seem to be imminent. Besides, do you think that you're father sleeps over a treaaure of gold and silver?"

Umar gets upset and angry by his father's words.

"You certainly speak to me as a servant, not as your own son," Umar says, clearly hurt and angry.

"You will not be my son if I lose my camels, while you stand here arguing with me!" al-Khattab shouts.

Umar sips water from a bowl and asks:

"May I not have some food first, then pack some for the night I will spend in Manjanan valley?"

"May I lose you!" al-Khattab replies angrily. "When will you reach that valley, far as it is, if you rest here now?"

Omar says:

"Do you not realise that I have covered all this distance to Makkah today? If you show me no kindness, then at least be kind to your donkey as he deserves to have some rest."

"Why did you come anyway? Did I order you to bring firewood for your aunts of the Makhzoom clan?" He asks, pointing his finger and shaking it angrily at Umar.

"Shouldn't I be dutiful to my aunts?" Umar asked, walking up closer to his father.

Al-Khattab replies:

"Your dutifulness is to your father first."

"They are not mutually exclusive. I am not undutiful to my father when I show dutifulness to my aunts," Umar responds.

"Then move on speedily, speedily!"

Al-Khattab says, shooing Umar away.

Umar starts to leave, controlling his emotions by steeling his mind.

"I will sort it for both of you, father," Says, Umar's brother, Zayd ibn Khattab, as he walks out the door of Al-Khattab's house just as Umar was about to leave.

He was the brother of Umar from another mother. He wasn't strong like Umar was, and mostly attended the meetings of Quraish, alongside his father, Al-Khattab.

Unfortunately for him, he wasn't suited for hard labour like Umar was.

Zayd continued:

"Let Umar have his rest for tonight in Makkah, and I will go out and tend the camels until he comes to meet me at the morrow."

Zayd placed a hand on Umar's shoulder to ease him.

"You will tend the camels?" Al-Khattab asks, as if Zayd was joking about what he said.

Al-Khattab knew that Zayd wouldn't be able to handle the workload.

Zayd hangs his head down in embarassment, smiles and asks in a soft tone:

"Do you say this in praise or contempt?"

"Neither, but you do not manage what your brother manages well. Nor does he manage what you do well," Al-Khattab says, looking at both his sons in annoyance.

Umar and Zayd look at each other and smirk. They found it amusing that their father's statement sounded both like an insult and a compliment.

...

"Whoever fulfills promises will not be denounced; Whoever stands on firm grounds will not stutter; Whoever fears the coming of death will be overwhelmed by it, even though he seeks to climb into heaven on a ladder." Umar speaks to himself in the rest area where his father told him to go and tend the camels.

Umar sat under his tent cross legged, watching his father's camels eat. It was getting dark.

Whenever he was alone, he spoke words of wisdom to himself which he acquired through many years of thinking and pondering throughout the experience of life, and during his work hours.

Umar continued:

"Whoever has plenty but refuses to help his people will be disowned and denounced."

He sees his brother Zayd riding a horse, approaching his resting area. Umar wondered why his brother Zayd was here at this hour. And he travelled such a long distance to come here.

"What brings you here at this time? Are you bringing bad news?" Umar asks, still seated under his tent.

"I have brought you some food," Zayd replied, getting off his horse. He walks over to Umar and sits next to him.

Umar then aks:

"Have you covered all this distance to bring me some food?!" Umar says this as if his brother's actions are irrational.

Zayd looks at Umar, and stays silent.

Umar continues:

"I have silenced my hunger, eating my aunts' dates."

"The truth is that I am bored with those meetings, where there is nothing except talk about either our forefathers or business and trade." Zayd says. His face expressed his annoyance towards those meetings.

Zayd then pats Umar's shoulder and says:

"Your position here is better; Except for the fact that Al-Khattab works you too hard."

Umar smiled at his brother's compassion, and says:

"I am not complaining. In the open here, life gives you clarity of thought, sharper eyesight, purer feelings and unhindered nature."

Zayd keeps silent and listens carefully, well aware that his younger brother is going to share some of his wisdom with him.

Umar continues:

"As for the camels; well, when you deal with them like I did, you will realise that they need proper management. You will soon be able to identify them as individuals; each having its own temper, manners and abilities. Each joins its herd, but no two camels are identical. When you are fully aware of this, you manage them as a herd, but you look after them as individuals. You will be as kind to them as a mother to her offspring."

Zayd looks at Umar, clearly impressed and proud.

Umar then turns his head towards his camels, and Zayd did the same.

Umar continues:

"While this applies to camels, it is more clearly applicable to people. Their life cannot flourish unless they have leaders to manage their affairs. Whoever rebels will perish. A wolf only attacks a lone sheep. If people stick together, each will have his own personality and intellect. They will pursue their individual ways, interests and what is determined for them. None can totally replace another. Had it not been so, people would not need one another; none would need what someone else has. Thus, being together is the means of maintaining their individuality, and their differences bring them together."

Zayd looks at Umar for a while and says:

"You are certainly a man of wisdom, O Umar, even though you are young. Yet the elders suppress the like of you"

Umar stays silent, well aware of this fact.

Zayd gets up and takes out off sack from his horse. The clinking sounds coming from within the sack sounded like money. He drops it beside Umar.

"What is this?" Umar asks.

Zayd replies:

"Didn't you say that you would love to do some trading?"

Umar looks at his brother, surprised at his sudden offer.

Zayd continues:

"Go to Syria with Quraish's trade caravan and fulfill your dream. When you return, you can tell me about its palaces, farms....and beautiful women." Zayd smirks with the last few words.

The next morning, Umar sets off to Syria....

-chapter 1 end-