Umar bin Khattab: Trembling Justice
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Before Islam, Umar bin Khattab was one of its loudest opponents. So when Rasulullah shallallahu alaihi wa sallam prayed, "O Allah, glorify Islam with one of the two Umars," and the prayer fell on Umar bin Khattab โ history changed direction. Since their conversion to Islam, the Muslimin people who were previously secretive began to dare to pray openly at the side of the Kaaba. The Prophet called him Al-Faruq - the difference between right and wrong. The sharpness of his conscience was recognized directly by revelation: several times Umar's opinions were in line with verses that later came down, such as regarding the hijab and prisoners at the Battle of Badr. The Prophet even said that if there was a prophet after him, Umar would be the one - a word that confirms position, not prophethood. His ten-year caliphate was one of the most influential reigns in world history: Syria, Egypt, and Persia were exposed; Baitul Maqdis was peacefully handed over to him; the hijri calendar is set; state administration, baitul mall, and courts were organized. But what makes his name thrill to this day is not the size of his territory - but the way he carried it. He patrolled the night carrying sacks of grain himself for the starving people, and refused to be deputized: "Will you carry my sins on the Day of Resurrection?" He ate coarse bread while his people ate better, and said in a lean year: "How can I care for the people if I don't feel what they feel?" His sentence to the governors became the crown of justice for all time: "Since when do you enslave humans, even though their mothers gave birth to them free?" He who is feared by Satan, says the hadith, is most afraid of Allah. "If a donkey got stuck on the road in Iraq," he said, "I'm afraid Allah would ask me: why don't you clear its path, O Umar?" He died as a martyr, stabbed while leading the morning prayer, and was buried next to his two lovers: Rasulullah and Abu Bakr. From Umar we learn that power in Islam is not an honor to be enjoyed, but a burden to be questioned - and that the fear of Allah is the source of the purest courage before humans.