High Degree of Forbearance

There is a narration regarding the high degree of Hazrat Umar’s (ra) forbearance. Once, Hazrat Umar (ra) was delivering a sermon and said, “O people, if anyone from among you finds any fault in me, he should rectify it.” A man stood up and said, “If we find any crookedness in you, we will rectify it with our swords.” Hazrat Umar (ra) said, “I am thankful to Allah that he has created such a man in this nation who would rectify Umar’s crookedness with his sword.”

(Sirat Umar bin al-Khattab, Ali Muhammad al-Sallabi, p. 106, Dar-ul-Ma‘rifah Beirut)

As he was delivering his sermon, Hazrat Umar (ra) said, “Enjoin me to do good and stop me from evil and help me by advising me.”

(Sirat Umar bin al-Khattab, Ali Muhammad Al-Sallabi, p. 107, Dar-ul-Ma‘rifah Beirut)

On another occasion, Hazrat Umar (ra) said, “The person I like most is he who points out my shortcomings.”

(Al-Tabaqaat-ul-Kubra, Vol. 3, p. 222, Dar-ul-Kutub al-Ilmiyyah, Beirut)

There is a saying of Hazrat Umar (ra) which is, “I am afraid of committing a mistake, and not being shown the error of my way because people fear me.”

(Sirat Umar bin al-Khattab, Ali Muhammad al-Sallabi, p. 107, Dar-ul-Ma‘rifah Beirut)

One day, a person came to Hazrat Umar (ra) and began saying in front of a crowd, “O Umar, fear Allah.” Upon hearing this, some people became very angry and wished to silence him. Hazrat Umar (ra) said to him, “There is no good in you if you do not explain the fault you see, and there is no good in us if we do not listen to it.”

(Sirat Umar bin al-Khattab, Ali Muhammad al-Sallabi, p. 107, Dar-ul-Ma‘rifah Beirut)

Hazrat Umar (ra) explained to him that he should not make a general statement; rather, he should be specific.

One day, Hazrat Umar (ra) stood to deliver a sermon to the people. He had only said, “O people, listen and obey” when a man interjected and said, “O Umar, we will not listen, nor will we obey.” Hazrat Umar (ra) politely asked him, “O servant of Allah, why is this so?” He replied, “Because people were only able to make a shirt from the fabric that was distributed to everyone from the treasury, and were unable to make a full suit. You must also have received the same amount of fabric; how then do you have a full suit?” Hazrat Umar (ra) told the man to stay where he was and summoned his son Abdullah. Abdullah said that he had given his share of fabric to his father so that his suit may be complete. People were satisfied upon hearing this and that man said, “O Leader of the Faithful, now I will listen and obey.”

(Sirat Umar bin al-Khattab, Ali Muhammad al-Sallabi, p. 107, Dar-ul-Ma‘rifah Beirut)

There used to be ignorant people like this, but one would never hear such words uttered by the eminent companions who had been trained by the Holy Prophet (sa). People like this [aforementioned person] were those who became Muslim later on, or were impolite, uneducated and ignorant. The preeminent companions never acted in this way; rather, they always showed complete obedience.