Equality in Disputes
There is a narration with regard to equality; Saeed bin Musayyib relates that a Jew and a Muslim came to Hazrat Umar (ra) with their dispute. Hazrat Umar (ra) thought that the Jew was in the right, and passed the verdict in his favour. The Jew then said, “By God, you have made the correct decision.”
(Al-Muwatta, Imam Malik, Kitab-ul-Aqziya, narration no. 1425, Dar-ul-Fikr, 2002)
Hazrat Anas (ra) narrates that a person from Egypt came to Hazrat Umar (ra) and said, “O Leader of the Faithful! I seek refuge with you from injustice.” Hazrat Umar (ra) said, “You have chosen an excellent place of refuge.” The man said, “I had a race with the son of Amr bin al-Aas in which I overtook him. Upon this, he lashed me saying, ‘I am the son of an esteemed person, how dare you overtake me?’” Upon hearing this, Hazrat Umar (ra) wrote a letter to Hazrat Amr (ra) bin al-Aas and summoned him along with his son. When Hazrat Amr (ra) bin al-Aas arrived, Hazrat Umar (ra) asked for the Egyptian man and told him to take the whip and lash the son of Hazrat Amr (ra) bin al-Aas. Thus, the Egyptian man began lashing Hazrat Amr (ra) bin al-Aas’ son, while Hazrat Umar (ra) was saying “Strike the son of the esteemed person”.
Hazrat Anas (ra) further relates, “We were all pleased to see that he was hitting him, but he continued hitting him so much, that we wished he would stop. Then, Hazrat Umar (ra) told the Egyptian man to strike Amr (ra) bin al-Aas on the head. The Egyptian man said, ‘O Leader of the Faithful! His son hit me and I have taken retribution.’ Upon this, Hazrat Umar (ra) said to Hazrat Amr bin al-Aas, ‘Since when have you started to enslave the people, whereas they were born free?’ Hazrat Amr (ra) bin al-Aas submitted, “O Leader of the Faithful! I had no knowledge of this incident, nor did this Egyptian man come to me.’”
(Kanzul Ummal, Kitab-ul-Fazail, Vol. 6, narration no. 36005, Dar-ul-Kutub al-Ilmiyyah, Beirut)
Once, Hazrat Umar (ra) came in the possession of some wealth and he began distributing it among the people. People were crowded around, and Hazrat Saad (ra) bin Abi Waqas began cutting in front of the people moving forward and reached Hazrat Umar (ra). Hazrat Umar (ra) struck him with his whip and said, “You did not fear Allah’s authority on earth, and you cleaved through the crowd of people to reach the front. Thus, I thought I should inform you that Allah’s authority does not fear you either.”
(Sirat Umar bin al-Khattab, Ali Muhammad al-Sallabi, p. 97, Dar-ul-Ma’rifah Beirut)