Concern for Protecting the Wealth of the Treasury

In relation to the extent of his concern for protecting the wealth in the treasury, there is an incident that has been mentioned previously and I shall present it briefly now. One afternoon, during the scorching heat, Hazrat Umar (ra) was leading the camels to the grazing grounds that had been left behind in order to prevent them from getting lost. When Hazrat Uthman (ra) happened to witness this, he said, “Let us see to this task and you should come and sit in the shade.” Hazrat Umar (ra) replied, “You all sit in the shade, this is my responsibility and so I shall do it myself.”

(Usdul Ghaba Fi Ma‘rifat al-Sahaba, Vol. 3, p. 667, Umar bin al-Khattab, Dar-ul-Fikr, Beirut, Lebanon, 2003)