His Standard of Settling his Children’s Marriage

We often find that people have very high standards when it comes to settling the marriages of their children. However, what were the standards that Hazrat Umar (ra) took into consideration. In relation to this, there is a narration reported by Hazrat Aslam (ra) who was a freed slave of Hazrat Umar (ra). He states, “One night I was walking in the company of Hazrat Umar (ra) near the outskirts of Medina. In order to rest for a short while, Hazrat Umar (ra) sat beside a wall of a house. The elderly lady inside the house could be heard saying to her daughter, ‘Wake up and add water to the milk.’

“Upon this, she replied, ‘Have you not heard the announcement that was issued by the Leader of the Faithful that one should not mix water into milk?’ The mother replied, ‘Neither is the Leader of the Faithful present here, nor the person who made the announcement for him.’ The girl replied, ‘By God, it does not behove us that we show obedience when we are present before him and show disobedience in his absence.’

“Hazrat Umar (ra) was extremely happy upon hearing this and stated” to his companion, “‘O Aslam! Leave a mark on their door.’ The next day, Hazrat Umar (ra) sent someone and sought the girl’s hand in marriage to be settled with his son, Asim.” Upon witnessing the truthfulness and piety of this girl, Hazrat Umar (ra) settled the marriage of his son, Asim with that girl. Later, Asim had a daughter with her and Hazrat Umar bin Abdul Aziz was from the progeny of that girl.

(Izalat al-Khafa ‘an Khilafat al-Khulafa [Translated], Vol. 3, pp. 281-282, Manaqib Faruq A‘zam, Qadimi Kutub Khana, Karachi)