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CALIPH UMAR'S SON MARRIES A
MILKMAID Saturday, 6 September, 2008, 2:38 AM One night, Caliph Umar as
usual went in disguise with his companion Ibn Abbas to see the condition of the
people. They strolled from one quarter to another. At last they came to a
colony where poor people lived. While passing by a small
house, the Caliph heard a whispering talk within. The mother was telling her
daughter that the amount of milk fetched by her for sale that day was very
little. She told her that when she was young, and used to sell milk, she always
mixed water with milk, and that led to considerable profit. She advised her
daughter to do the same. The girl said, "You
adulterated milk, when you were not a Muslim. Now that we are Muslims, we
cannot adulterate milk." The mother said that Islam did not stand in the
way of adulteration of milk. The daughter said, "Have you forgotten the
Caliph's order? He wants that the milk should not be adulterated. " The
mother said, "But the Caliph has forgotten us. We are so poor, what else
should we do but adulterate milk in order win bread?" The daughter said
"Such a bread would not be lawful, and as a Muslim I would not do anything
which is against the orders of the Caliph, and whereby other Muslims are
deceived." The mother said, "But
there is neither the Caliph nor any of his officers here to see what we do.
Daughter you are still a child. Go to bed now and tomorrow I will myself mix
the milk with water for you." The girl refused to fall in with the plan of
her mother. She said, "Caliph may or may not be here, but his order must
be obeyed. My conscience is my Caliph. You may escape the notice of the Caliph
and his officers, but how can we escape the notice of Allah and our own
conscience." Thereupon the mother remained quiet. The lamp was
extinguished and the mother and the daughter went to sleep. ************ ********* * The next day, Caliph Umar
sent a man to purchase milk from the girl. The milk was unadulterated. The girl
kept her resolve. CaliphUmar turned to his companion and said, "The girl
has kept her resolve in spite of the exhortation of her mother. She deserves a
reward. What reward should I give her? She should be paid some money,"
said Ibn Abbas. Caliph Umar said, "Such a girl would become a great
mother. Her integrity is not to be weighed with few coins; it is to be measured
in the scale of national values. I shall offer her the highest award in my
gift, and which shall also be in the highest interest of the nation." The Caliph summoned the
daughter and the mother to his court. The mother trembled as she stood before
the mighty ruler. But the girl faced the Caliph boldly and with great
equanimity. She was beautiful, and there was an impressive dignity about her.
Then before the gathering, Caliph Umar related how he had overheard the mother
and the daughter, and how in spite of the exhortations of the mother the
daughter had kept her resolve. Someone suggested that the
mother should be taken to task. The Caliph said that ordinarily he would have
punished the mother, but he had forgiven her for the sake of her daughter.
Turning to the girl the great Caliph said, "Islam needs daughters like you
and as a Caliph of Islam it devolves on me to reward you by owning you as a
daughter." The Caliph called his sons, and addressing them said,
"Here is a gem of a girl who would make a great mother. I desire that one
of you should take this girl as wife. I know of no better bride than this girl
of sterling character. In matters of wedlock, it should be the character and
not the stature in life that should count." Abdullah and Abdur Rahman
the elder sons of the Caliph were already married. Asim the third son was yet
unmarried, and he offered to marry the girl. Thereupon with the consent of the
milkmaid and her mother Asim was married to the girl, and milkmaid became the
daughter-in- law of the Caliph. From this union was born a
daughter Umm Asim, who became in due course the mother of Umar bin Abdul Aziz.
Umar bin AbdulAziz was elected as Caliph and served for a short period during
717 - 720. While other Caliphs of the
Ummayad dynasty reveled in luxury, Umar bin Abdul Aziz as a Caliph set up
standards for austerity and simplicity following in the footsteps of Caliph
Umar, the second Caliph of Islam. It is said that if ever there was a noble
Caliph after the first four Rightly guided Caliphs,such a man was Umar bin
Abdul Aziz. And he inherited the noble qualities of the milkmaid who married
the Caliph's son, and those of Caliph Umar Farooq who had the eye to discern
the nobler qualities of sterling character in a poor girl. |
