Omar Bin Al-Khattab

Omar Bin Al-Khattab In Jerusalem
The Caliph left Ali in Medina as his deputy and himself left for
Jerusalem. He had only one attendant with him and only one camel to
ride. Omar and the attendant rode the camel by turns. It happened to
be the servant's turn to ride on the day when they were to reach
Jerusalem. "Commander of the Faithful," said the attendant, "I give up
my turn. It will look awkward, in the eyes of the people, if I ride
and you lead the camel."
"Oh no," replied Omar, "I am not going to be unjust. The honor of
Islam is enough for us all."
Abu Obaid, Khalid, Yazid and other officers of the army went some
distance to receive the Caliph. All of them were wearing silk cloaks.
This made Omar angry. He took some pebbles and threw them at his
generals, saying, "Have you changed so much in just two years? What
dress is this? Even if you had done this two hundred years from now, I
would have dismissed you."
The officers replied, "Commander of the Faithful, we are in a land
where the quality of clothes worn tells the rank of a man. If we wear
ordinary clothes, we will command little respect among the people.
However, we are wearing our arms underneath the silken robes."
This answer cooled down the anger of the Caliph.
Next the Caliph signed the treaty of peace. It ran as follows:
"From the servant of Allah and the Commander of the Faithful, Omar:
The inhabitants of Jerusalem are granted security of life and
property. Their churches and crosses shall be secure. This treaty
applies to all people of the city. Their places of worship shall
remain intact. These shall neither be taken over nor pulled down.
People shall be quite free to follow their religion. They shall not be
put to any trouble..."
The gates of the city were now opened. Omar went straight to Al-Masjid-
i-Aqsa. Here he said his prayer .
Next he visited the biggest Christian church of the city. He was in
the church when the time for the afternoon prayer came.
"You may say your prayers in the church," said the Bishop.
"No," replied Omar, "if I do so, the Muslims may one day make this an
excuse for taking over the church from you."
So he said his prayers on the steps of the church. Even then, he gave
the Bishop a writing. It said that the steps were never to be used for
congregational prayers nor was the Adhan [ call to prayer ] to be said
there.
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A man from the Copts(Copts are the Christians living in Egypt) came to
Omar ibn al-Khattab in Al-Madinah, and said, "O Commander of the
Faithful! I seek refuge in you from oppression." Omar replied, "You
have sought refuge where it is to be sought." The Egyptian said, "I
was racing the son of `Amr ibn al-`Aas, and defeated him. Then he
began to beat me with a whip saying: I am the Son of Nobles!"

So Omar wrote to `Amr commanding him to appear before him with his
son. So they appeared before him. Omar inquired, "Where is the
Egyptian? He is to take the whip and beat him!" Then the Egyptian
began to beat the son of `Amr with the whip as `Umar said to him,
"Beat the Son of Nobles!"

Anas said, "So he beat him. I swear by Allah, as he was beating him we
pitied his wailing. He did not desist until we stopped him."

Then Omar said to the Egyptian, "Now beat the whip upon `Amr's bald
head!" He replied, "O Commander of the Faithful! For it was his son
who beat me, and I have evened the score with him."

Upon this Omar said to `Amr, "Since when do you enslave the people
when their mothers bore them as free men?" He said, "O Commander of
the Faithful! I was unaware of this, and he did not come to me (for
justice)."
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Amr Ibn El Aas decided to increase the area of his mosque in Egypt and
there was a house owned by a Christian woman in the area that he
wanted to increase it in, so he offered her money to leave her house
but she refused, so he demolished the house and increased the mosque
area. The Christian woman sent a message to Omar Ibn El Khattab
telling him what happened. Omar Ibn El Khattab asked Amr Ibn El Aas
why he did this. Amr replied that he wanted to increase the mosque
area and he offered the woman money and she refused. Omar Ibn El
Khattab ordered Amr to demolish the increased area of the mosque and
to rebuild the house for the Christian woman. Amr Ibn El Aas obeyed
Omar and personally supervised the rebuilding of the house.
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One day Omar Ibn El Khattab was walking and he saw an old Jewish man
begging. Omar asked him why he was begging. The Jewish man told him
that he is begging to pay Jeziah (a certain amount of money paid by
non-Muslims living in Muslims lands for the purpose of protection
since they will not join the Muslim Army who will protect them against
any harm). Omar told him, "We have given you injustice," and swore to
give him from the Muslims' money and he did.

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