4. ‘UMAR, THE SECOND CALIPH

‘Umar (Omar) bin (son of) al-Khat.t.āb was the second among the four rightly-guided caliphs. His long rule lasted for more than ten years. During his rule there lived a prince called Jabalah bin Ayham. He was the last prince of the Ghassanide dynasty. Losing hope for victory against the Muslim army under Abū ‘Ubaydah, he came to the Muslim general and embraced Islam.
Accompanied by followers, Jabalah visited Madinah where he was received with peculiar honours. Then he accompanied ‘Umar the caliph on pilgrimage to Mecca. While he was performing his pilgrimage a Bedouin accidentally trampled his flowing robe which caused him to tumble and fall. The proud prince struck the Bedouin on the face. To his amazement, he was summoned by the caliph who ordered, under the law of retaliation, that the Bedouin had the right to return the blow.
“What!” cried Jabalah, “I, the prince of Ghassān, and he, a common Bedouin of the desert!”
“Yes,” said ‘Umar, “for in Islam all are equal.”
The affronted Jabalah returned at once to Constantinople, the capital of Byzantine empire. Being a Christian again, he was hospitably entertained at the Byzantine court.
‘Umar used to walk around the city at night to see the condition of his people. One night he saw light in a house late at night. Accompanied by ‘Abd Allāh bin Mas‘ūd, he approached the house. He entered the house and asked ‘Abd Allāh to stay at the door. When he saw an old man drinking alcohol, he said:
“I have never seen anything worse than what I am seeing now; an old man approaching death drinking alcohol!”
“O Prince of the Believers,” said the old man raising his head, “there is something worse than this. What you are doing now is worse. You are spying, which is prohibited by Allah, you are entering a house without permission.”
“You are right,” said ‘Umar sadly and left.
”May your mother be breaved of you [an expression of displeasure among the Arabs], O ‘Umar,” ‘Umar said to himself, “if Allah does not forgive you! The man was drinking secretly, and now you saw him. He will continue drinking.” He did not tell ‘Abd Allāh bin Mas‘ūd what he had seen in the house that night.
The old man stopped attending ‘Umar’s court. However, one day ‘Umar saw him coming and sitting at the far corner of the court. He looked very shy. ‘Umar called him. The man approached him expecting to be reproached and humiliated.
“Come closer,” said ‘Umar. The man came and sat down near him. “Bring your ear closer,” said ‘Umar. Then he whispered to him:
“By Allah who sent Muhammad as a true messenger, I have never told anybody of what I have seen from you.” The old man said:
“Bring your ear closer to me, O Prince of the Believers!” ‘Umar did and the man whispered to him:
“By Allah who sent Muhammad as a true messenger, I have stopped drinking since you saw me that night.” ‘Umar was overwhelmed, raised his voiced and shouted: “Allāhu Akbar” (Allah is Great!, Glory to Allah!).