Author: Obaidullah Nimruzi
Biography of Sayyidna Umar Farooq, MAPH (The 8th section and the conclusion)
Martyrdom of Hazrat Umar Farooq, may Allah be pleased with him
The martyrdom of Hazrat Umar, may Allah be pleased with him, is one of those sufferings that have not been repaid and will never be repaid. The day he converted to Islam, the greatness and honor of the divine religion increased day by day, and during his caliphate, he did such deeds that the world has never seen before, and the day he said farewell to the world, luck left the Muslims.
The incident of his martyrdom is briefly as follows:
When He returned from his last Hajj, he spread his tent and lay down on it in the “Mohsab” valley. As soon as he looked at the moon, its brilliance and arrangement became clear to that nobleman, he said: See, it was weak at first and gradually grown up and perfected, this is the state of all things in the world.
He prayed again: Oh Allah! My subjects have increased, and I have become weak. Allah! Take me away from this world before I fail in matters of the Caliphate. After entering Madinah, he dreamed that a red chicken pecked at his blessed belly three times. He told this dream to the people and said: The time of my death is near.
After this, one day, as usual, he went to the mosque early for Fajr (morning) prayer, he had a whip in his hand and used to wake up the sleeping people with his whip. When he entered the mosque, he ordered the lines to be formed and started the prayer and recited long surahs in the prayer. A Magi pagan named “Abul Lulu” the servant of Mughira bin Sha’ba, may Allah be pleased with him, who had a poisoned dagger in his hand and was hidden in the arch, struck the Hazrat Umar’s belly three times with the same dagger. That gentleman fainted and fell on the ground, Hazrat Abd al-Rahman bin Auf, may Allah be pleased with him, went forward and led the Imam in his place, recited the prayer briefly, “Abul Lulu” wanted to somehow get out of the mosque and escape. But the prayer procession was like a barrier that was not easy to cross. Therefore, he started to injure the Companions, may Allah be pleased with them, and thirteen Companions were injured, among them, seven of them could not survive. During this time, the prayer ended, and “Abul Lulu” was arrested, and when he found himself captured, he committed suicide with the same dagger.
It was a very serious incident; but no one broke the prayer and the prayer ended confidently. After the prayer, the people picked up Hazrat Umar and brought him home. After a short period of time when he regained consciousness, at the same time he performed the morning prayer, he first asked everyone: Who is my killer?
Hazrat Abbas, may Allah be pleased with him, said: “Abul Lulu” is a Pagan of Magi.
Hearing this, he recited the takbir loudly, until his voice went outside the house and said: Thank Allah that my martyrdom fell into the hands of an infidel.
One day “Abul Lulu” went to Hazrat Umar and complained that Mughira imposed a heavy tax on me. Please order him to reduce the amount. He asked about the amount of the tax and said: What is your job?
He said: I make millstones.
So Hazrat Umar said: This tax is not high compared to your job, because no one else does this job except you.
Then the Hazrat Umar said: Make a pair of millstones for me too.
He said: Very well, I will make such a millstone for you that will be famous all over the world.
Hazrat Umar said: Look, this slave is threatening to kill me.
Someone said: Oh Amirul Momineen! Give an order to impeach him now.
Hazrat Umar said: Should the crime be punished before it is committed?!
Since then, “Abu lulu” had been thinking of making a dagger and poisoning it.
The incident of the martyrdom of Farooq Azam, may Allah be pleased with him, disturbed the whole Medina, all the Mohajerin (immigrants) and Ansar sat around him and said: We wish our lives were given to you and you were left to serve Islam.
Many efforts were made for the treatment of that gentleman; but none of the plans were effective, when the Companions (may Allah be pleased with them) were disappointed in his life, they all felt a strange sadness and came to him and said: O Amirul Momineen! May God reward you well, you followed the Book of Allah and followed the Sunnah of the Prophet, PBUH.
After this, he appointed Hazrat Suhaib as the imam of prayer in his place and said: After my death, choose a caliph within three days. Then he ordered his son Hazrat Abdullah (may Allah be pleased with him) to go to Hazrat Umm al-Mu’minin ayesha (may Allah be pleased with her) and greet him on my behalf and say: My heart’s desire is to be buried with my two best friends, and if there is any hardship or disadvantage for you in this, Jannat Al-Baqi is better for me.
Hazrat Abdullah bin Umar, may Allah be pleased with him, went and conveyed the message to Umm al-Mu’minin. He replied: I had reserved this place for myself, but I will prefer him over myself.
When Hazrat Abdullah brought this good news, he was very happy and said: This was my greatest aspiration; Thank God that he completed this.
Then the dying process started and at the same time, a young man whose clothes was down of his ankle, He said to him: Brother! Raise the clothes from the ankle, because of which the clothes will remain clean, and Allah will be obeyed.
When the body of Hazrat Umar was brought for prayer, Hazrat Ali (may Allah be pleased with him) said: I used to think that the burial of you two would be together with the Messenger of God, may God bless him and grant him peace, because I had heard from that Prophet, peace and blessings be upon him, that he used to mention the two of you together in every matter.
Hazrat Ali (may Allah be pleased with him) used to say: I asked Allah to make my deeds like the deeds of Umar bin Khattab (may Allah be pleased with him).
He was injured on Wednesday, the 27th of Dhul-Hijja, and after five days, on Sunday, the 1st of Muharram, at the age of 63, he was martyred. May Allah be pleased with him.
Hazrat Suhaib (may Allah be pleased with him) prayed the funeral prayer and buried Umar bin Khattab in the tomb of the Prophet (PBUH) next to Abu Bakr Siddique (may Allah be pleased with him). There are only three graves in this holy cemetery, the first: the Messenger of Allah, PBUH; Second: Abu Bakr Siddique, may Allah be pleased with him, whose head is equal to holy prophet’s shoulder; Third: the grave of Hazrat Umar Farooq, may Allah be pleased with him, which is located on the lower side.
It is true that Allah Almighty had and has special servants, and none of them is known to anyone except Allah, and each of these servants had and still have special and unique qualities and characteristics. Without any doubt, one of these people is a companion of Jalil-ul-Qadr Prophet (The supreme leader of Islam) was Hazrat Umar bin Khattab, may God be pleased with him.
His good and pure personality was full of goodness and blessings.
But the summary of what was famous is:
Transforming himself from an uneducated primitive and desert person to a perfect and pious human being to the extent that he becomes a role model for future generations and is chosen as the second person after the Holy Prophet of Islam, to be appointed as the Caliph and Amir-Al-Muminin and to implement divine decrees with justice, formulating and expanding Islamic policy, mapping cities and setting up roads, a clear example of interaction and good communication with the creator and the created, the conqueror and fortress of the two superpower empires of the time (Iran and Rome), being placed as one of the tenth of the good news to heaven, from the words of the Holy Prophet, peace and blessings be upon him, confirmed and defined by the Prophet of Islam, peace and blessings be upon him: If there was anyone who became a prophet after me, it would certainly be Umar bin Khattab.
With the passage of 1440 years, being beloved in the hearts of the believers of the world and authoring thousands of books on the dimensions and corners of his life, the truth always flowed from his tongues to the point where in many cases divine revelation was revealed in the position of confirming his opinions, and the emphasis of the Holy Qur’an on his opinion regarding the prisoners of Badr, no funeral prayer for the hypocrites, hijab for women, prayer place in the place of Abraham, sanctity of wine, etc.
May Allah be pleased with him!
References:
1. Successors of the Prophet, peace be upon him.
2. The conquests of Farooqi era.
3. Caliphs of Rashidin, may God be pleased with them.
