Compassion for Others

Leader of Believers and the second one belongs to me.” Then Umar addressed the bedouin, “You hasted in protesting without knowing the truth. I had washed my only shirt. It was still wet, and I could not come out of my house in one shawl therefore I borrowed the other shawl from my son which he has verified.” The bedouin was satisfied on hearing this explanation so he said, “Now speak, we will listen as well as obey you.” Ah! The leader of Muslims and such an impecunious state!

 Ali ibn Abi Talib says about Umar‟s clothing, “Once I saw thirty-one patches of leather and one patch of cloth on

Umar‟s dress.” Anas said, “I saw four patches in between the shoulder of Umar‟s shirt.”

 Abdullah ibn Abbas narrates, “Once I went to see Umar. He was headed somewhere riding on a mule, therefore I accompanied him. Umar was wearing a long shirt (Kameez) with tehmad26. The tehmad was so shrunk that it was reaching above the shin. I asked him why his tehmad was so? He replied, “This is because it is the only outfit I have and it takes time to dry every time I wash it.”

Umar was very compassionate, empathetic and comprehending person. He was very pious and feared Allah to an extent that he would pat a camel and say, “Allah will question me about you too on the day of judgement.” He attentively listened when people were talking to him and pondered over the matter to fully understand it. Once he saw a camp on his way back from a faroff place. When he reached near the camp, he saw an elderly woman inside. Umar had this interesting dialogue with the old lady:

26 A large piece of cloth tied around the waist and extending to cover most of the legs.