Umar Ibn Abdul Aziz: Even the Wolf and the Goat Lived in Harmony under His Leadership

Umar Ibn Abdul Aziz was one of the greatest Amir Al-Mukminin (leader of Muslim believers). It is said that under his leadership, wolf and goat lived side by side in harmony. It is also said that a month after he passed away, wolf and goat no longer lived in harmony.

He was a lamp for those judges living after him. When he was holding the authority over the vast areas of Islamic conquest, he once said,

“O my people, indeed I am being tested with such this thing (position as ‘president’ of Muslims worldwide) without any opinion from me, nor willingness from me, and nor discussion from your neck upon my leadership, so choose by yourself (who is more appropriate for the position as ‘Amir Al-Mukminin’).”

Since then, people shouted, “We have chosen you o Amir Al-Mukminin, and we bless you, so please accept this thing with happiness and blessing.”

In response to this, Umar ibn Abdul Aziz recited a monumental speech:

“O people! Obey me when I obey Allah. And when I am committed in maksiat  (evil deed) to Allah, hence there is no obedience to me for you.”

Umar ibn Abdul Aziz – before he was chosen as Amir Al-Mukminin – was wise, smart, and keen to perform prayer to Allah. He was a rich person too; he drank and ate expensive foods and drinks.

However, he was known to be very simple in spending his days after being chosen as Amir Al-Mukminin. He left his expensive things surround him and wore worn-out clothes.

One day, Umar Ibn Abdul Aziz had a prayer along with his people in a Masjid. At that time, Said Ibn Suwaid asked him, “O Amir Al-Mukminin, indeed Allah gives you sizeable wealth and if you want to wear elegant clothes, of course you can.”

Umar Ibn Abdul Aziz was silent for a moment, then raised his head and said, “Indeed, the most valuable ‘zuhud ’ is being simple in richness…”

The history of Islam also recorded that Umar Ibn Abdul Aziz was a man who was afraid too much of being committed in corruption. He never used facilities given by the government for his personal affairs, even only a candle.

It is narrated by Ubaid Ibn Muslim from his father who said…

“I went into the house of Umar Ibn Abdul Aziz and he had a typist with him and candle. Umar Ibn Abdul Aziz was thinking of the people’s affairs, while the typist was writing the thoughts of Umar Ibn Abdul Aziz. When the typist had finished doing his job, he went out and Umar Ibn Abdul Aziz extinguished the candle. No longer, the typist came into the room, bringing another candle. Later it was known that the candle was not government’s facilities and actually taken from the wealth of Umar Ibn Abdul Aziz.”

Now, you may compare Umar’s leadership style to the current situation in Indonesia. While Umar Ibn Abdul Aziz never used facilities given by the government for his own personal affairs, there are so many people today innocently use office’s facilities for personal affairs.

Umar Ibn Abdul Aziz preferred to wear worn-out clothes when at the same time he was able to buy expensively elegant clothes. Compared to today’s president of Indonesia, a piece of our president’s clothes is worth for 18 million rupiahs!!! (Translated by Irfan Nugroho from “Tokoh-Tokoh Teladan Akhir Zaman”)