Ihyaaud Deen An Effort to Revive Deen in Totality
Hazrat Umar's (radhiyallahu 'anhu) Life of Abstinence
Once, while Hazrat Umar (radhiyallahu ‘anhu) was delivering the Khutbah, it was noticed that his lower garment had as many as twelve patches, including one of leather.
On one occasion, when Hazrat Umar (radhiyallahu ‘anhu) arrived late for the Jumu’ah salaah, he addressed the congregation saying, “Please do excuse me! I got late because I needed to wash my clothes and had no other clothes to wear.”
Hazrat Umar (radhiyallahu ‘anhu) was once having his meal when Utbah bin Farqad (radhiyallahu ‘anhu) asked permission to see him. Hazrat Umar (radhiyallahu ‘anhu) allowed him in and invited him to share the food with him. Utbah (radhiyallahu ‘anhu) started eating, but the bread was so coarse that he could not swallow it. Utbah bin Farqad (radhiyallahu ‘anhu) asked him, “O Umar, why don’t you use fine flour for your bread?”
Hazrat Umar (radhiyallahu ‘anhu) asked him, “Can every Muslim afford fine flour for his bread?” Utbah (radhiyallahu ‘anhu) replied, “No, everybody cannot afford it.” Hazrat Umar (radhiyallahu ‘anhu) remarked, “It is unfortunate that you want me to fulfil all my pleasures while I am in this world.”
There are thousands of such incidents and stories of the illustrious Sahaabah (radhiyallahu ‘anhum) regarding their high level of zuhd (worldly abstinence). However, everybody should not try to emulate them, for we lack the physical strength they possessed. It is for this reason that the Sufi Sheikhs of our time do not recommend such difficult spiritual exercises which tire the body too much, since people are already low in physical strength, whereas Allah Ta‘ala had bestowed the Sahaabah (radhiyallahu ‘anhum) with immense physical strength.
However, we should keep the lives of the Sahaabah (radhiyallahu ‘anhum) as an example before us and aspire in our hearts to lead such lives, as this will cause our love for luxury to decrease and we will be able to reduce our worldly aspirations and lead a simple life. We may then be able to adopt some moderation, according to our level and ability in this time, as our present condition is such that at all times, we are only concerned about increasing our worldly enjoyments and pleasures, where each person looks at those people who possess more wealth and riches than him, and laments over the fact that so-and-so is richer than him.
(Fazaa’il-e-A’maal [Urdu] pg. 50)
