Ihyaaud Deen An Effort to Revive Deen in Totality
Hazrat Sa’eed bin Aamir (rahimahullah) was the governor of Hims during the time of Hazrat Umar (radhiyallahu ‘anhu). The people of Hims made many complaints against him and demanded that he be removed from the position of governor. Hazrat Umar (radhiyallahu ‘anhu) was a man of great insight and wisdom, and he was endowed with the ability to understand the temperament of people and judge their character – as was proven on countless occasions.
Hazrat Umar (radhiyallahu ‘anhu) was quite surprised to hear these complaints about his governor and said, “I appointed him as the governor regarding him to be the best person for that position!” He made dua to Allah Ta‘ala saying, “O Allah! Do not take away my ability of making correct decisions, because I fear that I may hand over positions to unworthy people!”
Thereafter, Hazrat Umar (radhiyallahu ‘anhu) summoned Hazrat Sa’eed (rahimahullah), as well as those who had made the complaints against him. When they came, Hazrat Umar (radhiyallahu ‘anhu) asked the people of Hims to stand in front of Hazrat Sa’eed (rahimahullah) and mention their complaints against him. The people mentioned three complaints.
They complained that Hazrat Sa’eed (rahimahullah) came out from his house late in the mornings, he did not allow them to discuss their problems with him at night, and that he took a day off every month.
As for coming out from his house late in the morning, Hazrat Sa’eed (rahimahullah) said, “My wife does the housework alone and has no one to help her. I therefore prepare the dough and make the bread. When the bread is baked, we eat, and I then make wudhu and leave the house.”
Hazrat Umar (radhiyallahu ‘anhu) then instructed the people to mention their second complaint. They said that their governor did not allow them to discuss their problems with him during the night. Hazrat Umar (radhiyallahu ‘anhu) addressed Hazrat Sa’eed (rahimahullah) saying, “What response do you have to this complaint?”
Hazrat Sa’eed (rahimahullah) said, “I did not want to reveal this, but I have divided my day and my night. My day is for serving the creation, and my night is for worshipping Allah Ta‘ala. I have given and dedicated my entire night to the worship of my Master, Allah Ta‘ala.”
Hazrat Umar (radhiyallahu ‘anhu) then asked the people to mention their third complaint, to which they said that Hazrat Sa’eed (rahimahullah) takes one day off every month. When Hazrat Sa’eed (rahimahuulah) was asked regarding this, he said, “I do not have a servant. Once a month, I have to stop work to wash my clothes. I wash my clothes in the morning, and when they dry by the evening, I put them on again and come out of the house.”
Hearing these answers, Hazrat Umar (radhiyallahu ‘anhu) expressed gratitude to Allah Ta‘ala for saving him from making the wrong choice in nominating a governor Thereafter, Hazrat Umar (radhiyallahu ‘anhu) addressed the people of Hims and said, “You people should appreciate the governor that you have (and you should thank Allah Ta‘ala for giving you such a pious governor).”
When they had all left, Hazrat Umar (radhiyallahu ‘anhu) sent a gift of 1000 dinaars (gold pieces) to Hazrat Sa’eed (rahimahullah) to use for his personal needs. On receiving this amount, his wife said to him, “We are grateful to Allah who has arranged for so many of our needs to be fulfilled. Now, you will no longer need to do the housework yourself. With this money, a slave can be bought, and other needs can also be easily fulfilled with this money.”
Hazrat Sa’eed (rahimahullah) said, “There are many poor people living in the city who are more in need of this wealth than us. I suggest that we give this money to them.” His wife happily agreed, and they split the money into small bags. They then distributed most of it among the poor and the orphans, after which a small amount remained.
Hazrat Sa’eed (rahimahullah) handed the remaining money to his wife saying, “Keep the rest with you and spend it little by little on your needs.” She wanted to use the money to buy a slave to help with the housework, but Hazrat Sa’eed (rahimahullah) said, “No, you will soon have many people coming to you who need this money more than we do.”
(Fazaa’il-e-Sadaqaat [Urdu] pg. 709-710)
