It was in the year of Khaibar that he
turned to the Prophet (PBUH), swearing
to him the oath of allegiance. Since the
moment he put his right hand into the
Prophet's right hand, his hand became
subject to respect. He promised himself
to use it only in good and virtuous
deeds, an attitude displaying how much
sensitivity this person enjoyed.
'Umraan
was a clear image of honesty, humility,
piety, and devotion to Allah.
Although
he was blessed with a great deal of
divine success and guidance, he never
stopped weeping and saying, "I wish
I were ashes dispersed by the
wind."
God-fearing
men of this type did not fear Allah
because of their sins. Sins were rarely
committed by them, since the day of
their conversion to Islam. The more they
got acquainted with Allah's greatness,
majesty, and sublimity, the more they
recognized their inability to truly
thank and worship Allah and the more
God-fearing they became, no matter how
much they prayed, praised Allah or
submitted themselves to Him.
Once
the Prophet's Companions asked him,
"O Prophet of Allah, why when we
are sitting with you do we feel calmness
and tenderness in our hearts as an
ascetic, seeing the Hereafter as if it
were before us, but when we leave you to
meet our wives, children, and our
worldly affairs, we deny
ourselves?" The Prophet (PBUH)
responded, "By Allah, if you
adhered strictly to your first state,
the angels would have shaken your hands
clearly. So it is natural for there to
be a worshiping time followed by
business."
When 'Umraan
heard this Prophetic saying (hadith),
his longing desire was moved; therefore,
he promised himself never to abstain
from striving to reach such a great
goal, even if it cost him his whole
life. He was never convinced to live
dividing his time one hour for leisure
and one hour for worship. He wanted
instead his life to be a long chain of
intimate prayer and total devotion
towards the Lord of the Worlds.
During
the caliphate of 'Umar Ibn Al-Khattaab,
he was sent to Basra, to teach its
inhabitants jurisprudence. He settled
there and soon people turned to him to
seek his blessing and the guiding light
of his religiosity. Al-Hasan Al-Basriy
and Ibn Siiriin said, "No one of
the Prophet's Companions who entered
Basra can be considered better than 'Umraan
Ibn Huaain.
‘Umraan
refused to occupy himself with anything
but worship. He spent his whole time
doing nothing but adoring Allah until it
seemed as if he belonged to another
world other than the one in which he
lived among his people and walked on its
ground. Yes, it is true. He became like
an angel living among angels, listening
to, talking to, and shaking hands with
them.
When
the great uprising between the parties
of "Ally and Mu'aawiyah took place,
he did not just hold a neutral position,
but appealed to people to abstain from
joining the fight, adhering to the cause
of peace. He went on saying, "I
would prefer to be a shepherd on top of
a mountain till I die rather than shoot
an arrow at anyone in either party,
right or wrong." Any Muslim he met,
he advised saying, "Keep to your
mosque. If it is broken into forcefully,
then keep indoors. If the doors are
broken into forcefully by someone who
aims at taking your life and wealth,
then fight him."
‘Umraan
Ibn Hus,ain's faith reached a very high
level. For 30 years he suffered from
severe disease. However, he never showed
any sign of discontent nor did he
grumble. Instead he adored and worshiped
Allah persistently, all through his
life. When his visitors came to
encourage him, he always replied,
"The dearest things to my heart are
those dearest to Allah."
When
he felt that death was approaching, he
said to his family and kin, "When
you finish burying me, slaughter and
feed the people."
Truly,
they should slaughter and feed the
people. The death of someone like
‘Umraan should be considered a great
and glorious wedding festival, wherein
his soul is being wedded to a Paradise
as wide as earth, heaven prepared for
the pious.
Sheikh Abdulfattah Abu-Abdullah Adelabu (Ph. D. Damas),
a West African Islamic Academic founded AWQAF Africa, of
which he's the first al Amir (i.e. President).
Sheikh Dr. Adelabu was studying Postgraduate Degrees in
Damascus early 1990's during when Syria reviewed its
national security after an ‘Oslo Accord'...
Syria like many other countries around the world
witnessed, during this period, the flood of refugees
from war troubled nations like Somalia, arrival of
people from Algeria during the brutal struggling between
the Mujahidun and the government, resettlement of the
Palestinians fleeing from sophisticated guns of the
Israelis as well as adventure of African migrants for
reasons uncountable…