Men Around The Prophet

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 toAllah.

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 toIslam. The more they got acquainted with Allah's greatness, majesty, andsublimity, the more they recognized their inability to truly thank and worshipAllah 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 whenwe are sitting with you do we feel calmness and tenderness in our heartsas an ascetic, seeing the Hereafter as if it were before us, but when weleave you to meet our wives, children, and our worldly affairs, we deny ourselves?" The Prophet (PBUH) responded, "By Allah, if you adhered strictly to yourfirst state, the angels would have shaken your hands clearly. So it is naturalfor 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. Hewanted instead his life to be a long chain of intimate prayer and total devotiontowards the Lord of the Worlds.

During the caliphate of `Umar Ion Al-Khattaah, 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 Husain.

`Umraan refused to occupy himself with anything but worship.

He spent his whole time doing nothing but adoring Allah until it seemedas 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 anangel living among angels, listening to, talking to, and shaking hands withthem.

When the great uprising between the parties of `Aliy 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 fill I dierather than shoot an arrow at anyone in either party, right or wrong." AnyMuslim he met, he advised saying, "Keep to your mosque. If it is broken intoforcefully, then keep indoors. If the doors are broken into forcefully bysomeone who aims at taking your life and wealth, then fight him."

`Umraan Ibn Husain'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 someonelike `Umraan should be considered a great and glorious wedding festival,wherein his soul is being wedded to a Paradise as wide as earth, heaven preparedfor the pious.