Umayr ibn Sa'd

ProfileUmayr ibn Sa'd

Umayr (may Allah be pleased with him) was the son of Sa'd, of the Ansar, of the Aws. According to the early biographies, Umayr was orphaned young, and his mother married Julas ibn Suwayd, a wealthy and respected man of Madinah who raised him with a father's love. According to the early biographies, he was about ten when the Prophet ﷺ came to Madinah, and accepted Islam, and was known for always being in the first row of the prayer in the mosque.

According to the early biographies, at the time of Tabuk, when the hypocrites were holding back and making excuses, some of the believers were giving and spending, and Umayr came home and told Julas that he should go to the mosque and give as they were giving. Julas answered that if Muhammad ﷺ was telling the truth, they were worse than donkeys. Umayr said that after the Prophet ﷺ, there was no one dearer to him than Julas, but that he had said something that, if Umayr repeated it, would shame him, and if he kept it back, would ruin his religion, so he must tell. He went to the Prophet ﷺ and told him. The Prophet ﷺ sent for Julas, and Julas swore that he had not said it, and that the boy was making it up. According to the early biographies, the Prophet ﷺ stayed silent, and Umayr prayed to Allah to make the truth known, and then a verse came down, which commentators connect with this, in which Allah says that they swear that they did not say the words of unbelief, though they said them, and that if they turn back in repentance it will be better for them. According to the early biographies, the Prophet ﷺ told him that his ear had been truthful and his Lord had confirmed him. According to the early biographies, Julas repented, and used to weep and say that Allah had rewarded Umayr for saving him from the Fire.

According to the early biographies, Umayr was a quiet man, who fought in the first row, and was not known for words. According to the early biographies, he fought in the conquest of Syria under Abu Ubaydah, and Umar made him governor of Damascus, and then of Hims, and called him "one of a kind," because he was incorruptible. According to the early biographies, he gave a sermon at Hims in which he said that Islam is a fortified wall with a strong gate, that the wall is justice and the gate is truth, and that the strength of Islam is not in killing by the sword or striking by the whip, but in judging by the truth and taking what is due with justice.

According to the early biographies, when no complaint came from Hims for a year, and no money came to the treasury, Umar sent for him, and he walked from Hims to Madinah, with a worn bag, a bowl and a cup, and his spear, and arrived sunburnt and tired. Umar asked what had happened to him, and he said that he was well, that he carried in his bag his food, and in his bowl his water for drinking and washing, and that he had the world. Umar asked why he had come on foot, and whether he had no mount, and he said that he had used what he had in a way better than keeping it. Umar asked about the money for the treasury, and he said that he had given it to the righteous among the people of the place, and settled the rights of the people. Umar asked to renew his post, and he said that he did not want to work for Umar or for anyone after him. According to the early biographies, Umar kept him on for a few years more until he found a replacement, and gave him a mount to ride back. Later, to test him, Umar sent a man with a sum of money, with instructions to stay with him as a guest, and to leave the money if he was living well, and give it to him if his life was hard. According to the early biographies, the man stayed three nights and found that Umayr and his wife had nothing but a little bread, which they gave to their guest, and went hungry. He gave him the money, and Umayr told him to take it back, since he had no need of it. According to the early biographies, his wife told him to take it, and that they would keep what they needed and give the rest to the poor. According to the early biographies, he took it, and gave it out among the poor and the children of the martyrs, and when Umar asked what he had done with the money, he wrote that he had sent it ahead for himself, for a day when neither wealth nor children would benefit a man.

According to the early biographies, he died in the time of Umar, who said that he wished he had more men like him to govern the affairs of the Muslims.

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