Omar

Caution: The following show contains disturbing images for young children

May God have mercy on your brother, Al-Muthanna.

May God have mercy on us all.

He said to me: "When you meet Saad, give him my advice"

Tell him that he must not fight the enemy

when they have amassed their forces int their own land.

He should fight them at their borders; at the closest point of Arab land

and the nearest point to Persian land.

If God grants victory to the Muslims,

they can take what is beyond them.

Otherwise, they can join another group

where they will be well aware of their routes.

They can regroup for another encounter.

Ameer Al-Mu'mineen has given similar instructions.

It shall be Al-Qadisiyyah, God willing.

Peace be to you with God's mercy.

And to you be peace with God's mercy.

Umar! I knew you when you were nicknamed Umair at the Ukaz market.

You frightened boys with your stick.

It was not long later when you became Umar,

then again it was not much longer before you became Ameer Al-Mu'mineen.

Fear God in dealing with your subjects.

Knew that a person who fears the Day of Judgement

will find what is distant to be close at hand.

Whoever fears death is apprehensive of finding food.

You have been too hard on Ameer Al-Mu'mineen, woman.

Leave her alone. Don't you know her?

She is Khawlah bint Thaalabah

whose complaint God heard above the universe,

as He states concerning her:

"God has heard the words of the woman who pleads with you concerning her husband."

It behoves Umar to listen to her.

This is a wretched woman who has been very good to her husband.

She took good care of her children and household.

After she spent most of her life doing this,

her husband has abandoned her and is about to divorce her,

when she has done him no wrong.

You have placed yourself in regard to your people in the position of a father.

Will you be happy that this poor woman should be returned

to a brother who has a family to look after?

You! I learnt that you have abandoned your wife

and are about to divorce her

when people speak highly of her character and firm faith,

Have you found her rebellious

or do you complain of anything in her character in order to divorce her?

By no means. I will only state the truth.

She is as good as you said, Ameer Al-Mu'mineen.

But I do not love her.

Are all family homes based on love?

What is left for kindness and generous care?

Did anyone force you to marry her in the first place?

Look, man! When we marry, we give our wives a most solemn pledge.

A woman then bears children,

going through pregnancy in stages of successive weakness,

then she breast-feeds and takes care of the young and the sick.

All this is at the expense of her own health and youth.

How fair is it that when she is middle aged,

her husband turns away from her.

Had she been negligent of her home and family,

concentrating on herself and her physical appearance,

her husband would be the first to criticise her,

saying that she is a bad housewife and mother.

Where will she go?

How about integrity and faithfulness?

Fear God in your treatment of your women.

And you.

Someone has come with a proposal to your sister,

offering a plentiful dowry.

He is a man of good character, morality and position.

I heard that she is keen on him, but you refuse. Why?

Ameer Al-Mu'mineen!

He is an ally while we belong to Quraysh.

We have a high social position.

He is incompatible to us.

He has a good standing in both this life and the life to come.

The first is his wealth,

while that of the hereafter is that he is God-fearing.

Approve this marriage since the woman is willing.

We all descend from Adam, and Adam was created out of clay.

The noblest of us are the most God-fearing.

Wait a minute.

You mentioned Quraysh, and this reminds me.

Let anyone here from Quraysh listen,

and tell others you know.

I have learnt that you have your groups,

with people sticking to their own friends and relatives.

People now say: this one belongs to the group of so and so,

and this one is a friend of such and such.

Everyone remains close to his own group.

I fear that this would lead to people splitting into groups and divisions,

each of which are content with what they have.

Should the Muslim community face a serious or emergency situation,

people will go to their own groups to agree a plan.

By God, this will quickly undermine your faith, honour and unity.

I can see people in future generations saying:

this is the view of so and so,

splitting Islam into sections and divisions.

It will not take long before an elite comes to be distinguished from the rest of society.

People will thus go back to their old ways of jahiliyyah.

Al-Qadisiyyah

As for you leg, it is a case of sciatica,

but I have no idea what this rash is.

It may be that local climate has not suited you.

The cause is immaterial.

Give me some treatment for it.

The enemy has encamped close by and I am in this state:

I can neither ride nor walk, nor even turn on one side.

I will do what I can. But...

In all honesty, I have no cure for anything like this now.

Even if I had, this will not disappear overnight.

What am I to do? We are about to face our enemy.

The best plan is that you stay in this palace

and to appoint someone to deputise for you among the soldiers.

You give him your orders from here and he passes on your orders.

- And if war breaks out? - The same applies.

The Al-Qadisiyyah plain is between this palace and the river.

When the army is ready to flight,

you will be in the balcony with the people seeing you.

You can send you instructions to the army with messengers.

And will I miss fighting?

You will not miss it when you are the commander.

The commander's more important role is his management of the battle.

All powers operate by God's will. All powers operate by God's will.

I pray you will be alright.

Salma, you are not safe here when the fighting begins.

Will you please move to the women's tents and stay with them?

By God, I shall not do that. If some Persians get to us here,

I will fight to the death, defending us both.

May God give you speedy recovery, Commander.

Welcome Al-Khansa'.

What brings you from the women's tents?

I visited my sons.

I learnt of your illness, and I thought I better visit you

and see what Salma may need to help her as best as I can.

May God reward you.

Help me by praying for me, Khansa'.

Tell me what you did with Ameer Al-Mu'mineen

when he saw you during the pilgrimage.

Umar! By God I have not known anyone like him.

I used to hear people saying that he is hard,

and I feared to meet him, as I had done what you know.

What's that?

In pre-Islamic days

I vowed I would never be out of mourning for my brother Sakhr.

After I became a Muslim, I continued in the same fashion.

a shaven head, keeping Sakhr's shoes around my neck

People blamed me, saying that Islam forbids all this,

but I paid no heed.

They even put a complaint to Umar.

He met me while I was performing the tawaf around the Kaabah.

By God, he neither reproached nor forced me.

He only said: "Khunas! What made your eyes shed so much tears?"

I said: "Crying for the chiefs of Mudar."

He said: "Those were people who died in the days of Jahiliyyah."

I said: "I used to cry for them, urging revenge."

"Now I cry for their fate in hell".

He asked me to recite some of my poetry about Sakhr.

I said: "The old or the new?"

He said: "Is there something new?"

I answered: "Yes. My eye will not stop weeping for him."