3. The Opening of Jerusalem

This sign happened during the time of ‘Umar ibn AlKhattaab. Abu ‘Ubaydah ibn AlJarrah was the leader of the Muslim army; they had surrounded Jerusalem. They had to surrender; they had no chance of fighting. They sent a message to Abu ‘Ubaydah, saying that they were willing to surrender, but they wanted to give the keys of Jerusalem to the khalifah of the Muslims (because the town was so important). ‘Umar ibn AlKhattaab made shoorah and asked the Sahabah what he should do – go out or stay? Some of the Sahabah told him that it was dangerous and to stay in Madinah; other Sahabah said to go – tawakal Al-Allah. ‘Umar ibn AlKhattaab went out with his servant. They were taking turns on the camel – ‘Umar would ride for awhile, the servant would ride for awhile and then they would give the camel a break. When ‘Umar rode into Jerusalem, it was his turn to pull the camel and the servant’s turn to ride the camel. They passed next to a pool of mud. ‘Umar had to go through it; he picked up his clothes and passed through it. There was mud on his clothes and legs. This was happening in front of the people of Jerusalem. Abu ‘Ubaydah (one of the ten promised Jannah) felt that this was not appropriate – not because the leader shouldn’t be humble, but he felt that the Romans were living in a culture where the leaders are surrounded by guards and he thought that they wouldn’t given him the respect he deserved. ‘Umar deserved respect more than anyone else on earth, at that time. Abu ‘Ubaydah gave him a few suggestions. ‘Umar ibn AlKhattaab hit him in the chest and said, “I wouldn’t expect this to come from you. We were people who were humiliated; we were nothing. Allah honored us with Islam. If we seek honor any other way, Allah will humiliate us.” Meaning, our honor is not based on the entourage and the motorcade or the extravagance. Our honor is in Islam, not the clothes that we wear.

‘Umar was wearing a dress with 14 patches. He’s teaching Abu ‘Ubaydah that Allah will put our honor in their hearts. If we try to honor ourselves in any superficial fashion, Allah will take it away. And SubhanAllah – ‘Umar was right. When the people of Jerusalem saw him in that fashion, they started crying. The people were standing on the roofs of their houses, looking at him. They had heard of ‘Umar, but they had never seen him. They couldn’t believe their eyes at the simplicity of Islam. They gave the keys to ‘Umar ibn AlKhattaab. Allahu ‘Alam, it mentions in the book of Ibn Kathir, that they had in their books the signs of the one who would take the keys of Jerusalem, and one of the signs was that he would have 14 patches in his clothes.