Hadhrat Umar (Radhiyallaho anho) does not like his wife to weigh musk

Hadhrat Umar (Radhiyallaho anha) once received some musk from Bahrain. He said:

I want someone to weigh it, so that it may be equally distributed among the Muslims.'

His wife said: I shall weigh it."

Hadhrat Umar (Radhiyallaho anho) kept quiet. A little later he again asked for someone to weigh the musk, and again his wife volunteered to do so. But he kept quiet this time too. When she repeated her offer for the third time, he said:

"I do not like your touching the musk with your hands (while weighing it) and rubbing those hands on your body afterwards, as that would amount to something over and above my legitimate share.'*

Any other person weighing the musk would, for that matter, have had the same advantage, but Hadhrat Umar (Radhiyallaho anha) did not like this preference particularly for any member of his own family. Look at this scrupulous anxiety to avoid charge of selfishness.

A similar story is related about Hadhrat Umar bin Abdul Aziz (Rahmatullah alaih) (who is known as the second Umar). While he was holding the reins of the Khila-fat, musk belonging to the Bait ul-Maal was being weighed. He closed his own nostrils, with the remark:

"The use of musk is to smell it."

These were the scruples of the Sahabah, and their successors, and our elders in Islam.

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