'Ubayd lbn `Umar, may Allah be pleased with him, said: I was once reading to 'Abdullaah lbn `Umar this verse which means: "So how [will it be] when We bring from every nation a witness and we bring you [O Muhammad] against these [people] as a witness? That Day, those who disbelieved and disobeyed the Messenger will wish they could be covered by the earth. And they will not conceal from Allah a [single] statement[Quran 4:41-42] Ibn `Umar, may Allah be pleased with him, began to cry till his beard was wet from his tears. One day he was sitting among his brothers reading this verse which means: "Woe to those who give less [than due],who, when they take a measure from people, take in full. But if they give by measure or by weight to them, they cause loss. Do they not think that they will be resurrected for a tremendous Day – The Day when mankind will stand before the Lord of the worlds?" [Quran 83:1-6]. Then he repeated again and again "The Day when mankind will stand before the Lord of the worlds" while his tears were rolling down like heavy rain falls from the sky until he fell down because of his tremendous sorrow and crying.
His generosity, asceticism and piety all worked together in complete harmony to shape the most magnificent merits of that great man. He gave out abundantly because he was generous. He granted the fine Halaal things because he was pious, never caring if his generosity left him poor because he was ascetic.
Ibn `Umar, may Allah be pleased with him, was one of those who had high incomes. He was a successful, honest merchant for a greater part of his life, and his income from the treasury (Bayt Al-Maal) was abundant. However, he never saved that money for himself, but always spent it copiously on the poor, the needy, and beggars.
Ayyoob Ibn Waa'il Ar-Raassiby tells us about one of his generous acts: One day lbn `Umar was granted 4,000 dirhams and a piece of velvet. The next day Ayyoob Ibn Waa'il saw him in the market buying his camel some fodder on credit. lbn Waa'il went to his house asking his close relatives, "Wasn't Abu `Abdur-Rahmaan (i.e. Abdullaah Ibn `Umar) granted 4,000 dirhams and a piece of velvet yesterday?" They said, "Yes." He then told them that he had seen him in the market buying fodder for his camel and could not find money for it. They told him, "He didn't go to sleep before distributing all of it, then he carried the velvet on his back and went out. When he returned it wasn't with him. We asked him about it, and he said, `I gave it to a poor person.
Ibn Waa'il went out shaking his head until he entered the market. There he climbed to a higher ground and shouted to the people, "O merchants, what do you do with your life? Here is Ibn `Umar who's been granted 4,000 dirhams, so he distributes them, then the next morning he buys fodder for his camel on credit!?"
The one to whom Muhammad was tutor and `Umar, may Allah be pleased with him, his father must be a great man, deserving all that is great.
Ibn `Umar's generosity, asceticism, and piety, these three qualities demonstrate how sincere his imitation of the Prophetic model was and how sincere his worship.
He imitated the Prophet to the extent that he stood with his camel, where the Prophet had once stood saying, "A camel foot may stand over a camel foot." His respect, good behavior, and admiration towards his father reached also to a far extent. `Umar's, may Allah be pleased with him, personality forced his foes, his relatives, and, above all, his sons to pay him respect. I say, the one who belongs to that Prophet and that kind of father should never be a slave of money. Large amounts of money came to him but soon passed, just crossing his house at that moment.
His generosity was never a means of arrogance. He always dedicated himself to the poor and needy, rarely eating his meal alone: orphans and poor people were always present. He often blamed some of his sons when they invited the rich, and not the poor ones, to their banquets, thereupon saying, "You leave the hungry behind and invite the sated ones." The poor knew his tenderness, felt his kindness and sympathy, so they sat down across his path for him to take them to his house. When he saw them he was like a sweet scented flower surrounded by a drove of bees to suck its nectar.
Money in his hands was a slave, not a master, a means for necessities and not luxury. Money was not his alone. The poor had a right to it, a mutually corresponding right, with no privilege kept to himself. His self-denial helped him to reach such great generosity that he never stored, endeavored, or had a vivid interest toward the worldly life. On the contrary, he never wished to possess more than a gown to cover his body and just enough food to keep him alive.
Once a friend coming from Khurasaan presented him with a fine, delicate, handsome, embellished and decorated gown, saying to him, "I've brought you this gown from Khurasaan. I would be pleased to see you take off this rough gown and wear this nice one." lbn `Umar, may Allah be pleased with him, said, "Show it to me then." He touched it asking, "Is it silk?" His friend said, "No, it's cotton." Abdullaah looked at it for a while then pushed it away with his right hand saying, "No, I'm afraid to tempt myself. I'm afraid it would turn me into an arrogant, proud man. Allah dislikes the arrogant, proud ones."
On another day, a friend presented him with a container filled with something. Ibn `Umar, may Allah be pleased with him, asked him, "What's that?" He said, "Excellent medicine, which I brought you from Iraq!" lbn `Umar, may Allah be pleased with him, said, `What does it cure?" He said, "It digests food." Ibn `Umar, may Allah be pleased with him, smiled and said to his friend, "Digests food? I haven't satisfied my appetite for 40 years."
He who has not satisfied his appetite for 40 years has not curbed his appetite due to need or poverty, but rather due to self-denial and piety, and a trial to imitate the Prophet and his father may Allah be pleased with him.
He was afraid to hear on the Day of Judgment: "You exhausted your pleasures during your worldly life and enjoyed them…" [Quran 46:20] He realized that he was in this life just as a visitor or a passer-by. He described himself saying, "I haven't put a stone upon another (i.e. I haven't built anything) nor planted a palm tree since the Prophet's death."
Maymoon Ibn Muhraan once said, "I entered Ibn `Umar's house and tried to evaluate all that was inside such as the bed, the blanket, the mat and so on. Indeed, everything. I didn't find it worth even 100 dirhams."
That was not due to selfishness; he was very generous. But it was due to his asceticism, his disdain of luxury, and his adherence to his attitude of sincerity and piety.
Ibn `Umar, may Allah be pleased with him, lived long enough to witness the Umayyid period, when money became abundant, and land and estates spread, and a luxurious life was to be found in most dwellings, let alone most castles.
Despite all that, he stayed like a firm-rooted mountain, persistent and great, not slipping away from his paths and not abandoning his piety and asceticism. If life with its pleasure and prosperity - which he always escaped from - was mentioned, he said, "I've agreed with my companions upon a matter. I'm afraid if I change my stance I won't meet them again." Then he let the others know that he did not turn his back to the worldly life owing to inability, so he lifted his hands to the sky saying, "O Allah, You know that if it weren't for fear of You, we would have emulated our clan in the Quraysh in this life."
Indeed, if it were not for his God-fearing self, he would have rivaled people in this life, and he would have been triumphant. He did not have to rival people. Life was striving towards him and chasing him with its tempting pleasure.
Is there any position more tempting than the caliph's? It was offered to Ibn `Umar, may Allah be pleased with him, several times, but he refused. He was threatened with death if he refused, but he continued his refusal and his shunning.