Personal Care of the Public and Stipends to Disabled Persons and the Poor Hazrat Umar (Rad.A) used to take personal care of the public. A number of instances could be cited in this connection. Once a caravan came to Medina and alighted outside the city. He himself guarded the caravan during the night and saw to their needs. He was going round one night when he saw a women with some children who crying due to hunger. He himself brought some flour and butter etc., from the Bait-ul-Mal and personally prepared meals for the children. His slave, Aslam offered his services but he said, ”You can not help Umar (Rad.A) on the Day of judgement. He is himself responsible for it.’’ Once he saw a Bedouin staying outside the city and his wife was in the throes of child birth. He immediately called his wife who worked as a midwife.
Every day afler the congregational Salats he used to sit in the Masjid in order to listen to the complaints of the people. Any person having any need reported to Umar (Rad.A) and he helped him. Besides the allowance described above he also gave stipends to poor and disabled persons regardless of their faith and creed. To find out the needs of the people he used to go out during night time. Construction of Mosques and Establishment of Schools He founded a number of schools. Masjids were used for giving religious instructions. A number of Masjids were built by Hazrat Umar (Rad.A). He asked the governors of various provinces specially of Syria to build at least one mosque in each city or town. In Kufa a separate Masji6 was built for every clan. According to some historians he built four thousand Masjids. The Haram (Masjidul-Haram) in Makkah was too small for the increasing Muslim population. He extended it and built a wall around it in order to sepa-ate it from the township. He covered the Ka’bah with very cost’y Egyptian cloth instead of ordinary cloth.
The Masjid of the Holy Prophet was also extended. He bought all the houses and properties surrounding the Masjid besides the houses of the chaste widows of the Holy Proohet, and extended tne Masjid. A big platform was constructed in the yard of the Masjid to impart Islamic knowledge.
Hazrat Jmar (Rad. A.) 255
