Parent’s Legacies
‘Umar Ibn ‘Abdul ‘Azeez رحمه الله passed away leaving behind eleven sons. His estate consisted of only seventeen dinars. From this, five dinars were used for his buriel shroud, and another two for his grave. The remaining ten dinarss were equally distributed amongst his sons. Each son received a small sum of nineteen dirhams.
Hishaam Ibn ‘Abdul Malik also passed away leaving behind eleven sons. From his estate, each son received a hefty sum of ten thousand dirhams.
Soon thereafter, one of the sons of ‘Umar Ibn ‘Abdul ‘Azeez رحمه الله was seen dispatching a hundred of his horses fully-laden with goods in Jihad. In sharp contrast, one of the sons of Hisham was seen begging.
After quoting this incident, ‘Allaamah Dameeree رحمه الله remarkes, “This is nothing strange. ‘Umar Ibn ‘Abdul ‘Azeez رحمه الله had trained his sons Islaamically and handed them into the care of Allaah, Who made them independent and wealthy. Hishaam taught his sons about the world and in return Allaah tested them with poverty.”
Wise men lead their offspring along the path of Islam, while the ignorant teach their offspring to become slaves of the world.
[Hayaatul Hayawaan, vol 2, p 204; Jawaahir Paare, vol 3, p 272; Pearls from the Path]