This blog was originally uploaded on the previous version of the www.sajidumar.com website on February 6, 2019.

I dream of children growing up to be great men and women, not worthless beings. Which trajectory are you, or your children, upon?

Ponder over this…

In one of the houses of Madīnah, ʿUmar ibn al-Khaṭṭāb (رَضِيَ ٱللَّهُ عَنْهُ) was sitting with a group of his companions. He asked them:

“Make a wish.”

One of them said, “I wish to have as much gold as would fill this whole house so that I could spend it in the way of Allāh (فِي سَبِيلِ ٱللَّهِ).”

Then again, ʿUmar asked, “Make a wish.”

Another man said, “I wish that this house were full of jewels and pearls so that I could spend it all in the way of Allāh and in charity for the sake of Allāh (فِي سَبِيلِ ٱللَّهِ وَصَدَقَةً لِوَجْهِ ٱللَّهِ).”

ʿUmar asked for the third time, “Make a wish.”

His companions replied, “We don’t know what to say, O Leader of the Believers (يَا أَمِيرَ ٱلْمُؤْمِنِينَ).”

Thereupon ʿUmar said, “I wish that this house were full of men like Abū ʿUbaydah ibn al-Jarrāḥ, Muʿādh ibn Jabal, and Sālim, the freed slave of Abū Ḥudhayfah—so that I could use them to spread the word of Allāh (لِأَسْتَعِينُ بِهِمْ عَلَى نَشْرِ كَلِمَةِ ٱللَّهِ).”

May Allāh shower His mercy on Abū Ḥafṣ ʿUmar ibn al-Khaṭṭāb (رَضِيَ ٱللَّهُ عَنْهُ), for he knew that for greatness to be built, you need great hearts and minds—before wealth or anything else.

The legacies of tawḥīd (توحيد), piety, and true progress were built upon the backs of true men and women.

I beg you: do not raise your children upon immersion in football, TV serials, and the wasting of time. You owe it to yourself and to them to raise them as individuals of responsibility and discipline.

May Allāh bless us to raise leaders and not merely children. Āmīn (آمِين).

P.S. For those searching for a useful resource related to raising leaders, I invite you to read my book, The Journey to Success: The Roadmap of Ikhlās, Iḥsān, and Istiqāmah. In it, I share a framework for nurturing sincerity, striving for excellence, and holding firm with consistency—qualities that define true success in this world and the next

Your brother,

Sajid Umar

Location: 'Somewhere en route to the Hereafter'

01/06/1440 AH – 06/02/2019