The story of Umar RA and the Bride of Nile:
This Story of Umar RA is a lesson to leave all superstitious Practices and the Practices that are irrelevant to Islam . A very Powerful reminder of ” Tawakkul ” through the live of Sahaba – Umar RA
There was an Egyptian custom whereby the people threw a young girl into the river every year. Amr ibn al-As was the appointed governor of the area. When Amr ibn al-As objected to this custom , the People said to him:”O Governor, this Nile of our will not flow otherwise.” He asked, “What do you mean?” They said,“When it is the twelfth of this month, we look for a virgin girl who is still with her parents, and we make a deal with her parents, then we dress her in the finest jewellery and clothes, and throw her into this Nile.” Amr said to them, “This cannot be allowed in Islam, for Islam erases what came before it.” For a while, the Nile did not flow at all, and the people thought of migrating. Then Amr wrote to Umar ibn al-Khattab and told him of that. He wrote back saying, “You have done the right thing. I have sent you a piece of paper in this letter; throw it into the Nile.”
When his letter came, Amr took out the piece of paper, on which was written:“From the slave of Allah and Ameer al-Mumineen to the Nile of the people of Egypt. If the decision of flowing is up to you, then do not flow, for we have no need of you. But if you flow by the command of Allah, the One, the Subduer, Who is the One Who makes you flow, then we ask Allah to make you flow.”
He threw the piece of paper into the Nile and when they woke up on Saturday, they found that Allah had caused the Nile to flow to a depth of sixteen cubits in a single night. Thus Allah put an end to this evil custom of Egyptians.[Al-Bidayah wa an-Nihayah, 7/102-103. Ali at-Tantawi said: We have published it because it is so well known, not because it is saheeh]
Umar RA explained the meaning of tawheed in this piece of paper and stated that the Nile only flowed by the will and decree of Allah. He proved to the people the falseness of their belief, which was deeply rooted in their hearts. Through his wise actions he eradicated this belief from the hearts of the Egyptians [Fann al-Hukm, p.347]
Reference :Taken from – Umar ibn Al-Khattab His Life & Times by Dr. Ali Muhammad as-Sallabi. p. 294-295 (Get the Book through Amazon )
