Caliphs Versus Kings and World Leaders
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Sometimes as ordinary folk we are struck by how lavish the lives of our leaders are and some of us are dumbfounded by the extravagance (at our expense) even in their deaths (Margaret Thatcher's funeral cost the tax payer over £3 million). Despite the wealth acquired by Prophet Muhammad (peace and blessings of Allah be upon him) his simple life and death have been well documented (even in this website) but his rightly guided successors (caliphs) and their governors also lived as ordinary people lived.
Abu Bakr the First Caliph:
When he first became Caliph he addressed his people with the words,
"I have been chosen to rule over you, though I am not the best among you. Help me if I am right; correct me if I am wrong. The weak among you will be the strong until I have attained for him his due...and the strong among you will be weak until I have made him give what he owes...obey me as long as I obey Allah and His Prophet; if I do not obey them, you owe me no obedience."
He spent all of his belongings for the sake of Allah and His Prophet. On his deathbed he called his daughter `Aishah and said, "The camel that draws water for me and that Nubian slave are public property. On my death return these to `Umar, my successor. The garment that I am putting on now was purchased out of the allowance fixed for me; let this be my shroud."
A man entered upon Salmaan (may Allaah be pleased with him) and found him making dough – and he was a governor. He said to him: O Abu ‘Abdullaah, what is this? He said: We have sent our servant on an errand and we do not want to give him two jobs at once.
Omar the second Caliph:
One day ‘Umar ibn al-Khattaab passed by and saw some slaves standing and not eating with their master. He got angry and said to their master: What is wrong with people who are selfish towards their servants? Then he called the servants and they ate with them.
"By God, he that is weakest among you shall be in my sight the strongest, until I have vindicated for him his rights; but him that is strongest will I treat as the weakest, until he complies with the laws." (The Encyclopædia Britannica)
"Beware," he would say, "of Persian luxury, both in food and raiment. Keep to the simple habits of your country, and Allah will continue you victorious; depart from them, and He will reverse your fortunes." (Washington Irving)
...his food consisted of barley-bread or dates; his drink was water; he preached in a gown that was torn or tattered in twelve places; and a Persian satrap, who paid his homage as to the conqueror, found him asleep among the beggars on the steps of the mosque of Medina. (Gibbon)
Umar also introduced child benefit and pensions for the elderly. Initially Umar introduced a state funded allowance for children who had been weaned from breast feeding but one night he heard the consistent crying of a baby and after asking the baby's mother why he wouldn't stop crying she replied to him that it was because he was hungry as she was trying to wean him away from breast milk so that she could receive the allowance. The baby was only a few months old. This distressed Umar considerably and he advised her to not rush the weaning of her child. During the morning prayer his words were difficult to make out as he was crying and regretting his decision which had put children's health at risk. He then asked for the announcement to be made that all new born Muslims would be given an allowance.
(Originally mentioned in Al-Bidaayah wan-Nihaayah 7/140 of Ibn Kathir)
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As for the pension, Umar once found an old, blind Jewish man who was a citizen of his state begging so that he could pay his taxes. Umar instructed for money to be taken from the state treasury to be given to the man as they had been unjust to him because they took taxes from him when he was young but in his old age he was unable to provide for himself, so the state provided for him.
(This is a well known story in Islam and has been reported by big scholars such as Ibn al-Qayyim and as-Sayyuti)
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Umm Hafab
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