There he found an elderly woman with hungry children who were crying out. She had kindled a fire beneath a pot containing nothing but water, with which she sought to quiet them. He came to her and said, “What is the matter, O servant of Allah?” She replied, “These are children.” He asked, “What is in the pot?” She said, “Water with which I quiet them. May Allah judge between us and Umar”—a grave statement indeed—“Allah has placed Umar in charge of the people, and Allah will surely question him about this charge.”

He said to her—while she did not know that he was Umar—“What does Umar know of your condition?” She replied, “He takes charge of our affairs yet knows nothing about us?” This was an even graver statement than the first.

So he hurried, may Allah be pleased with him, to the food storehouse, took a sack of flour and an equivalent amount of cooking fat, and carried them himself. His freedman Aslam said to him, “O Commander of the Believers, let me carry it.” He replied, “Even if you carried it for me, you would not carry my burdens for me on the Day of Resurrection.” He then went out with it and began blowing on the fire himself, until the smoke was passing through his beard. He poured the flour and fat into the pot and cooked it himself—the caliph of the Muslims, from the east of the earth to its west, cooking with his own hands for this elderly woman! He did so sincerely for Allah’s sake, in order to discharge his responsibility thereby.

Afterwards, he moved aside and sat down, saying, “By Allah, I will not leave until I see these children, who are crying, laughing together.” They ate their fill and began laughing and playfully wrestling. He then said to her, “Come to Umar tomorrow.” Then he left, while she still did not know who the man was. She said, “By Allah, you are better for us than Umar” (1), because she assumed that Umar was asleep in his bed, whereas this man was checking on the people and bringing them food.

Thus, responsibility is exceedingly grave. We ask Allah Most High to assist those entrusted with our affairs in that which brings goodness to the land and its people.