In the household of al-ʿAbbās, ʿAbd Allāh devoted himself to teaching the people, while his brother would feed them; because of that, they were held in great esteem.
Muʿāwiyah once saw the people asking Ibn ʿUmar about the rites of pilgrimage and receiving his legal rulings. He exclaimed, “By Allah, this is true nobility!”—or words to that effect.
ʿUmar ibn al-Khaṭṭāb, may Allah be pleased with him, tried to outdo Abū Bakr, may Allah be pleased with him, in charitable spending, as is authentically reported from ʿUmar himself. He said: “The Messenger of Allah (Allah bless him and grant him peace) commanded us to give in charity, and at that time I possessed some wealth. I said, ‘Today I shall surpass Abū Bakr—if ever I am to beat him.’ I therefore brought half of my property. The Messenger of Allah asked, ‘What have you left for your family?’ I replied, ‘The same amount.’ Abū Bakr then came with everything he owned. The Messenger of Allah asked him, ‘What have you left for your family?’ He answered, ‘I have left them Allah and His Messenger.’ I then said, ‘I will never again compete with you in anything.’
Thus the competition and righteous envy shown by ʿUmar were permissible, yet the state of the Truthful One—Abū Bakr—was superior, for he was altogether free of rivalry and never looked to anyone else’s condition.
The same kind of competition and envy arose in Moses (peace be upon him) during the Miʿrāj: he wept when the Prophet (Allah bless him and grant him peace) passed beyond him. When he was asked why he wept, he said, “I weep because a young man sent after me will enter Paradise with a number from his community greater than those from mine.” This report is recorded by both al-Bukhārī and Muslim.
In another wording transmitted outside the two authentic collections it is related: “We passed by a man who was saying in a loud voice, ‘You have honored him and preferred him.’ We ascended to him and greeted him with salām, and he returned the greeting. He asked, ‘Who is with you, Gabriel?’ Gabriel replied, ‘This is Aḥmad.’ He said, ‘Welcome to the unlettered Prophet who conveyed his Lord’s message and sincerely advised his community.’ We then moved on, and I asked, ‘Who was that, Gabriel?’ He said, ‘That was Moses son of ʿImrān.’ I asked, ‘And whom was he reproaching?’ He said, ‘He is reproaching his Lord on your account.’ I asked, ‘And he raises his voice against his Lord?’ He replied, ‘Allah, Mighty and Majestic, knows his sincerity.’”
ʿUmar, may Allah be pleased with him, was likened to Moses, whereas our Prophet’s state was loftier than that of Moses, for nothing of this attitude was found in him. Among the Companions, Abū ʿUbaydah ibn al-Jarrah and those like him were entirely free of such rivalry; accordingly, they ranked higher than those who experienced competition and righteous envy, even though such feelings are permissible.
For this very reason Abū ʿUbaydah, may Allah be pleased with him, deserved to be called “the trustworthy one of this Ummah,” for a person who is entrusted with something and has no inner urge to compete for any part of it is more deserving of the trust than someone whose rivalry is feared. Hence eunuchs are entrusted with women and children, and minor offices of authority are likewise committed to them.