Have you ever felt like work, business, or worldly affairs have made you miss congregational prayer? It’s like being super busy processing orders and suddenly hearing the call to prayer has finished. Well, it turns out that stories like this are nothing new; they even happened in the time of the Companions. One such experience was experienced by Umar ibn Khattab (may Allah be pleased with him).
This story is simple yet profound. It’s about how he prioritized life between worldly affairs and worship. Even through his date palm orchard, there are important lessons about love of the world, fear of death, and priorities that can make us reconsider: what is the point of life?
A Date Palm Garden That Becomes a Lesson
So like this, there is a story told by Ibn Umar. One day, Umar went to his date palm garden. Maybe he was checking the harvest or just looking at his garden. But when he came home, he was surprised to find that people had finished praying Asr together. Imagine, he missed congregational prayers just because of the garden.
Spontaneously he said:
“Inna lillahi wa inna ilaihi raji’un, I missed the congregational prayer. Bear witness that I gave my date palm garden as charity for the poor, so that it can be atonement for what I did.”
( Al-Kabair , Adz-Dzahabi, p. 50)
Oh my God, this is Umar. He immediately gave up a valuable garden just because he felt it was distracting him from congregational prayer. We, who are often so negligent, sometimes find a thousand excuses to excuse ourselves from prayer.
And what makes it even more impressive is that Umar also made a will to the regions he led:
إِنَّ مِنْ أَهَمِّ أُمُوْرِكُمْ عِنْدِي الصَّلاَةُ, فَمَنْ حَفِظَهَا حَفِظَ دِيْنَهُ , وَمَنْ ضَيَّعَهَا فَهُوَ لِمَنْ سِوَاهَا أَضْيَعُ , وَلاَ حَظَّ فِي الإِسْلاَمِ لِمَنْ تَرَكَ الصَّلاَةَ
“Indeed, the most important thing in my opinion is prayer. Whoever maintains prayer has maintained his religion. Whoever neglects prayer has neglected other matters even more. And there is no share in Islam for one who neglects prayer.”
(Ash-Shalah wa Hukmu Taarikihaa, p. 12)
Can you imagine, if Umar said that, it means he really considers prayer to be the main foundation.
Also read:Having the Right Intention in Work According to Islam
Love of the World and Fear of Death
So, now let’s turn to the problem that we hear so often: why do Muslims now look weak? The Prophet ﷺ once said:
يُوشِكُ أَنْ تَدَاعَى عَلَيْكُمُ الأُمَمُ مِنْ كُلِّ أُفُقٍ كَمَا تَدَاعَى الأَكَلَةُ عَلَى قَصْعَتِهَا. قِيلَ: يَا رَسُولَ اللَّهِ، أَمِنْ قِلَّةٍ يَوْمَئِذٍ؟ قَالَ: لاَ، بَلْ أَنْتُمْ يَوْمَئِذٍ كَثِيرٌ، وَلَكِنْ غُثَاءٌ كَغُثَاءِ السَّيْلِ، وَلَيَنْزِعَنَّ اللَّهُ مِنْ صُدُورِ عَدُوِّكُمُ الْمَهَابَةَ مِنْكُمْ، وَلَيَقْذِفَنَّ اللَّهُ فِي قُلُوبِكُمُ الْوَهْنَ. قِيلَ: وَمَا الْوَهْنُ؟ قَالَ: حُبُّ الدُّنْيَا وَكَرَاهِيَةُ الْمَوْتِ
“The other nations almost fought over you like people fighting over food on a tray.” Someone asked, “Was it because we were few in number at that time, O Messenger of Allah?” He replied, “No, you were many at that time, but like foam on the sea. Allah took away the enemy’s fear of you, then He threw wahn into your hearts .” Someone asked again, “What is wahn?” He replied, “Love of the world and fear of death.”
(Narrated by Abu Dawud no. 3745)
Let’s try to compare. Umar had a garden, it had great value, but when the garden made him miss his prayers, he immediately let it go. Very different from our habits now, which are even willing to chase the world to the point of sacrificing prayer. Sometimes we’ve called the call to prayer so many times, we still say, “Just a moment, this is work first.” Even though it is a sign of the world’s love that is secretly dragging us along.
And when worldly love takes over, fear of death automatically arises. Because death means leaving behind everything we love: wealth, business, position, and worldly pleasures. However, if our hearts love the afterlife more, death becomes a doorway to God.
Also read: The Importance of Having Multiple Sources of Income
Uniting Work and Prayer
This doesn’t mean we shouldn’t work, run a business, or own a garden. In fact, Islam teaches us to work hard. But that work shouldn’t make us neglect our prayers. As Allah says in the Quran:
يَا أَيُّهَا الَّذِينَ آمَنُوا لَا تُلْهِكُمْ أَمْوَالُكُمْ وَلَا أَوْلَادُكُمْ عَنْ ذِكْرِ اللَّهِ ۚ وَمَنْ يَفْعَلْ ذَٰلِكَ فَأُو۟لَـٰٓئِكَ هُمُ الْخَـٰسِرُون َ
“O you who believe, do not let your wealth and children distract you from remembering Allah. Whoever does that, then they are the ones who suffer losses.”
(QS. Al-Munafiqun : 9)
This verse is like a reminder: go ahead and work, have wealth, run a business, even be rich. But don’t let it make you forget Allah. Umar ibn Khattab provides a real-life example. When the world (date palm plantations) clashed with prayer, he chose Allah. The world can be abandoned, but prayer must not be lost.
Also read: Pay Yourself First: The Urgency of Saving Before Spending
Conclusion
Umar’s story truly teaches us that life is all about priorities. His date palm plantation was immensely valuable, but compared to congregational prayer, it was nothing. On the other hand, we often have the opposite: the world becomes a priority, while prayer comes second.
The hadith about love of the world and fear of death makes us even more aware: one of the weaknesses of Muslims today is our excessive love of worldly things. After all, Umar set the example: if the world distracts us from worship, it’s better to let go.
So, the big challenge for us now is how to balance work and worship. Work can be exciting, but don’t let it distance us from God. Ultimately, all our wealth, position, business, and worldly pursuits will be left behind. All we take with us are our good deeds.
Also read: The Importance of Avoiding Consumer Debt
Having the Right Intention in Work According to Islam
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Reference:
Al-Qur’an al-Karim.
Adz-Dzahabi, Syamsuddin Muhammad bin Ahmad. Al-Kabair . Beirut: Darul Politik al-‘Ilmiyyah, Accessed from https://archive.org/stream/AqidahDosaDosaBesarOlehImamAdzDzahabi/%28Aqidah%29+Dosa+Dosa+Big+oleh+Imam+Adz+Dzahabi_djvu.txt
Ash-Shalah wa Hukmu Taarikihaa. First edition, 1426 AH. Shamsuddin Abu ‘Abdillah Muhammad bin Abi Bakr bin Qayyim Al-Jauziyah (Ibn Qayyim). Publisher Dar Al-Imam Ahmad.
Abu Dawud, Sunan Abu Dawud , Kitab al-Fitan, Hadith no. 3745. Accessed from https://www.hadits.id/hadits/dawud/3745
