*With monthly charity from it now SR50m
By BASHIR ADEFAKA
To them who find religion as evil, History of Religion becomes an antidote to their ailment. God makes no mistakes. A peep into the life in Arabian Penninsula before the advent of Holy Prophet Muhammad (peace be upon him), no doubt, will convince anyone of how religion (simply interpreted as the way of life set by God consisting the regular worship of him by his human creatures and their guided means of economy and culture) is rather a reformist system than the secularist minds of today tend to make believe of it. One of the products of religion was the character the Holy Prophet (pbuh) was able to impact in his followers including Uthman Ibn Affaan (may Allah be pleased with him), who worshipped God and still made his wealth to own an investment to his name, which continues to exist – over 1,400 years after – among Saudi bank accounts and hotels till date. Islamic Seerah, meaning Islamic History talks about it. Excerpts:
There was a well in a part of Madinah belonging to a Jew. It was the only source of water in that part, and the Jew charged Muslims exorbitant amounts for water. Uthman Ibn Affaan offered to buy the well, but the Jew refused. Uthman then proposed to buy half of the well, with an agreement that each would fetch on alternate days. The Jew knew Uthman as a clever businessman and was flattered to have him as a business partner, thinking that this would increase his sales.
The exact opposite happened… no one bought water from him again.
Uthman opened the well for Allah’s sake, allowing people to fetch as they wanted. The people would fetch two days supply on his day and ignore the Jew’s day. Despondently, the Jew offered Uthman the other half, which Uthman bought for 20,000 dirhams (really kind of Uthman, if me, I would have negotiated it down to almost zero since it was now worthless to the Jew…
A few years later, a sahabi offered to buy up the well from Uthman. He refused, saying that he had been offered much more. The man kept increasing his offer, and Uthman kept refusing on the ground that he had been offered much more. Baffled, the man asked him who had offered so much, and how much had been offered. Uthman said…
“Allah has offered ten times the reward for charity given to Muslims”.
The well was kept for the free use of Muslims, up to and after the death of Uthman, but the story does not end yet…
During the Ummayyad dynasty, the well and the surrounding ground (still nominally in the name of Uthman since it was charitable and not inherited) were kept for free use by Muslims. Date palms (Debino in Hausa) grew on the grounds and grew numerous overtime. The dates were also harvested and given to charity in the name of Uthman bin Affaan. This continued during the time of the Abbassid period and later.
In the present history of the kingdom of Saudi Arabia, the decision was made to organise it into a modern plantation. The money was shared into two parts, half to be given in charity, mainly to widows and orphans, the other half to be reinvested. This plan was and is still being carried out.
Today, a bank account exists in the name of Uthman Ibn Affaan, from which half of all moneys gained from the plantation are remitted, while the other half is still being given out as charity.
Out of this money, an amount was invested into purchasing land around the Masjid An-Nabawi in Madinah. This was developed into a hotel and accomodation for visitors to the mosque, and as per arrangement, half the income was also given out as charity, while half is being remitted to the account to be reinvested.
As at now, disbursements from this charity, started off by the virtuous sahabi, Uthman bin Affaan, is upwards of SR 50 million monthly.
The well is known today as Bi’ir Uthman or Bi’ir Rummah. One charitable deed that has earned its giver rewards for over 14centuries.
May Allah reward all the Companions of the Prophet, not only for their charitable deeds, but also for the help they provided in aiding our noble Prophet for us, and transmitting his message faithfully down to us for our own benefit. May Allah grant them jannatu-Firdaus and join us with them in the hereafter.
Aameen.
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Barka Jumuah!.
