When ʿAbd al-Malik ibn Marwān ascended the caliphate, most pledged allegiance to him—and Ibn ʿUmar did not hold back either.
He wrote a letter:
“From ʿAbdullāh, the son of ʿUmar, to ʿAbd al-Malik, the son of Marwān. I have come to know that the Muslims have pledged allegiance to you as Caliph. I too accept this, pledging under the guidance of Allah and His Messenger. My sons, and those dear to me, also affirm this allegiance.”
ʿAbd al-Malik read the letter with great satisfaction. But some courtiers, eager to spark discontent, tried to ridicule it: “Look, O Commander of the Faithful, he listed his own name before yours in the greeting!”
But ʿAbd al-Malik, wise to their ploys, dismissed them: “ʿAbd al-Raḥmān ibn Abī Bakr used to write to me the same way—many times. I see nothing wrong.”
He held Ibn ʿUmar in high regard, so much so that he explicitly instructed al-Ḥajjāj ibn Yūsuf: “Never oppose Ibn ʿUmar regarding the rites of Ḥajj. He is a master of jurisprudence, a scholar of the Sunnah.”
But al-Ḥajjāj was notoriously ruthless, bloodthirsty, and consumed by tyranny. Once he had taken control of Makkah after the killing of Ibn al-Zubayr, his rule grew dark. Decrees stained with injustice flew from his hand, and Ibn ʿUmar, never one to keep silent before wrong, called them out—especially during the days of Ḥajj and ʿUmrah, when the sacred city teemed with pilgrims.
Still, al-Ḥajjāj dared not touch him. The reverence for Ibn ʿUmar’s legacy ran too deep. Yet, provoked, al-Ḥajjāj once sent him a venomous message: “I’ve heard you once aspired to the caliphate. But leadership is not for the weak, the stingy, or the dull.”
Ibn ʿUmar did not flinch. He responded with a sharp letter: “The claim that I desired the caliphate is a lie. I never sought it, nor do I value it.
As for being weak—he who has memorized the Book of Allah in full is not weak.
As for stinginess—he who pays his zakāt in full is not stingy.
And regarding dullness—if I remain silent instead of lashing out in jealousy when others share blessings with my kin, that does not make me foolish.”
The letter hit its mark like a sword through armor. Al-Ḥajjāj was humiliated.
At times, Ibn ʿUmar opted for silence. Once, al-Ḥajjāj stood before the people, delivering a sermon laced with falsehoods. Many waited for Ibn ʿUmar to rise and object. He didn’t.
Later, he explained: “At that moment, a hadith came to mind: ‘Let not the believer humiliate himself.’
They asked the Prophet ﷺ, ‘How can one humiliate himself?’
He ﷺ replied, ‘By placing himself in a trial he cannot endure.’”
He feared al-Ḥajjāj’s wrath could incite bloodshed—on himself or others.
When Ibn ʿUmar was bedridden after an injury from a strike (likely caused during al-Ḥajjāj’s siege of the Kaʿbah), al-Ḥajjāj came to visit him. Feigning concern, he said:
“If you can name the man who wounded you, I’ll remove his head.” Ibn ʿUmar looked him in the eye and answered: “You are that man.”
Al-Ḥajjāj stuttered: “Me? What are you saying?”
“Yes. You brought weapons into the sacred precincts of Allah. That day, you wounded me.”
The wound on Ibn ʿUmar’s body may have been minor—but the wound inflicted upon the sanctity of Islam was far greater.
During his life, al-Ḥajjāj could do nothing to Ibn ʿUmar. But in death, he tried to defy him. Ibn ʿUmar had instructed: “Bury me outside the sacred boundary of the Ḥaram.”
But al-Ḥajjāj deliberately buried him within it. Worse still, he led the funeral prayer himself.
Even in this, Ibn ʿUmar’s opposition remained. He had never desired power, though many wished it upon him. Once, he remarked: “What gives me the greatest peace is that I never indulged in the fleeting pleasures of this world.”
ʿĀʾishah رضي الله عنها attested to this, once saying: “If there is one man today who holds firm to the way of the earliest generations, it is Ibn ʿUmar.”
And the people would pray: “O Allah, let us live as long as Ibn ʿUmar lives. Let us follow him, for he has not changed.”
Once, while prostrating in the Kaʿbah, tears spilling onto the sacred stone, Ibn ʿUmar whispered: “O Lord, the only reason I do not wrestle with Quraysh over this world is out of fear of You.”
This was ʿAbdullāh ibn ʿUmar—the son of the just ʿUmar ibn al-Khaṭṭāb, the staunch follower of the Prophet ﷺ, and the last of his kind who walked this earth with dignity, caution, and uncompromising truth.
